Maya Ramanath

IIT Delhi

[Narendra Modi @narendramodi]

Address to the nation. https://t.co/iKjEJvlciR

[Narendra Modi @narendramodi]

India will identify, track and punish every terrorist, their handlers and their backers.

We will pursue them to the ends of the earth.

India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism.

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

@veejaysai Festivities seem to have begun, but it is not being broadcast on DD? Hope they do it!

[Doordarshan National दूरदर्शन नेशनल @DDNational]

A timeless moment in the history of music!

Watch the enthralling duo of Ustad Zakir Hussain and his father, the legendary Ustad Alla Rakha, create magic on the tablas.

#UstadZakirHussain #UstadAllaRakha #TablaLegend #ZakirHussain

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

Why are painting and writing (calligraphy) not “proper” art forms in (ancient) India? For a society that reveres poetry, drama, dance, music, etc., why not painting and writing? Husband’s claim is that sculpting also falls into the same category despite abundance of temple art.

[ಹಂಸಾನಂದಿ Hamsanandi हंसानन्दि @hamsanandi]

Today i came to know who tuned ಆಡಿಸಿದಳೆಶೋದೆ so beautifully in Kaapi raga.

It was Vid Belakavadi Srinivasa Ayyangar.

Purandaradasa would have said “ Bhesh!”.

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

Stunned.

[Republic @republic]

#BREAKING | Test report confirms beef fat, fish oil used in making laddus at Tirupati Temple

Tune in for all live updates here - https://t.co/oOhomGTHSp

#ChandrababuNaidu #AndhraPradesh #Tirupati

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

@mnwsth Reservation would not be an issue if there was massive investment in education from KG to higher-ed. If you are able to easily get access to high quality education at any level, why would you need any kind of reservations, esp. caste-based?

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

Big money expenses, esp. land and house came only after saving up for decades. Perhaps that mental block that defines middle class still exists at 30-40LPA — first kids’ education, marriage, retirement savings, THEN house. Daily life is luxurious, land/house, “just” out of reach.

[Muthukrishnan Dhandapani @dmuthuk]

In India, no one wants to call themselves rich. An IT vertical head earning Rs.60 lakhs per annum, calls himself middle class. The reality is he is rich, amongst top 1% of the population. Most of the people in your circle may be earning above Rs.12 lakhs per annum. They are upper class and amongst top 10% of the population. They too would call themselves middle class. Middle class is the most incorrectly used term in our country.

[Shivakumar GV INDICA @SaamaanyaJ]

Today, Karnataka tearfully bid adieu to an illustrious daughter Smt. Aparna Vastarey.

57 is no age to leave the stage in our times and Aparna has gone away too soon. But what she achieved in these 30+ years of cultural service to the society is a tribute to both her prowess and the culture of Karnakata.

Born in a family of immense access to tradition, art and culture, Aparna-avaru was multi-talented and multi-faceted. Over the years she donned many roles. She was a successful actress in films, stage and television. On TV she went onto have a presence in different forms of programs.

But, she earned her fame, an immortal one nearly, as an anchor, presenter, narrator of news and programs. She was truly blessed with an exceptionally pleasing, divine voice. But the cultural dimension she brought to her voice was entirely her hard work.

Aparna-s voice became an embodiment of the sophistication, culture, reflectivity, sweetness that modern Kannada had assumed thanks to the Tapasyaa of sagely ancestors of Kannada Culture. Aparna’s own Tapasyaa to hone her voice in that grand tradition needs to be celebrated today.

Here, we had an anchor, fully educated in the modern world, but with conviction in Kannada’s ability to represent every mundane reality of our times. Competence came alongside this conviction. She made simple acts/moments of life seem beautiful through the sheer power of the language and her voice. That is a conviction in aesthetics, art, literature, culture over the material. She brought that into every instance where her voice had a participation opportunity.

As a news anchor, master of ceremonies, interviews, television programs and finally the Bangalore Metro - Aparna made merely listening to her voice an experience. Thus, from being an anchor and presenter, she elevated herself to being a Cultural Personality. She became an embodiment of the purity of not just Kannada but of language itself and its classical expression and dimension. She made presentation, anchoring and speaking in pure Kannada aspirational without creating any distancing eliteness. She has demonstrated that one can be a celebrity with a classical penchant in the most worldly indulgences.

For Kannadigas, Metro is Aparna and Aparna is Metro. Every time one travelled on Metro one listened to her instructions - repeated at every station. It was like a daughter nudging parents and elders. Yet, one felt it was new each time. “To make the familiar unfamiliar is great art” Bertolt Brecht said once. Aparna truly lived that in her presentations through her voice.

It is astonishing that she brought it to every sentence of hers whether it was enormous culturally and mundane in reality. What adds to her achievement is that she brought this to expression that was otherwise not classical art. Aparna has made a mundane aspect of life an artistic experience. In the end, great art is that which elevates daily life. Thus, Aparna has brought a dimension of folk lore to modern realities.

Aparna could have walked into any Kannada home and she would have received a daughter’s welcome. Truly, a ‘mane magaLu’. Instead, Aparna has simply walked away without giving any notice to her lakhs of fans. I am sure she is at Mother Vagdevi’s abode. Devi, probably, was missing the voice of an illustrious daughter.

Karnataka, on its part, can feel proud we shaped an illustrious daughter who represented its language and culture in its best expression. The loss, though, will be felt every day. How sudden this was.

Too soon, Aparna-avare, too soon.

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

@mnwsth It is unprofessional. Same is the case if the company withdraws the offer after making it. Simply means your word has no value and you can’t be trusted. If everyone is that way, then you hardly notice the pervasive dishonesty — it becomes a way of life.

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

@mnwsth These “privilege” arguments are not made in good faith. You have made the correct points and argued logically and *politely*. Don’t see what more is to be done.

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

So, PM Modi gets a third term with a comfortable majority with alliance partners. BJP alone has more seats than the entire opposition. But how to deal with the apocalyptic doom and gloom of BJP supporters and the insufferable sanctimony of "defeating fascism" by the INC ones 🙄.

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

“Article 370” and “Laapata Ladies”. Both very enjoyable. Though the former perhaps could not match the actual excitement and drama of the real thing!! LL — very well made, endearing characters, went through a range of emotions. Ended perfectly on an optimistic note.

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

@carnatician I watched this after seeing your tweet — she is very talented. Nice to discover another youngster from whom to expect hours of excellent music 🙂.

[Ricky Kej @rickykej]

Dear sir, I had once met you at the RK Laxman centenary event in Leela, Chennai :-). You spoke very well.. and I enjoyed our brief interaction.

I personally feel that presenting an award as prestigious as the Sangita Kalanidhi award is a very daunting task. Impossible to make everyone happy.. especially with such a wide artistic field with so many perspectives. Music cannot be quantified, it is very subjective.. so no award can possibly by 100% fair. Nevertheless, I deeply admire every person who has won, or come close to winning. 

But yes, I was quite hurt by the reply from the @musicacademyma to @ranjanigayatri. @ranjanigayatri's letter was from an artist expressing dissent. There were many reasons for dissent, which you or the @musicacademyma may disagree with, but looking at the social media response - it has people divided, with a huge number supporting their perspective.

While the prestigious institution, the @musicacademyma could have given a more unifying, polite and courteous reply (no matter how rude they percieved @ranjanigayatri's letter), the @musicacademyma chose otherwise. They chose to be vengeful and point fingers personally at @ranjanigayatri, and even shame them. @ranjanigayatri did not once mention about the award.

In my humble opinion this was a huge opportunity missed by the @musicacademyma to unify the community, or to behave as an institution that represents all perspectives - even the perspectives that the current leadership disagrees with. Instead they divided the community further. When a respected individual sends a dissent letter to an institution, the response expected is always balanced, patient, introspective and polite.. which is befitting of the institution. Anything else reflects badly on the institution and it's governance.

@ranjanigayatri speaks more from an individual perspective as an acclaimed artist, whearas the @musicacademyma is an institution representing an entire fraternity, it's history (and even an art-form), and in my humble opinion, the reply did not feel that way.

Thank you for your patience in reading this super long message :-)

[Ranjani Gayatri @ranjanigayatri]

#thread 1/6
We have communicated our decision to withdraw from participating in the Music Academy’s conference 2024 & from presenting our concert on 25 Dec.
We made this decision as the conference would be presided over by TM Krishna.
#madrasmusicacademy #respectcarnaticmusic

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

@vakibs @hamsanandi As part of my course on database systems, I had asked students to translate a recorded English lecture into their own mother-tongue. For technical terms, asked them to use the English terms as-is. It led to Hinglish-like translations 🤷‍♀️, but is there an alternative?

[Maya Ramanath @r_maya]

Ramabhaktas taking a short break from their procession today morning — IITD campus.