The arrival of mass-produced ready-made clothing changed everything and cast us into well-defined sizes. If the neck size is A, the waist shall be less than B and so on. If you do not conform to these standards, your clothes are not going to fit very well unless you can afford 'bespoke' clothing. A shirt that fits you very well is, therefore, to be cherished. Ask any man and he will agree.
So, the other day, when I bought a couple of dress shirts that fit me very well, I was naturally happy. I liked the colours, the cut and the styling. However, when I put one of them on a few days later, I was surprised and dismayed to find that the shirt had no pocket. I thought that the tailor must have forgotten it but I found that the other shirt too lacked a pocket. This sent a chill down my spine. Are they eliminating the pocket from men's dress shirts now? After all, it has been eliminated from most of the tee-shirts and polo shirts.
If I thought there was one thing that was safe from designers, it was the pocket in a man's dress shirt. They could do what they liked with collars, pleats on the sleeve or the back, the buttons on the collar (or lack of them), but the pocket was expected to be there on the left chest. These shirts would not be considered very formal and the absence of a pocket was completely baffling. Few men wear suits or sport coats to work these days and the shirt pocket is indispensable.
I need the pocket to hold my reading glasses and optionally a pen. Without my glasses, I cannot read anything except perhaps large traffic signs. I have already dropped my glasses on the floor a few times trying to put them in the non-existent pocket. Carrying them in a case, I find, is impractical. How do I carry the case itself? I will likely misplace it somewhere. If you want to suggest the pant pocket for keeping the glasses, well, they are going to get damaged before long. That's a gamble that I am not willing to take. A hard case will protect the glasses but, unfortunately, it is too bulky fit in the pocket. Besides, the pant pockets are already occupied by my wallet and my cell phone. As you can see, I have got a 'Yes, but' to counter every 'Why don't you' you can throw at me.
I am usually careful in selecting clothes at the shop and wondered how I missed seeing that the shirts lacked pockets. Then I remembered. You see, there was this whole bank of other shirts on display in the most startling colours - the loudest red, magenta, neon green and so on - that had overwhelmed my senses and sent me reeling. Seriously, they were loud enough to startle a sleeping bull and perhaps give him lifelong nightmares. Wearing them in public can be a traffic hazard as otherwise sane drivers may lose control of their cars upon being stunned by their appearance. They ought to carry a warning. Small wonder then, that after seeing them, I had overlooked the missing pockets on the shirts I bought.
I remember the time when shirts had pockets on both sides of the chest. You could see men sporting whole sets of pens in their pockets at work - different colours for different purposes. Some shirts even came with a safety pocket on the inside where you could store valuables out of the reach of pickpockets. Other shirts had flaps over the pockets and/or buttons to close the pockets, making them more secure and imparting a military look to them.
While having no pocket is a bit of a nightmare for me and for most men I am sure, I wonder how women put up with a pocketless existence. There are many puzzling things about women's clothes, but the lack of pockets is the hardest to understand. Women must find the constant need to carry a bag exhausting. I bet one of them cracked under the strain, became a designer and took out her frustration by removing the precious chest pocket from men's shirts.
Men have always preferred practicality in the matter of clothes. That is why we have 'Relaxed Fit' style available for everything (I do not believe that such a phrase will ever be associated with women's clothing). So it is deeply distressing to note the absence of pockets on new shirts. One hopes this does not become a trend. We should firmly resist this attempt by misguided designers. Equally firmly, we should reject the new loud colors for shirts in the interest of public safety.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
The Violin in Carnatic Music
As I read the news of the passing of the great Lalgudi Jayaraman, I started thinking about the place of the violin in carnatic music. The adaptation of this instrument into carnatic music is so complete that one does not even think of its western origins. It is the the melodic accompaniment of choice in a vocal concert. I don't know if any other instrument is even considered for this purpose anymore.
The violin made its entry into carnatic music more than a hundred and fifty years ago. Though it has an exalted position in carnatic music, I feel that there is still scope to enhance the role of the violin. Specifically, I find that the way it is used as an accompaniment has a couple of issues.
Firstly, when the singer is presenting the raga alapana, I would humbly suggest that the violinist lay down the bow and just enjoy the exposition. After all, the violinist gets to present a solo version later and, may I say, without interruption from the vocalist. As the singer weaves the raga together, I do not want the violin intruding in the gap between successive phrases. I find this rather jarring. This gap with just the drone of the shruti, serves to enhance the meditative mood and builds expectation.
The other issue I have is with the niraval/swaram phase. Often, the violinist simply plays the same notes that the vocalist sings making the whole thing sound like a class. I wish they would instead engage in a sort of a friendly duel where each would feed off the other's energy and also challenge each other. This usually happens in a dual violin concert or a concert involving two instruments. The format then changes from one of leader-accompanist to collaborators. Why not adopt this in a vocal concert?
One of the most memorable concerts that I have ever listened to is a collaboration between Lalgudi Jayaraman and the flute maestro N. Ramani from 1971. The synergy and understanding between the two in that concert is simply fantastic. I keep going back to this every now and then. Some of the songs from that concert ('vatapi gananptim' and 'cakkani raja' to name two) have become benchmarks in my appreciation of other artistes performing them. I am yet to hear better versions of these, I must add.
I see no reason why the vocalist and the violinist cannot perform in a similar fashion. The raga exposition can be a collaborative venture with the voice and the violin complementing each other. The violin can extend the range into higher and lower octaves. Instead of being two separate solos, the alapana can be a duet, where the voice and the violin work in tandem building the raga so to speak.The niraval and swaram phase can be a true jugal bandhi.
Would the artistes consider this format? I am sure this will provide more freedom of expression to the violinist and enhance the listening experience for the audience. And judging by this article from The Hindu, it appears that this is an idea whose time may be at hand. I, for one, would love to see such a concert.
The purists may say this goes against pakkavadhya dharma, but Carnatic music has been very progressive. While it has remained true to its traditional roots, there have been many innovations. Apart from the violin, other instruments have made their way into the system - the clarinet, the mandolin and the saxophone for example. New concert formats are being tried. There are also attempts at fusion between carnatic music and western music (though these are still somewhat sketchy in my opinion). The carnatic tradition is thus a living tradition capable of absorbing many new elements. I hope the format suggested here will find a place in it.
The violin made its entry into carnatic music more than a hundred and fifty years ago. Though it has an exalted position in carnatic music, I feel that there is still scope to enhance the role of the violin. Specifically, I find that the way it is used as an accompaniment has a couple of issues.
Firstly, when the singer is presenting the raga alapana, I would humbly suggest that the violinist lay down the bow and just enjoy the exposition. After all, the violinist gets to present a solo version later and, may I say, without interruption from the vocalist. As the singer weaves the raga together, I do not want the violin intruding in the gap between successive phrases. I find this rather jarring. This gap with just the drone of the shruti, serves to enhance the meditative mood and builds expectation.
The other issue I have is with the niraval/swaram phase. Often, the violinist simply plays the same notes that the vocalist sings making the whole thing sound like a class. I wish they would instead engage in a sort of a friendly duel where each would feed off the other's energy and also challenge each other. This usually happens in a dual violin concert or a concert involving two instruments. The format then changes from one of leader-accompanist to collaborators. Why not adopt this in a vocal concert?
One of the most memorable concerts that I have ever listened to is a collaboration between Lalgudi Jayaraman and the flute maestro N. Ramani from 1971. The synergy and understanding between the two in that concert is simply fantastic. I keep going back to this every now and then. Some of the songs from that concert ('vatapi gananptim' and 'cakkani raja' to name two) have become benchmarks in my appreciation of other artistes performing them. I am yet to hear better versions of these, I must add.
I see no reason why the vocalist and the violinist cannot perform in a similar fashion. The raga exposition can be a collaborative venture with the voice and the violin complementing each other. The violin can extend the range into higher and lower octaves. Instead of being two separate solos, the alapana can be a duet, where the voice and the violin work in tandem building the raga so to speak.The niraval and swaram phase can be a true jugal bandhi.
Would the artistes consider this format? I am sure this will provide more freedom of expression to the violinist and enhance the listening experience for the audience. And judging by this article from The Hindu, it appears that this is an idea whose time may be at hand. I, for one, would love to see such a concert.
The purists may say this goes against pakkavadhya dharma, but Carnatic music has been very progressive. While it has remained true to its traditional roots, there have been many innovations. Apart from the violin, other instruments have made their way into the system - the clarinet, the mandolin and the saxophone for example. New concert formats are being tried. There are also attempts at fusion between carnatic music and western music (though these are still somewhat sketchy in my opinion). The carnatic tradition is thus a living tradition capable of absorbing many new elements. I hope the format suggested here will find a place in it.
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