Freddie mercury , mitsubishi evo and malavika .....music

It all makes sense now ... I am sure most of you know Freddie Mercury one of the greatest singers in western music . But i was often puzzled why Bohemian rhapsody became so famous of all his songs . Even for music lovers that particular song oscillates between pop/rock , opera and other music genres . Recently on my musical journey analysing music i read freddie mercury had one of the highest "vocal range " in music . He could go from a deep baritone ( wikipedia ) to a high tenor or even beyond . And in addition to his flamboyant stage persona this particular song he was showing the flamboyance of his enormous musical range which cannot be achieved by most singers .

Though i love music somehow i was not a great fan of music competitions on Tv . But recently i stopped with open mouth seeing a contestant in the finals of a music program . It was not the voice alone . But the enormous versatality of her voice which could do all the rapid progressions of classical carnatic music in that competition amazed me . The enormous control of her voice taking rapid turns in tempo , octave as well as "sangathi " made me feel as if i am seeing a high end sports car taking rapid turns in full speed without losing control .

Being the scientific analyst as always i am amazed at how using just the 7 basic notes music could be made . Just like the 4 bases of DNA making all the complicated DNA this itself is amazing . Equally amazing is each instrument of music with its own unique character yet joined in the basics . And how the deeply melancholic note of the violin holds its stead against the guitar . On close inspection however it remains that the "melancholic " violin is the background for most of malayalam movies , even hollywood movies and most songs . And if you felt the guitar is inferior guitar was unique in that it could do most genres from jazz to rock to classical with ease not to mention its ease to accompany vocals .

Each instrument is great by itself ,but even now though its no match for the volume of an electric guitar or a synthesizer or the octave range of a grand piano there is one instrument which is richer , used in ALL genres and till this moment cannot be synthesized in same quality ... its the human voice ... Just as most of music is amazing this fact also is amazing ..

And lastly as per my earlier blog of 101 things to do before you die list .. Make learning a musical instrument one of them if u r at least faintly interested .. You wont regret it .. And if you can sing learn vocals ....

my favorite restaurants

Each persons food taste is unique . And i am no exception . Here i just want to mention a few of my favorite restaurants over the years and why i like it . If at all you are in that city please visit these restaurants at your own peril because my cuisine can be fiery hot sometimes like andhra food , raw food like sushi or fattening .. Disclaimer is to scare the non foodies away so here comes the list :

1. Rayalseema Ruchulu : hyderabad ... Andhra pradesh is famous for both their very spicy food as well as biriyani but i like their Non veg meat dishes very much . And this hotel in the heart of hyderabad near lakdikapul area is awesome . The pleasant waiter refused to take my order for "spicy " food telling that medium spicy would be better . He was right as the medium spicy brought tears to my eyes but the meat was succulent as well as out of the world .

2. Al Bake restaurant , near baby memorial hospital , calicut , kerala : Every weekend i used to go there for years . The broasted chicken made there with imported equipment and the special sauces which they give along with it was awesome . Not to mention the kuboos which completes this arabian meal in zamorins city which had ties with the Arabs for centuries . And their date shake (dont know whether they call it saudi /dubai shake ) is a perfect drink to go along with the broasted chicken which is non spicy .

3 . Toran dining hall , ahmedabad , Gujarat : 5 waiters waiting for you and one of them giving unlimited supplies of gujarati sweets almost forcing you to eat. You have to go there for this amazing experience of the great gujarati thali unlimited . Each waiter serves almost parallelly so u wish u had 5 stomachs and for once you should keep your calorie counter at home .

4. Global fusion restaurant , Bandra west , Mumbai : Amazing sushi at prices which are cheaper than anywhere in the world . Its a buffet only restaurant with around 50 different starters and as the name suggests from around the globe . My favorite is the sushi section and on my first visit must have ate at least a quarter kilo of sushi . Prawn tempura , sliced beef with bamboo shoots all are amazing and believe me they have unlimited baskin robbins ice cream which i didnt eat because i was full with the starters . Eat starters and dont eat even the main food . My advice .

5 . Yokos sizzlers : For registered foodies this may not be a great "find " but i love their steaks and pepper steak is my favorite well done as always . Have tried a few other steak places but found other places blander . And if you eat the tasty vegetables with it it will make a full meal . And washed down with their amazing lemon ice tea .. Dont eat dessert because the key to enjoy good food is focus :)

6 . Ruposhi Bangla , Dacca , Bangladesh : I am generally not a fan of overpriced five star restaurants but this one is an exception . They have many restaurants and all of them offer delicious food and there is a themed restaurant which serves great continental fare .

7 .Roadside thattukada at vellayambalam trivandrum : mainly its nostalgia but i had the most amazing thattu dosa and the rasa vada there when i was in college in trivandrum . Very cheap but clean and awesome taste , this must have been one of the grandfather thattukadas of kerala before "thattukadas " became famous and became an everyday name .

There are many other favourite restaurants and will write about it another time .Meanwhile eat and be merry once a week and rest of the days count calories :)

Music some random thoughts

Mizhiyoram nananjozhukum ........ Manjil virinja poove parayoo nee elam poove .... It was a friday evening of our tenth standard class . Pindrop silence ..Though a "disciplined school :) " and the class was filled with "disciplined " boys meking them listen to a malayalam song that too the emotional kind was not easy task .. And i not being the great singer it was not the voice . But i still remember it was the deep haunting melody and the "feel " of the song accurately reproduced and sung unaccompanied by any instrument .

Music has that power . It conveys what words or even non verbal cues cannot . And inspite of all the Raagas ,octaves , chords , etc is based on just 7 base units . Yes from the most seemingly random noise (for non western music lovers ) of heavy rock music to the carnatic and hindustani music music has a rhythm of its own . Learning it you feel once again like a child making baby steps into a world of its own .

Coming to another random thought it reminds me of the great movie Sankarabharanam in malayalam . In it there is a scene in which loud playing western music youngsters challenge a seemingly "oldie " classical music master . Soon they were baffled at the way he sings the tunes of the western song easily . As a child when i watched that movie in theatre i realised the superiority of classical music with its superb voice control but as a teenager and adult i gradually became a western music fan . But now learning music once again i am realising that scene meant not superiority or inferiority but all music is one in the basics .

Hotel california is one of the greatest songs and nowadays i am struggling hard to master it . Having heard or thought guitar is "easy " i went online and saw the video of it and read the history of the song . Then i realised it took one and half years to produce this song and the 4 or 5 guitars including a double guitar with 12 strings showed that there is nothing "easy " in music . Its a vast ocean and learning humility and practising is the only way to navigate this enchanting sea .

And lastly a random thought about my erstwhile neighbour . Neighbour in the sense that he lived 2 kms from my home but more than 100 years past . He was a great king . But more importantly unlike other kings who appreciated music he appreciated and wrote music .. His name was Swathi thirunal the Maharaja of travancore . I read about him recently and his contribution to music was exemplary as was his contribution to his kingdom including a great legal system and university college trivandrum .

Enough random thoughts ... From Don Henley (Eagles,,,, Hotel California ) to Swathi Thirunal Maharaja music has no colour , no division . Isn't music one more reason to celebrate the unity of mankind across countries and continents ........