Music Review - Raavan

Raavan - A Contempory figure in Ramayana, the title of the album itself brings about the sense of anxiety of what the trio of Mani Ratnam, Gulzar and A.R. Rehman has to offer in this album.... Who can forget Dil se, Guru.. and the magic which Rehman created in Roja, Bombay ... so Raavan once again had a huge expectations on its back, well before its release.. and one can say that Rehman has once again re-created his magic and just sets another bench mark for himself.

The album starts with the well orchestrated "Beera Beera" which looks like the introduction of the lead actor in the movie... Vijay Prakash after his magical appearence in Fiqrana (Blue) .. is straight at the helm of affairs from the word Go... well supported by Mustafa Kittone and Keerthi, the song is melodious and has trademark rehman all over... the only miss in this song is the usual humming of Rehman in the background which has made lots of his songs almost unforgettable ..the track sets the mood straightaway.

Just when the mood sets in with what is next in the offering, comes another magically woven song "behne de". Song is dark and is heavy in its lyrics wirtten by Veteran Gulzar saab. Such is the magic of the song that one would just sit quiet for a while going into deep thoughts. The crest and trough of the music brings the true emotions which the song want to convey..well sung by Karthik.. the song just sets in the mood little further.

Now Rehman's album without Sukhwinder Singh is something which can't be possible. Yes !!! "Thok di Killi" brings Sukhwinder into action... and this talented singer does not disappoints. Again the song is heavy in lyrics -- just listen to the words this songs uses... an excellent rendition of a rebellion from inside.

Remember "Genda Phool" of Delhi 6?? Yes Rehman brings Rekha Bhardwaj back and "Ranjha Ranjha" --something which is par excellence is created. The song which has a folk touch is a gem of music. This is sure-shot going to hit the chartbusters in the time to come. The song is reminnance of "Banjar Hai sab banjar Hai" of Sathiya.

"Khilli Re" is another beautifull poetic song well written by Gulzar saab and well sung by Reene Bhardwaj. The song has a classical touch and tabla in the background gives a mystic touch to it.

The Album departs with its final offering "Kata Kata". A type of song which has always been associated in all the Mani Ratnam's creation... Rukmani - Rukmani of Roja and Kuchi Kuchi Rakma of Bombay... the song mostly is based on South Indian music but then Rehman beautifully uses Ila Arun to give a Rajasthani "Thaap" to it. Another fun-filled track.

Overall Rehman has far exceeded the expectations ... But as I said earlier also.. a Song or two by Rehman himself and his appearence with his usual humming could have made the whole affair more melodious to the otherwise flawless musical.

Rating 4/5.

My Pics : "Ranjha Ranjha", "Behne Do"

~ Vikalp

Navratra and its importance

The pious nine day festival of navrata bagan today (saturday 19/09/09) and shall continue till sunday (27/09/09) ulitmately culminating into the festival of Dussehra which symbolizes the victory of good over evil.
Navratra or nine-nights are devoted to the nine incarnations of Godess Shakti or Durga. Durga means shredding of evils or(durgati). By appeasing diety, we are seeking her blessings to free us from all the evils. In Hindu religion, Shakti and her incarnations has been regarded as the mother who has given us all what we possess. Hence we have nine days of festivities which are devoted to the Mother .Also the mother symbolizes shakti (or energy).It is this shakti which helps God to proceed with the work of creation, preservation and destruction. Shakti represents the ultimate power used by Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh(shiv). Hence we have Navratras to worship this supreme power; Shakti.

Navratras are celebrated twice a year. One is celebrated in the spring time which is also known as chaitra navratri. It finallay culminates into Ram Navmi (Birth date of Lord Rama) and the other is celebrated during the onset of winters, sharad Navratri.
Apart from the religious reason of celebrating navratri, I found that we have one more reason for celebrating this festival.
In Hindu culture, we devote every blessings of nature as a gift from God. Navratri also marks the seeking of blessings from the Godess for the change of season.While Chaitra Navratris marks the onset of Summers in India, Sharad Navratris marks the onset of Winters. And we celebrate the mark of this season with the festival.
During Navratri, people observe fasting for nine days. There is a specific reason for keeping fast.
Fasting has its own importance and is almost prevalant in all the religions like, muslim;jainism;buddhism etc. Fasting means one is invoking his satguns (or positive energy). When one observes fast, one need to cleanse and purify himself from inner evils and dirts. One is abstaining himself from all sort of ill-activities and seek his true inner self(atma).This helps in gaining self-confidence and invoking our postive energies. By eating tamsik (all Non-Veg or Spicy etc.)food, one is increasing his negetive energies. Hence during fasting, there is a provision of eating satvik foods. Though these days, fasting has emerged as a new business and a business oportunity for restaurants serving special navratri menus.
Navratri also symbolizes socialising among the individuals. People involve themselves in Jagrans, Satsangs, Garba, Dandia nights, Durga Pooja celebrations which marks a sort of social gathering.
Hence Navratri is not only about Pooja, Fasting and more for theist people. There is more than all of these and for every one.
Wishing you all a very Happy Navratri and Happy Dussehra.

How to resolve low volume of IDT sound card in Dell Studio

Hi,
Recently I purchased a new Dell Studio 1537 Laptop. The laptop otherwise was very impressive but for its low sound volume. The sound volume was so low that I could not hear even the welcome and logoff volume when Windows start and Windows Log off. After lots of googling and reading stuff from elsewhere, I resolved the problem.
The problem was with the incompatibility of Windows Vista High Definition Audio driver and Dell's IDT driver which was not allowing the IDT driver to use the laptops speaker to its full capacity. What I did, was .. first I uninstalled both IDT and High Definition Audio driver. Make sure you are also deleting the IDT files as well. The I rebooted my system. Windows then searched for the Audio driver itself and reinstalled High Definition Audio Driver automatically. With the inbuilt HD driver, the sound volume came back to its fullest.
Though I have resolved this problem, yet the quality of the sound is not very good. At high volume, the sound quality is clicky !!! any one found the resolution of this???

Thanks
Vikalp

Error in opening CHM file in Windows Vista SP1

Recently I downloaded a chm file in windows vista and to my surprise when I tried to open the file, all the chapters in the files showed an error "Address not valid " in the right pane.
To resolve this problem, always download the file locally and when opening the file when windows vista ask for permission to allow opening the file, make sure you have unchecked the check box ""Always ask before opening this file" ".
Hope this will help...
Thanks
Vikalp