The Hindu - 20th Oct 2012

A musical tribute to Chennai

Novel attempt: V. Kalyanam, personal secretary to Mahatma Gandhi, releasing a CD titled ‘Chennaikku Oru Isai Vanakkam’ and the first copy of it is being received by film actor and director Santhana Bharathi in the presence of G. Venkataramani, Trustee, Hope Foundation, and Samuel JK Abraham, Member, Angre and Nut.

Hope Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, and Angre and Nut, a cross-cultural creative caucus have jointly released a Tamil music CD titled “Chennaikku Oru Isai Vanakkam,” a musical tribute to resilient Chennai, which has bounced back to normalcy after Tsunami, contributes its best in every field from people from across the globe, who have made the city their home.

 

 

 

CD release

The CD was released by personal secretary to Mahatma Gandhi V. Kalyanam, the first copy was received by director-actor Santhana Bharathi in the presence of Hope Foundation, trustee, G. Venkataramani, and Angre and Nut, lead member, Samuel JK Abraham, and artist Trotsky Marudu.

“I heard the song. I enjoyed the music. It has fine tunes. Chennai is the intellectual capital of India. This has not been mentioned in the lyrics of the song, “Kalyanam said, citing Former Governor General of India C. Rajagopalachari.

He appreciated Abraham’s service in the field of social work, and lauded his research work on cancer stem cells (CSCs).

Santhana Bharathi, said: “The song is a good attempt. The proceedings of the sales of the CD will be donated to Hope Foundation. Though I am a native of Madurai, I am proud to be a resident of Chennai. The lyrics of the song is good.”

He said: “As far as the film-industry is concerned, most of the legends like N T Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Sridevi, Hema Malini and Rekha Ganesan have gone from Chennai to make it big in Telugu and Hindi film industry,” he added.

Hope Foundation, Managing Trustee, G. Venkataramani, said the proceedings of the sales of the CD will be donated towards research work on cancer treatment, corneal blindness, and health and hygiene of rural women.

An autobiography in Tamil on Mr.Kalyanam’s experience as personal secretary to Mahatma Gandhi will be soon released by former President of India Dr. A. P.J. Abdul Kalam, he said.

Mr Abraham said, “Tamil Nadu is known for its hospitality, whereas Japan is a country known for its discipline. Both Tamil Nadu and Japan were hit by Tsunami. They have proved to be resilient. They share a common connection in Tsunami, and have something to teach the world.”

We wanted to highlight the common connection. That’s why, we have written a couple of lines about Tsunami in the song. I had written a song on Tsunami a couple of years ago, P. Reuben Rex, a co-lyricist, had written a song on Madras for its 372nd birthday.

During a conference on Angiogenesis held at Anna University this March, I met Reuben, and discussed our songs, which later evolved as “Madras Nalla Madras.” We plan to release the song in different versions in the future. A song on Tamil culture, describing Chennai as intellectual capital of India will be written in an appropriate manner. The song will also be released in a version sung by children, he added.