 |
| Maa-e-Ri - a lyrical conversation with Mother Nature released from EMI/Virgin records this April 2013. |
Once stardom
was a dream to me, now here I don’t think myself a star or something, but yes
at least I feel I m the chosen one. You make me feel so many times that I m
special. Here I want to thank u all from the core of my heart…….Life is very
much busy here in Mumbai, the dream city of every Indian singer. But sometimes
even in busy schedules, deep inside my heart it feels some kind of a vacuum, an
emptiness. Stardom, fame, success… everything becomes meaningless to me, as if
everything is fake. Why am I feeling like this? What is this emptiness? I asked
myself. Was trying to find out the answer for so many days, months and suddenly
one fine day, in that sparkling moment I realized that a different kind of
journey had started deep inside my soul. For a while, I was shocked to realize
the answer to my anxiety...so simple it was!!
Answer was hiding in my childhood, or
in a way in Mother Nature. I was a child of the beautiful hills of
North-Eastern part of India. I have grown up playing with concrete and sand,
breathing the breeze of beautiful and serene greenery, bathing at
waterfalls...... Precisely, I have been brought up by Nature; in short I am
daughter of Mother Nature!
Years have passed away. Life has
become more and more mechanical with success and fame. Dealing with this world
I never realized when and how I have lost the touch of Mother, the Earth
Mother. I feel pain and unsafe....wounded within. But now again I am returning
to her lap. I can feel the unconditional love of Mother Nature; an unknown
silence is drowning me to the sea of peace...its blissful!
I think this is happening to the whole
of our race. We are detached. So just trying to share the nectar of Nature
through my music with all of you.
There are total 6 tracks in this album.
The title track is in two versions - Hindi and English both. Talking
about the theme of Maa-e-Ri, Kalpana says “There’s a deep wound in people that
they have been so cut off from the source of their being-- their mother, Earth
Mother”. We are so caught up in these modern times that we forget about the
laws and principles by which we should live. Once we know these laws and drift
from them, we get in trouble. Now, we really are in a troubled situation with
raising natural calamities like tsunami, earthquake, global warming or glaciers
melting. Mother Earth is reacting towards our disrespect for her. Now is the time to reconnect with
Mother Earth. How we treat Mother Earth will affect the children yet to be
born. Let’s consciously think about the generations to come. Kalpana Patowary’s
Maa-e-ri is all about celebrating the beauty of Mother Nature shot in the
North-eastern region, yet an unexplored area of India, exotic and richly
diverse. Dawki is an oft visited place in Meghalaya, more so for tourists who
regale at the sight of the plains of Bangladesh as they stand at a vantage
point amongst the green rolling hills at the Indo-Bangladesh border. Another
exotic retreat point where the videos have been shot
is Mawlynong, which BBC has flashed in its chronicles as the Cleanest Village
in Asia. The Living Root Bridge, a phenomenon to be seen to be believed has
been rightly brought up to world’s notice through this audio-visual. This video
has brought up some of the hidden treasures of the North East India in
particular. A part of the video
has also been shot in Cherrapunjee, once the wettest place on earth. Mae-e-Ri, apart from portraying
the rich tapestry of some of the places of the Northeast India has also laid
ample emphasis on the attires, which is an array of attractive colors from the
looms of the place. The first attire is an ensemble inspired from one of the
tribes of Nagaland, a state known for its mesmerizing topography, its unique
ethnic culture, language, food and of course its courteous and humble people.
The video also captures traditionally garbed Naga tribesmen performing to the
beat of Kalpana’s song. Second attire is unique to the Darrang district of Assam.
This is mostly worn by the women during the performance of the Deodhani Nritya
on the auspicious day of Maa Manasha Puja. The motifs woven into this attire
are usually inspired by objects from nature, like birds, flowers, trees, etc.
2) TUM BIN
On a personal note this song is the
most favorite. Even its instrumentation. Speaks love!
This is me in its very core. Silently it arouses the urge!
This is me in its very core. Silently it arouses the urge!
3) PIYA HAI RE
I
think it’s a blessing that I got the very opportunity to explore music through its different
genre from soulful western number to raw and rustic folk style, from Indian
classical music to playback singing. But the most liked and talked about
singing style till now is the peppy, sensuous rhythmic style of North India. So
I had to sing Piya hai Re. Without this zone Kalpana is not complete…..I feel.
4) MAULA
While
Piya Hai Re is the most comfort genre. Maula happened when I was most confused
in life…seeking the truth.
5) TEJORE
KOMOLAPOTY
Bhakti
or Vaishnav movement in India gave birth to a new genre of religious poems and
songs in 14th - 16th century. The same trend was brought to Assam by Srimanta
Sankardeva and later his disciple Srimanta Madhabdev in the form of 'Borgeet'. Almost all Borgeets were written in
the Brajavali Language. Apart from Assamese influence, Bjravali has influence
of Sankskrit, Maithili, etc languages popular in other parts of India during
the Bhakti movement. This particular borgeet says - Yashoda, mother of
Krishna was awakening him as it was dawn and she wanted to see her child’s
(Krishna’s) beautiful face. She says that Dama & Sudama (krishna’s friends)
were calling him (Krishna) & elder brother Balram also has arrived. So
Krishna should also wake up to lead the cow boys to cow the surabhi (cow). Now,
for me, lyrically I see this particular borgeet as a celebration of “innocent
childhood” where every moment was magical and blissful.
6) MAAERI ( English)
This
happened accidently. Way back in 2001, when I aspired to become a national
level artist, I was very much into western kind of singing but then happened
Bhojpuri folk and somehow I got so busy. This genre singing got lost. Here I
have to give the credit to MUSIC BOX – the most heard album in my entire life……
Mariah Carey, my inspiration while I was in tenth standard. Long after fifteen
years now even I have my own recording studio in Mumbai named after her most
famous and saleable MUSIC BOX
 |
| Living Root Bridges in Mawlynong, which BBC has
flashed in its chronicles as the Cleanest Village in Asia. |
*********
No comments:
Post a Comment