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Then came Tamil FM stations helping the chennaites in beating the monotonus lifestyle. And they are trying to do it 24*7*365.

I’ve been listening quite a lot to Suryan FM @93.5, coming from the Sun TV group. Suryan FM is undoubtedly reaching a vast audience and caters as an alernative to the All India Radio. Radio Mirchi on the other hand is groovy and kind of more like a drive through FM station that you would often come across in the US. The audience lie clearly divided between the two.

One of the recent hit in Suryan FM is Kittu Maama Sussi Maami that is aired from 8-9 am everyday. Kittu Maama and Susi Maami are couples who find themselves very attached amidst the chaos and the quarel they go through everyday. These are fictionary characters created and they are mimiced well. Kittu Maama talks with a brahminical accent and Susi Maami takes on a Marwari’s tamil accent. Initially this wasn’t a program of my choice for it sounded very silly and childish. Over a period, I’ve started liking this for the interesting plot/news that Kittu Maama and Susi Maami convey everday through their conversation.

Aayitha Ezhutu fame Mirchi Suchitra is still the prime time host of Radio Mirchi @98.3 FM. While Radio Mirchi hit the town, suchitra was topping the favorite host list. Not anymore. While having a great voice, Suchitra, fails to use it because of her urbanised tamil accent which is monotonous at times and the background music that keeps interuppting from listening to what the host talks. With the feel of a westernized FM station, Radio Mirchi can definetly do better if only it shuns the bad usuage of tamil. Else we will be talking about a different genre of tamizh similar to the Junoon Tamizh.

Suryan FM’s host Kanmani is still my favorite. Her program Kaalai thendral is truely a breeze that beats the chennai heat. I have gone gaga over Kanmani a few times before , so I stop here and persuade you to listen to her show, Kaalai Tendral in Suryan FM, everyday from 7-8 am. If the television had compere trend setters like Metro Priya and the-still-going-great Pepsi Uma, Kanmani is certainly a trend setter in FM radios. Hats off for the good work she does everyday.

[Pic : The Hindu]

TS Nagarajan‘s account of his acquaintance with MS Subbulakshmi, as a photographer is astounding. In yesterday’s Hindu, his column called as Portraits of a diva, he vividly captures the simplicity and the egoless behaviour of MS Subbulakshmi when he met her in her house for a picture sessions. Very interesting is when he talks about the MS blue.

But well before that, in this account of his encounters with MS directly and indirectly, he captures his childhood incident when he saw MS Subbulakshmi for the first time as actrees in the screen and how he remained unaffected by that.

Here is where I am able to connect to him. Similarly, during my childhood, when I used to wake up every morning with that Bhaja Govindam or Kausalya Supraja Rama Poorva Sandhya Pravarthathey singing, I hated it for the morning it brought with itself. I remained untouched by MS or by her god’s own voice. It lasted until I saw a performance of MS Subbulakshmi in Music Academy and was spell bound by the voice, the charm and her personality. It’s from then MS Subbulakshmi became a demi-god, for me. She doesn’t sing anymore in concerts and all that we can get to hear are her old collections/concerts. That only makes me hope that I was born some 25-30 years before to have enjoyed her music in concerts.

P.S : Yesterday’s Hindu Magazine is a collectible for column geeks, for it had some of the best columns including the above one. Suggested reading includes Shashi Tharoor‘s column on the global media called Weapons of mass distraction? and the Media Matters column by Sevanti Ninan.