Written by Ainkaran Sivaaji, the following chapter was published online in 2022 (in email draft stage since 2016). It follows the chapter Flock and Quays (2014).
Click the link below to read:
Blog
New Internationalist Spotlight on This is Kafala with Revagupti’s Escape and more…
Firstly, Happy happy birthday to the emoji empress and our eternal inspiration, my amma! God bless you and our family always! I love you xxxx
With the pressures of the pandemic upon us all, I’m praying that you are all staying safe, well and healthy. I’ve been busy at work with the ‘ole Science and composing since my last post, with a few updates to share.
I’m elated to be included in the renowned New Internationalist‘s January 2021 issue spotlight on the work of Tse Tse Fly Middle East and the project This is Kafala, with my Carnatic-infused piece Revagupti’s Escape. If you can, please listen and donate to this great cause here:
Tracks from the album, including mine, have also featured this month on Radio Blau, Leipzig in Germany, on the “no eXotik! No turistiK!” show. Proud that this project continues to gain traction in the effort to end the Kafala system and advance workers’ rights in the region. Do order a copy of the magazine issue if you can!
Thank you all again for your kind support!
Stay safe,
A
A Desh Drawing
A little Desh rāgam classical jam, romantic meets Carnatic 🙂
“Revagupti’s Escape”, a new track for album “This is Kafala”
I’m really pleased to contribute a new original track to the album and art/documentary exhibition project “This is Kafala”, which is bringing awareness and helping to dismantle modern-day slavery of migrant workers across the Middle East. Commissioned by the collective Tse Tse Fly Middle East, in association with the group Migrant Rights, “Revagupti’s Escape” was written during the pandemic, continuing the adaptation of other instruments with the Carnatic violin, treated with percussive music designs, using manodharma / improvisation in ragam Revagupti. Thank you for helping support another rights-advancing project, out on October 09.
To listen to the track and the album, stream/download below:
Read more on the project and learn more about the Kafala system and the work done to end it by visiting here:
https://www.tsetseflymiddleeast.org/this-is-kafala.html
https://www.migrant-rights.org/
Track credits:
Performed, written, produced, arranged, partial mix and mastered: Ainkaran Sivaaji
Carnatic violin, all instruments: Ainkaran Sivaaji
#thisiskafala #justice #newmusic #classical #composition #carnatic #raagam #uptempo #revagupti #ainkaran #revaguptisescape #rights #distantandaccessible #staysafe
Radio broadcast on Tse Tse Fly Middle East August 2020 – Resonance EXTRA FM now online
The “Saraswathi Mahal of Nallur Theme – Middle of the Library Tunnel” track features on the Resonance EXTRA FM / New New World Radio “Tse Tse Fly Middle East” August 2020 radio broadcast, which is now available online. Part of a monthly curation by artist/activist Simon Coates, this programme has long championed independent, experimental and new sound art and music from North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Delighted to continue supporting diverse content for diverse listeners! Do have a listen! 😊
Love, A
Chat and jig in Arabhi
It’s true that every Carnatic musician loves Arabhi rāgam – how can you not? Whether it was following the first attempts at “Sadhinchane” by Thyāgaraja in class, hearing the unparalleled beauty of Muthuswami Dikshitar’s “Sri Saraswathi Namosthuthè”, swaying in the theatres to the memorable Chennai filmi highlight “O Sukumāri”, Jathiswaram stanzas during Bharathanatyam productions, or even just being transported back to it in snaps during renditions of kritis in Devagandhari, Arabhi has been a staple of our classical traditions since its Pazhanthakkam Pann heydays.
This piece is called Chat and jig in Arabhi! 
For this arrangement, acoustic instruments were chosen to capture a live recording feel, where everything also appears to be in impromptu conversation. To help run the gamut of the rāgam, I composed with more Kalpanaswaram approaches in mind here, trying to keep it moving with the sound of a boombox stereo-fed electronic beat as a base. The sections where I play against my own Carnatic violin are a throwback to my orchestra days! Can you identify the other instruments in the track? This was, as always, created while juggling a fair few things on the move and maybe it shows!
The artwork is from a stop with the fam at the famous Rio Ice Cream in Jaffna. I was grateful to have this piece feature on a BBC radio tribute show to Sri Lanka following the Easter Sunday attacks there. I have been told that the melancholy as well as the light in the dark times really resonated with people which is a very special compliment to receive. Thanks for all the love everyone has shown towards this!
Prelude – An Ode to System 3
I think back to 2018 – and a recrossing of paths led to this collaboration that we were both very proud of! This piece is called “Prelude – An Ode to System 3” and features myself collaborating with Mythili Mahendran.
A spiritually significant composition for me, it was particularly wonderful to hear this played on BBC Asian Network/ BBC Sounds. 🙏.
📸: Ainkaran Sivaaji, photos of Sri Lanka
Ainkaran says: The phrases improvised on the Carnatic violin here were inspired by grand awakening, gentle arousal, the wisdom and brisk pace of elephants and auspicious sunny dawns, which I readily associate with the deity Ganesh or Pillaiyar. I wrote in ragas like Nalinakanthi, Gambeera Naatai, Naatai, Hamsadhwani and Bahudari for these evoke many soundscapes that are musically linked to Ganesh. They remind me of the ancient temples of Sri Lanka.
Mythili Mahendran, collaborator, says: Ainkaran supplied me with almost an hours worth of stems that he had improvised freely in a number of ragams (see his explanation above). His stems were all recorded via IPhone, and we aim to re-record this. However, he did manage to capture some beautiful birdsong in some of his stems! I rearranged his stems to craft a gentle melody that evoked a feeling of mysticism, wonder and the expanse of the universe. Once I had rearranged his stems, I added a supporting orchestral arrangement as well as santoor solo. I also included a reharmonised version of the Menu Jingle from Beyond Good and Evil I.
Credits:
Composition, production, performance, programming, partial mixing, mastering: Ainkaran Sivaaji, Mythili Mahendran
Carnatic violin, electronic tanpura: Ainkaran Sivaaji
Orchestral arrangement, santoor, other instruments: Mythili Mahendran
Flock and Quays: 2014 Chapter
A revisit to December 2014, and an excerpt I wrote that was first published on online platforms, from the project Book Phase 2: The Songbirds Supreme. Click the link below to read more:
From Stillness
Violin, keyboard, all instruments: Ainkaran Sivaaji
Performed, composed, produced, mixed and mastered: Ainkaran Sivaaji
A new day, a new piece.
“From Stillness“, a reflection upon departure, renewal and harmony, comes after a few weeks I’ve had absorbing the different patterns of life off the stage, outside the studio. Experiences that we share, such as the sacrifices and loss due to Covid, have naturally brought us closer to our loved ones. I’ve never been happier with what I do have and it would be dishonest of me to say that the year so far has been a hugely revelatory time. However, in these times of confusion, suffering and desperation, I’ve tried to use the privilege I have to: continue finding more inner focus through new appreciation of these patterns, further my personal development, help where I can and organise some plans – for myself, all you rasikas out there and others I care about – in the now and ahead.
Writing, like performing, cooking, analysis, project management, yoga or even a hike in the outdoors, has always helped me discern the value of both recurring and unexpected circumstances, and how best to reconcile them all through good discipline, health and growth.
In that spirit, it just so happened that this piece flowered from Semmalai Pann / Mixolydian mode, also known as Harikambhoji rāgam. As with all Melakartha rāgams, the swaras of Harikambhoji give room for new discovery through manodharmam, and always leave me in a better, more relaxed mood. After creating the piano foundation early in the process, more melodies came naturally and the later textures were easier to append. Here I achieved Harikambhoji by applying Graha bhedam (shifting of the tonic note) to Shankarabharanam rāgam. And so here we are! Whether you’re a sweet pea spectator, a chocolate craver like your cosmos 👀, or an over-eager Ceylon date palm (the real ones know 😉), wherever you are in the world, I hope there’s something in it for you too!
What layers can you hear? I didn’t want one instrument to overwhelm the piece, and taking that to heart, I evened out the audio production with soft strings, crafted in pizzicato, orchestral chord arrangements and rāgam lifts on my Carnatic violin, while including gayageum and harp flicks, some sparse MIDI drum pad beats, and other DAW patches into the mix. Teamwork people! 🙂 Again, this was recorded with a simple audio setup at my home studio on my iPhone and MacBook via a new mic pickup. There are chirps from more of our free feathered friends in the garden.
Thanks for waiting with me. The turning points of this process were reached quickly and also over longer periods; that’s just how my creativity came with this. It’s a familiar dance and I’m grateful for the trust that I and you all have in its transparency. Simply put, there was a lot of listening over it again and again, stretching some parts out, getting just the right amount of spice in. In those temporal moments, I’m grateful for the reminder that we are all entitled to our own private spaces, but can share what’s borne of them at the right time, and in venturing out again, I can work to the mutual health and benefit of all that are willing and who share common goals with me.
This project’s trajectory and everything that’s been happening has also got me appreciating those liberties that we have always embraced, but where such embraces have not been respected. The consequences for this have been real and revelatory. As our definition of “own” constantly changes and expands, as our voices are increasingly heard, we often find oppressive players and systems evade accountability further, victimise to more acute degrees and can be normalised to increasing levels, so how they are dismantled requires new approaches, strategies and skills.
What’s clear is that it’s never good enough to cocoon into such “normal” until some other makes it convenient for people to either change and be better, or parrot without doing the work. I know that most of us have tried to use available opportunities, small and large, to protect our Koshas and our diverse environments better, whether in “isolation” or “front-lining”, through sharing stories, petition, donations and other aid, sanction, voting, lobbying and protest, and for others, that can begin with listening, recognising, interrogating and learning from patterns within and around you.
I always hope that you find Gurus like mine, who’ve consistently shown how true self-love has never been typified by individualism, and by extension, shown how true connectivity has never resulted from prominence or from spread alone. Smashing those latter sermons, those false economies, in pursuit of healthier minds and hearts can mean a more attuned interior and etheric circuitry, where frontlines can then be redrawn to everything’s advantage. More compassionate and honest art can advance common ground, overcome antagonism and enable our better actors to win common battles.
The best among us hope we can continue to lead, represent, protect and spread a culture fostered in respect, dignity and accountability towards biodiversity in our natural ecosystems, where rehabilitation is not assured without the interior hard work, efficiency, trust, empathy, honesty, self-love and humility that’s necessary to sustain it. When successful, this may help all recognise and fix collapsing systems on all frontlines together, uphold and represent what’s been newly made, and build on that too. We’re worth it.
This time has been described as a portal to new beginnings and introspection.
A better “normal”.
In union.
From stillness. How does it make you feel? X
🐦🦎🦜🦢🦔🍃🦚🌺🌞🌕🌙🌱🧘🏽♂️🎹🪕🎻
#ainkaransivaaji #newcomposition #performance #recording #music #koshas #createeveryday #imagine #mindfulness #kindness #sociallygood #improvement #backtotheroots #originalstories #homestudio #alwayslearning #agency #staysafe#patterns #originalmusic #carnaticmusic #independentmusic #independentartist #violinist #production #classicalmusic #build #actnow #valuable-productivity #violin #piano #harp #orchestral #manodharma #ragakadamba #harikambhoji #sempaalaipann #mixolydian #diatonicmode #tonic #newinstruments #newsounds #makeart #inspiredbynature #inspiredaily #littlebylittle #thisandthat #workwithwhatyouhave #distantandaccessible
NB 1: If you can, please support the following, who are helping families affected by the pandemic in South Asia, some of which I have been proud to support for a few years:
https://give2asia.org/covid-19-pandemic-response-sri-lanka/
NB 2: If you haven’t already and would like to subscribe to my mailing list for upcoming highlights, please visit and register at:
www.ainkaran.com/contact/
Saraswathi Mahal of Nallur Theme – Middle of the Library Tunnel
For this piece, I played Carnatic violin, harp, a little vocals, bells, percussion and bass. I picture this swirling Saraswathi raga piece in the midst of an ancient, mandala-structured tunnel maze, where something is discovered beneath the ruins of the Saraswathi Mahal Library of Nallur, Jaffna..