The A-Team!

" In 1972 a crack commando team was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they did not commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underfround. Today still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team"

The A-Team was an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who are working as soldiers of fortune while being on the run from the military for a "crime they didn't commit". Despite being thought of as mercenaries, the A-Team always acted on the side of the good guys, helping the oppressed. The show ran for five seasons on the NBC television network, from January 23 1983 to December 30 1986 (with one additional, previously unbroadcast episode shown on March 8 1987), with a total of 98 episodes.

Main characters

• George Peppard as Col. John "Hannibal" Smith

Main article: John "Hannibal" Smith

The leader of the A-Team, he is a brilliant tactician and a master of disguise. Hannibal is distinguished by his cigar smoking, disguises, and his catch phrase, "I love it when a plan comes together." Always "on the jazz" (a phrase coined by B.A., meaning that Hannibal thrives on adventure and life-threatening situations), he seems to genuinely enjoy every situation they get into. He also works as an actor, playing monsters in low-budget horror movies.

• Dirk Benedict as Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck

Main article: Templeton "Faceman" Peck

Suave, smooth-talking, and hugely successful with women, he serves as the team's con man and scrounger, able to get his hands on just about anything they need. Effectively second in command behind Hannibal (although technically Murdock outranks him), he is the one who arranges for supplies, equipment, and sensitive information using numerous scams and hustles. Tim Dunigan played this role in the pilot episode.

• Mr. T as Sgt. Bosco Albert "B.A." Baracus

Main article: B.A. Baracus

A highly-skilled mechanic and the A-Team's regular Mr. Fix-It, his character is basically that of the public persona of Mr. T himself. He is a skilled fighter and is easily roused to anger, earning him the nickname "Bad Attitude". Despite his reputed attitude, he is a nice guy at heart. He has a special fondness for children and, being a teetotaller, he never drinks alcohol, preferring milk instead. He is most upset by Murdock, frequently referring to him as a "crazy fool." He suffers an intense fear of flying, especially when the plane in question is flown by Murdock. This difficulty is often overcome by other members of the team drugging him, or otherwise rendering him unconscious, so he can be transported without objection.

• Dwight Schultz as Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock

Main article: H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock

The best chopper pilot of the Vietnam War, Murdock is either mentally unstable or exceptionally good at pretending to be so. Although he was their pilot on the Hanoi bank raid, he was technically not part of the A-Team and so not tried by the military. Though interned at a psychiatric hospital, he routinely escapes to accompany the A-Team on their missions. The symptoms of his "insanity" varies from episode to episode, but generally includes self-identification with fictional characters, hallucinations, belief in the "intelligence" of inanimate objects, among others. He frequently refers to his invisible dog, "Billy". Unlike B.A., the initials "H.M." were never explained in terms of Murdock's actual name, and the nickname "Howlin' Mad" is simply attributed to them. He was permanently discharged in the fifth season.

They just don't make series like that anymore! Watched the first two seasons dvd over the last coupla months....I am a total fan!!

Amrutham Varshaya....

"The Gods are speaking?!"
Its either some clattering language that Gods use that I can't understand! Or it is something only my glass window panes can understand and they are horrified. So much so that their teeth is clattering out of fear and making this sound....or it could also be the ice sleet hitting the window panes!
Its pouring out here.....and its not just a rain!
Who needs the weather man nowadays :) This is what the weather site has to say about it:
PERIODS OF SNOW...SLEET...AND FREEZING RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MIDNIGHT...BECOMING PREDOMINANTLY LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT. ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF A HALF INCH WILL BE COMMON. SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO MAINLY FREEZING RAIN AND RAIN TOWARD MORNING.

Tipped to be the last snow storm of this season with which we really have not gotten enough time to break ice(!!), this also means confined to home-base this weekend. Buoyed by the robust predictions made by the above mentioned soothsayer, and pushed along by the wonderful rendering of Amruthavarshini by 'Sreevalsan Menon' I decided to find out more about this sweet raga, and here goes:

Amruthavarshini does not find a place in most of the musical granthams. It is believed to be been called as Seelangi in Ghanabhaskaram & named as SmaraRanjani in SwaraprastharaSagaram and both mention that this is a janya of 65th mela Mechakalyani. There are versions where the raagam is considered as a janyam of the 66th Melaraagam Chithrambari.

This is a prathimadhyama counterpart of Gambheeranaatta. Where Arohanam Sa Ga3 Ma1 Pa Ni3 Sa,Avarohanam Sa Ni3 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Sa and it is janyam of chalanata, which is the 36th raga in the melakartha list. So theoritically speaking the prathimadhyama counterpart of Ghambheera Nata ( Janya of 36 chalanata), Amruthavarshini should have been a janyam of 72nd melakartha the Rasikapriya. But it has been listed only under 65th mela in ancient scripts.

If you look the scale, it could be the janyam of Gamanashramam or Kalyani or Rasikapriya or chithrambari theoritically.
Look at the arohana avarohana of the listed ragas will tell us that S G3 M2 P N3 S -S N3 P M2 G3 S will be same,

53. Gamanasrama S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S - S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R1 S
65. Mechakalyani S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S - S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S
66. Chitrambhari S R2 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S - S N3 D3 P M2 G3 R2 S
72. Rasikapriya S R3 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S - S N3 D3 P M2 G3 R3 S

So, we are bound to get confused. The point to be noted is that the Ga the Gandharam of Amruthavarshini is sung with a kampitha Gamakam where the Ga is oscillating.
That's the key!!

Muthuswamy Dikshitar has composed a wonderful krithi in this raga. There is a famous trivia attached to the making of the krithi in this ragam. "Anandhamruthakarshini amruthavarshini". When he was passing throug the village Ettayapuram in thirunelveli District, there was an acute drought. Since he was wellknown for his powers , people in the village requested him to get rains in. At their request Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar sang the above song in the Amruthavarshini ragam.

It is said that When he sang the line 'varshaya varshaya varshaya' it started rainging heavily flooding the village and he had to sing the same song with the slight modification . Instead of varshaya varshaya varshaya, he used sthambaya sthambaya he sang to stop the rains.
He is also supposed to have been the founder of this raga in the name it is currently known as.

So much for the research part, the icing on the cake is that this idea still works!! I played this song over and over again late afternoon today...i assure you the singer rendered 'varshaya varshaya', and so what if the weather instruments had already figured it out and the communication mechanisms had promptly done their duty!!
What with all the global warming and it being the Kaliyug and all, or it is also possible that the God was out Golfing at the time (yeah, the last time we met they told me they vacation out to warmer spots with family when the weather turns to the worse out here), the rains took a time arriving. It wasn't till a good 3 hours later that the skies opened up, but when they did, it was certainly amazing :)

I always enjoy watching a rain storm or a snow storm thru the windows, standing inside a comfortably heated room. A cup of hot coffee or tea would only serve to add to the bliss and joy of studying nature and her expressions.

Amrutham Varshaya Varshaya Varshaya......

Where am I?

I have worked back home too a few years, and looking back I feel I always worked harder back there, longer hours! Again I believe its probably more efficient and productive here thoh! And that renders a person kinda 'spent' at the end of the day...plus when u get back home, there's no one to boost the emotional account back on :)

So then u end up spending more out of 'own' account - with only sleep as a solace...and then its again the next day :)

The days zoom past, the weeks flow by and one day u suddenly discover that you are getting old!!! Slowly but surely ones role in the drama reduces considerably, until at last one eventful minute decides it all....Its time for others to take over and perform the meaningless and create a web of make-believe 'security' and ego that really means nothing!

I dont know why I said that or where I went down that path...but "kaivitta vaalum vaivitta vaakkum.....". And so, there it is!

Aura and Death!!

I discovered this interesting piece from an article someone wrote, as I was searching for answers to explain some of the rituals and practices that Hindus follow, on Death! This part was exciting and I wanted to post this out there....

"As a mystic, being in the presence of a dying person is truly humbling. The source power can be incredibly strong at times. You are, basically, standing in the shadow of a greater light being cast through a briefly opened doorway, flowing from a higher level of reality; from one of the spirit worlds or heavens. Unfortunately, for all intents and purposes this is an unseen light to mortal eyes.
A sensitive can feel the presence of the source in this light. It is a tangible, almost touchable energy that permeates the mystical heart center. This can make it swell and thrum with a gentle and powerful rhythm unlike any other; with a kind of spiritual energy resonance.
During the few moments before death, the ethereal-cum-mystical aura surges dramatically, flooding the room for a moment with a profound cool stillness. At this moment, it can feel like time itself has stopped. This is when the unseen light is at its strongest and the doorway into the spirit world is at its widest. Phenomena will sometimes be seen at this time, often visible to the naked eye. I have my suspicions that a dying person's Kundalini raises to its highest level at this time.
The time distortion comes from the rooms exposure to an abstract spiritual reality of a higher dimensional existence than the normal physical dimension we live in. The higher the dimensional level, the less the passing of time is apparent. On the highest level, time ceases and there is only The Eternal Now. Time stands utterly still.
At the moment of death, as a doorway cracks open into a higher reality and the spirit is drawn through it, all free energy can be drawn into it, including the emotional energy being vented by mourners. This can create an unnaturally cold feeling around any newly deceased person.
After death, the atmosphere in the room carries a shocked kind of feeling -- that's the only way to really describe it. This is caused by the terrific forces that were work during the death process. You can feel this hanging in the atmosphere wherever there has been a recent death; especially if you are a sensitive. Depending on the nature of the death in question, this atmosphere generally fades away over a few days. But in an area where there has been a violent or massive loss of life, this shocked feeling can persist for months or even years"