It wasn’t long ago (well, honestly it was long ago) that I came across this site called KannadaStore.com, based in California and that I placed an order for several CDs/DVDs from them. Though it took them over a week to process and ship, and nearly two weeks for the shipment to find its way to this place located between nowhere and good-bye, I am very much pleased with the fact that I was able to find them at all. Let me explain what I bought and why it means so much to me in a bit more elaborate fashion.

The DVD (it’s a 2-disc collector edition in English) I got is the pretty famous MAlguDi Days by R K NArAyan. I not only did watch some episodes of this series on TV but also had at least one episode as part of English syllabus (probably during Pre-University Course, I guess). Set in a mythical/fictitious village called MAlguDi and played by several artists whom I had seen growing up, I would love to watch these episodes again and again…

Other CDs I got are the following: a 7-disc set of BhAvageethe, music directed by C Ashwath, a 5-disc set of Mysore Ananthaswamy songs, a 4-disc set of Mankuthimmana Kagga of DVG (recited and narrated by Dr. LakshminArAyaNa Bhat — contents same as the cassettes given by Dr. M K Raghavendra in 2002) and finally, a single disc of Rathnana PadagaLu (composed by G P RAjarathnam). Just like any other normal human being, I searched these discs for the missing songs that I used to (and still) like a lot. Glad, I didn’t find many. If Kagga (the composition itself as well as Dr. Bhat’s real-lifistic narration) continues to enlighten me about various different aspects life in a philosophical manner, 12 discs of BhAvageethes provide the required soothing effect after a long day’s work. What I like about Kagga is the proven fact that the scope and understanding of each of its poem seems to grow with one’s own experience of life. Something that might have sounded / felt very mundane some day might (and does) turn out to be very deep rooted some other day, as life unfolds. BhAvageethes and JAnapada-geethes, like in any other language, have their own place in literature - and when people like Ashwath, Ananthaswamy, Atri, Rathnamala Prakash, … sing them, it definitely finds a place in my heart and mind.

You forgot about Rathnana PadagaLu, you say? Well, I didn’t. I had to write about this work of G P RAjarathnam in a separate paragraph, all by itself. This disc didn’t have a song that I was desperately looking for. All along while growing up, the song Brahma ninge jODistheeni henda muttida kaina…. (transliterally meaning, I salute the creator with hands that touched alcohol), never made much of a sense - mostly because I didn’t drink and the taboo drinking is associated with in the cultural setting of the society I grew in. It’s not that I drink (nowadays) to get drunk, but having tasted several different wines (mostly red, but white once / twice), beer (most of them locally crafted) and some cocktails, the same song makes near perfect sense now This is just like that Kagga I mentioned before, scope and understanding of the poems changing with life’s experience.

The best aspect of buying these discs is that I can now play them on my iPod Nano, which in turn means that I get to listen to these in my car’s radio via FM transmitter. Every drive I take nowadays is heaven or at least feels like I am driving towards heaven, for I get to listen to my favourite songs/compositions, one after another, commercial-free. Being an ardent follower of music and its literature (let me be honest - I cannot sing, at least not in public and I cannot play any instrument, except for few lines of a song in violin), I couldn’t have asked for anything more (but for some missing songs). And if you are wondering as to when I became an ardent follower of music and its literature, I have been one for as long as /me can remember - and it’s just probably one of my sides you never saw

In a nutshell, these have been revving up lot of nostalgic (nostos: returning home and algos: pain/longing) memories of my childhood days, that I guess once existed. And sincere apologies to my non-Kannada speaking/understanding (I have come to realize this strange difference - just because some one speaks a language does not necessarily mean that he/she understands that language) friends - if contents seem a bit wayward…