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Kala Ramesh
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Kala Ramesh has pursued her Bachelor of Arts from Chennai with a combination of History, Political Science and English Literature.
Kala has long had a fascination for Indian classical music and is an exponent of both Carnatic and Hindustani Classical Music styles. She was fortunate to undergo vigorous training from leading musicians. She has worked extensively on Pandit Kumar Gandharava’s compositions and Nirguni bhajans along with the paramparic bandishes of the Gwalior Gharana, under the guidance of Vidushi Smt Shubhada Chirmulay, Pune.
Kala has made a concerted effort to understand the ‘spirit’ behind Kumarji’s gayaki – incorporating the vigour and the vitality, which is so inherent in his style of singing and she has performed in major cities in India.
A recently turned haiku poet in 2005, Kala has won three prestigious awards – The Heroin’s Nest Award (Spring ’06) and Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival - Haiku Invitational 2006, Top 30 Haiku and placed 5th in the 4th Annual Poets' Choice Kukai Results in the free format entry. Her work consisting of haiku, tanka, senryu & haibun has appeared in leading e-zines and anthologies.
She comes from an extremely artistic and culturally rich South Indian family and believes -- as her father is fond of saying -- that "the soil needs to be fertile for the plant to bloom" and feels that she owes this poetic streak in her to her mother. A proud mother of two young adults, Kala lives with her husband, a finance professional, in Pune, India.
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. Performance of Kala Ramesh and her troupe
at Prithvi Theatre, February 2006 .
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Anu-naad (Resonance)
March 5, 2005
Read more of her poetry here:
http://www.narthaki.com/info/articles/art134.html
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step after step
nature tells
her story
Kondane Caves by Kala Ramesh, India.
Published in simplyhaiku winter 2005
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compare and contrast
October 2006
India is known for its famed RASA theory. Roughly translated - you could say Rasa is emotion
The Nava Rasa so to speak - has been extensively spoken about in the Bharata Shastra. In music we use only 4 or 5 of these rasas - the nine rasas are more prevalent in dance and drama
From Rasa comes the word Rasika [connoisseur] one who enjoys a rasa.
To understand any art form we need to develop that keen sense of Rasa. How does one develop it?
By critically evaluating art
Every time I write - I know deep within me, that all that I write are not good. And after a few days when I read my poems again - I enjoy a few . . .
Constant comparing and contrasting the poems within your own creation is one sure way of developing this critical appreciation?
I’ve heard many people say that their compositions are like their kids, to them - each is precious - each is good
How can that be?
That means we are allowing our ego to dominate our work?
If even for a moment if one could distance themselves from their work - and look at it objectively, critically, one would know that all poems are not of the same quality? It cannot be!
If one develops this keen awareness - one improves in bounds and leaps and there is no stopping them.
Self critical analysis is the key note then- which begins with comparing and contrasting.
I've been associated with Indian arts for years now - and this is what my teachers have told me for years. . . and they can't be wrong?
Comparing two musicians is odious but comparing my raga delineation today with what i sang a week back is critical appreciation.
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... Creation and Silences ...
At India Nest Com, September 29, 2005
http://www.boloji.com/culture/006.htm
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And what is spirituality in music?
Perfection is like a horizon, the closer you go towards it, the further it moves away.
Read the full article here:
http://www.artindia.net/kala1.html
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A moot point
Out of sheer nothing
the musician
begins her sculpture.
Read the whole poem here:
http://www.narthaki.com/info/articles/art137.html
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Haiku and Indian Music
Read more of her haiku about this subject here at Simply Haiku
http://www.poetrylives.com/SimplyHaiku/SHv3n3/showcase/kala_ramesh_IndianMusic.html
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Shobha Gurtu
a tribute by Kala Ramesh
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HAIKU
dripping mist
pulls the sky
into the valley
Bottle Rockets –fall 05
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spring breeze-
I catch the tune
she leaves behind
Heron’s Nest Award – Summer – 06
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forest walk-
a spider's shadow
climbs the tree
Asahi Shimbun - 05
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winter loneliness:
the sofa she vacates
holds her shape
Bottle Rockets – fall 06
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our home
locked for a year . . .
spring breeze
Asahi Shambun - 06
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summer thunder
stepping out with bare feet
my soul
Asahi Shinbun- Sep 06
Says Editor, David McMurray at the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun- Tokyo -
Indian poet Kala Ramesh also tries deductive reasoning in the next poem about baring one's soul. An intended pun can be found in the similar sounding word, sole
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winter rain
colder than ever
this bowl of rice
Tempslibres - Oct 06
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the smile
lost in her wrinkles—
deep autumn
heron’s nest – fall 06
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temple gate-
the breeze gets in faster
than the devotees
tinywords – 30 Aug 06
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day breaks
the stars abandon
the moon
clouds peak – summer 06
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the year passes
weaker than my heart
my knees
Mainichi Daily News– Dec 06
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herbal massage-
I inhale the warm breath
she exhales
Frogpond - winter 07 issue
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a resonant call
from a sparrow’s tiny lung
basant
basant – spring in India , is also an Indian raga[ melody]
Simply Haiku -05
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the moving hand
holds high in music
the perfect sur
sur- means pitch
Simply haiku - 05
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wave-calls
haunting melodies linger
in mind’s abyss
Simply haiku -05
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leaves glimmer--
dripping in malhaar tans
the raga
malhar – a monsoon raga
raga- an Indian melody
taans - fast passages sung to tabla
Simply Haiku -05
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deep in raga
a sudden applause
startles the singer
India Saijiki -06
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dance recital:
long plaited hair in step
with her hips
Haiku Harvest - 06
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temple gate--
a blind beggar's pail fills
with blossoms
5th in the 4th Annual Poets' Choice Kukai Results
in the free format entry
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the butterfly
touches me
with her orange color
tinywords -05
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mango blossoms
here there everywhere
childhood memories
tinywords -06
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autumn wind -- coming downhill the sound of glass bangles
Illustration by Dr. Angelee Deodhar
Mainichi Daily News- Oct 06
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slipping in
beneath the kitchen door--
first sunlight
Clouds peak -06
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cyclonic rains:
the branches take the cobweb
for a swing
Simply Haiku - 05
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autumn dusk—
the hill gradually slopes
toward city din
Heron’s Nest –Spring 06
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the year passes
weaker than my heart
my knees
Mainichi Daily News–Dec 06
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the lantern?
a strong wind
parts her hair
Asahi Shimbun – Dec 06
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autumn morning
passengers in the train
behind their newspapers
Heron’s Nest – December - 06
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autumn lyrics
Father talks gently of life
beyond death
Tinywords – Nov, 06
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new year’s eve-
all that I could have left
unsaid . . .
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HAIBUN
AN HOUR PASSES
And so, an hour passes . . .
dead body . . .
only the shadows of leaves
dance on her face
My wife died - thirteen days back. To be single again-it's a strange feeling that after sixty-six years of togetherness, I am all alone.
Like the River Cauvery that swells in the monsoons then becomes so thin that it seems almost like a drawn line, my family was huge once when my five children were small - kids take wing and slowly my wife and I grew accustomed to being by ourselves.
My son and my daughter-in-law insist that I will feel miserable in London. I keep telling them that I am ready to go with them. My daughter-in-law says "But papa, you have your temple, your friends here. What will you do there? It's a foreign country papa, try to understand."
How can I tell her that I am scared of staying alone? Won't my grandchildren laugh at me?
sultry morning
the chameleon changes
its colours
First published in Simply Haiku - Autumn 2005, vol 3 no 3
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ANAMIKA
she smiles--
as the baby turns
in her womb
The first two being daughters, my parents had only the names of boys ready-I was born a third girl. Some suggested that I be named Savitri-then the next would be a boy, they said. My aunt suggested Lavanya Latha-to add to the confusion. Dr. Raman [my father's college mate] who attended to my delivery, was invited for the naming ceremony-the name not yet chosen.
the bee . . .
buzzing in and out
unaware of me
She came and suggested that I be named Kala, the day being Saraswathi Pooja, the 9th day of Navarathri-a nine-day festival celebrated throughout India. Now, I have all three names-from no name to too many?
a sparrow:
on the ledge answers
to my whistle
Anamika - in Sanskrit means "one without a name".
Hindus believe that boys alone carry the lineage ahead, as girls get married into another family-so a male child becomes imperative
Kala meaning "art" in Sanskrit, is another name for Goddess Saraswathi who is worshipped as the Goddess of Learning.The ninth day of Navarathi is celebrated as the day of Saraswathi Pooja.
First published in Contemporary Haibun online - Fall Issue 2005, vol 1 no 3
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NAME GAME
owl's eyes
on the moth-
winks as she flies
A class of 63 pre-nursery toddlers, all present-each child with pet names like Bubblu, Twinkle, Kitta, Chinnu, Sweety and so on. . . I get a stiff back bending down to read their school names pinned on to their shirts-names which they themselves are not aware of . . .
Is there no better way?
just divorced-
my new sense
of obscurity
First published in Frogpond --- winter issue Feb 06
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London morning dew -
fumes through my nostrils and mouth
like an Eastern dragon !
Artwork by Angelee Deodhar
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Haiku Blossoms in Indian Music and Dance
twilight
on my lighted lamp—
autumn hues
An auspicious occasion in India generally begins with lighting the traditional bronze lamp with wicks on all five sides. The prayer song, invoking the blessings of Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles or Goddess Saraswati, the mother of all arts and learning, sets the mood for a grand opening.
Read it all HERE
Simply Haiku, August 2007
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Three Haibun
Muse India Poetry Contest 2008
Certificate of Merit
Kala Ramesh – Renku 'Uncrumpled Wings'
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morning raga
a honey bee attempts
to waken the bud
Read more :
source : www.museindia.com
raga kalyaan
a pumpkin gourd
yields the autumn lyric
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The latest news about
KALA RAMESH
_kala, her haiku pen name
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