Princess Shahana: December 2008

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Mishti's Pictures

Its been a while since we got a chance to update little Shahana's activities. Oh she has certainly kept us very busy and "on our toes". Now very soon, she is going to go to a playschool!
Here are some pictures of her in her varying moods :)

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/talk2anand/MishtiBaby#

GYAAN..

Source: wikipedia - Link

Shahana is an Indian classical raga.

In Carnatic Music, Shahana is janya of the 28th mela Harikambodhi. It is a vakra sampurna raga and an upanga raga characterised by soft, weighty sancharas. Emphasizing the rishabham, panchamam, dhaivatham, and shadjam lend particular beauty to this raga during alapana. Gandharam is seldom rendered flat, and should never be given prominence in an alapana. The same goes for nishadham; it is almost always rendered with gamakam. There is, however, one particular sancharam where it can be rendered without gamakam to beautiful effect; singing or playing S N D ,,, in the lower octave, as seen in Thyagaraja's composition Giripai Nelakonna, accentuates the raga's colors well. Other than that, the raga is typically rendered in accordance with the arohana and avarohana given in most music books. However, a word of caution; this raga requires many years of experience at both performing and listening to other artists to master. Though singing the raga may seem simple, perfectly rendering the many subtle, delicate phrases and gamakas calls for a more practiced hand.

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Another meaning - In urdu, the word "Shahana" also means aristocracy.