The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

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#238 கண்ணோடு கண்ணான என் கண்ணா
(சிப்பிக்குள் முத்து, 1986 , ஜானகியுடன்)

Very sweet singing by SPB! rAsA in playful mood with that solo violin (that almost sounds like kottAnguchchi violin) He also indulges in his lovely chords + signature tabla rhythm but switches to sweet mridh stuff / country drums here and there making the song palatable to those with a taste for rAsA-brand-TN-folk songs. SJ sounds sweet when she sings for Radhika but irritates when singing for the boy

Overall a nice, enjoyable song! I've never had any song other than lAlee lAlee in my personal recordings but frequently heard this number in a variety of places / settings. One such was in the marriage of a co-worker in a village between Palakkad & Pollachi (near Chithoor) and was quite amused because it was not so common in that area to hear movie songs in marriage functions (very much part of the TN culture but not seen so much in Kerala, even in Palakkad district). Also, unlike childhood when any song got played in marriages the corresponding movie scene never popped up in mind, nowadays I was conscious of the proceedings going on in the function and felt how they are totally not connected to the movie scene (that popped up in mind) and was often amused

Now, moving to Cbe, I'm reminded of the x-cut road of 80's. It used to be crowded from the Gowri Shankar on the entrance to the Singapore Plaza that al_gates talked about but will suddenly be without much pavement walkers after that and there won't be much crowd till vada kOvai. There used to be a railway gate near the end of x-cut road close to vadakOvai (& close to the vadakovai rly station) which was such a big irritant for bus travellers those days. (The businesses around that place had strong ADMK connections and stalled the flyover project all the days that MGR ruled / lived).

Anyways, there was this Lakshmi Complex in the middle of the crowded part of the road, a great place that I visited umpteen number of times during bachelor days (remember, after a > 1 hour bus ride from Palakkad, a town in another state). Ofcourse, AnnapoornA Gowrishankar (and the "colorful crowd" in the complex) was one of the reasons. There were a couple of rabbits that played around in the lawn in the middle of the complex, which was a nice watch as well. But the primary reason was, ofcourse, cassette shops & the sweet music that got played by them that filled the air around! It was such a great thing for me (and I at times tortured my friends / collegues who weren't that much into TFM appreciation but had to hang around with me but they didn't complain as there were enough of the "other attraction" anyways). Almost all of those rAsA sweeties of 1986-1990 were thorougly enjoyed by me in the first floor of lachchumi complex on many evenings! Also, during that whole period (and even years afterwards), that was the place for me to buy "towels" (thOLil pOda illai, kuLichchuthukkappuRam thuvatta) that were supposedly of "export kwality" in the shop next to the restaurant!

If I'm correct, that restaurant in the complex was the smallest of theirs but extremely crowded & extra clean. At times one could watch families ordering the "family masAl dOsai" - a huge one that was from end to end of the table and everyone eating a portion. (Can someone from NJ / CA or Chicago / Atlanta areas confirm if any of the Indian restaurants do similar stuff anywhere in the USA?)