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TFM DFers Reunion - Class of 9x, 2kx - Down Memory Lane

Topic started by cosmician (@ 194.170.127.161) on Tue Mar 26 01:26:00 EST 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hi All,

Apologise for this sudden and unusual thread.
We have regular contributors and silent watchers in these forums, some new, some have been there since inception of the forums. Today we have a lot of new faces and there will be more.

I am just curious to know about which year/month did you join in the discussions here..

..I still remember chancing upon newtfmpage in Jan 2001 and sparking off a war in the 'IR's latest' thread unknowingly without realizing the ongoing IR-ARR fans blood feud ! A few of the DFers who were around (and are still)around were : kiru (the audiologist), bharath (a new generation fan), swami (sangeetha vidwan and once Bharath's nemesis!), common friend (a balanced fan), ambleen, eden(who got hurt when I said that he was still stuck in the 70s!), Karthik S (the music dealer who can make out a fake from an original!)...and a lot more interesting people that I have not mentioned !

Could you guys/gals tell us when and how you joined the discussions here and also narrate any funny incidents or discussions that had happened ?

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: AVR (@ 143.127.3.10) on: Thu Mar 28 01:42:51 EST 2002
  
  I came to know about this site in August 2001 or so and have been posting since then. I have come to know a lot about TFM and south indian music through many threads here ...which otherwise i never would have come to know.
  
  Nevertheless there are too many very low-spirited and intensely boring IR-ARR fights and very very unobjective SPB threads with the same comments being posted over and over again for over 6 months. Nonetheless there are many good articles in the archives, and music directors section! Overall its a wonderful forum.
  
  
• From: Shankar (@ 128.107.253.44) on: Thu Mar 28 03:18:21 EST 2002
  
  I have been around from august 97 onwards...Got to meet quite a few ppl in b'lore and made quite a few friends in PS (aka Peesoo),Madhan, viswa (we both were in the same company), RS, bb, MS, Ravi, RR, NOV and others.
  
  
• From: cosmician (@ 194.170.127.161) on: Thu Mar 28 06:14:18 EST 2002
  
  Hi Peeps..good idea...any takers ?
  
  
• From: cosmician (@ 194.170.127.161) on: Thu Mar 28 06:19:32 EST 2002
  
  Bharath...I was also thinking of asking everybody here to list the threads they had started but should this request be as a separate thread or just a part of this reunion thread...? i am not able to decide
  
  
• From: cosmician (@ 194.170.127.161) on: Thu Mar 28 06:22:06 EST 2002
  
  >>>How about posting people's pics. on the site? Can make a big difference, IMHO.<<
  
  Saketh@Atlanta...
  
  I think that's a good idea too !
  
  
• From: magix (@ 203.199.248.103) on: Thu Mar 28 07:09:52 EST 2002
  
  Nooooooooo! :)
  
  
• From: Vijay (@ 203.127.155.68) on: Thu Mar 28 07:42:41 EST 2002
  
  I am a silent reader right from 98. I was just searching thru the web for some tamil song pages and found this site.
  It's been pleasure, seeing thru some IR-ARR bashings (occasionally, adding fuel to fire). Apart from few hurting postings, I've been just enjoying.
  Btw, how long is this newtfmpage running. Any celebrations ? I'd love to participate if it is Chennai/Bangalore/near by. (Provided someone start arguing IR-ARR, I want to see a *live* programme.).
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 63.89.188.145) on: Thu Mar 28 11:13:24 EST 2002
  
  It’s been five years since I came upon the DF. It was an oasis for me to find such a passion for TFM among so many. The gang that started it all was a very classy, informed bunch: Sathya Keerthi, Manisegaran, NOV, Basker, Kanchana, Pagalavan, Ravi, Rajaraman, Bones, etc. The “Literature in TFM” thread was one of the first threads I read from start to finish without batting an eye. At that time, I worked at a startup that was dragging its heels towards release, so I put in many hours a day in the DF. By the time I got involved the standard had already slipped to IR vs. ARR arguments, but that wasn’t still the main event. There were plenty of threads that were informative like the technical ones started by Rjay, Srikanth, Sridhar Seetharaman and others. Ramki and Mano, the encyclopaedias of the obscure, culled up enough unknown songs to my relish. It was a time that Ravi and Rajaraman were starting to regret their roles as admins, so I pitched in voluntarily to represent the losing side’s argument in any thread in order to avoid one-sided bashings; the result, there were debates (or two-sided bashings) that lasted days with only a handful in the center and the rest of the yes men cheering on with pot shots. Srinath and I went a few memorable rounds on debates, most of which were escalated by the adorable Srikanth who couldn’t escape conflict even when he didn’t participate. Again, we never resorted to personalizing the issue or calling names.
  
  I used to get virus e-mails, and angry threats on a daily basis from HCIRF. But the most famous was from a Northie who got his panties in a twist for my statement, “Lata Mangeshkar sings in a frequency that only mosquitoes can hear”. He solicited me via e-mail and insulted me in Hindi, and not knowing the damage, I retaliated by calling his mother a circus slut who was too ugly for human servitude. We exchanged barbs that should’ve gotten both of us doctorates, but I must say with sick satisfaction that I got the better of him for I got his cursing translated. I nearly had an argument with every one I had befriend, even poor NOVwho must’ve never raised a voice ever in his life. Most of these arguments still didn’t deteriorate to the cheapness evident today.
  
  While playing the devil’s advocate, I’ll be considered HCARRF or HCIRF and attacked accordingly depending on the thread and topic. When I honestly confessed that I go with favorite songs regardless of MDs or singers, people had a tough time believing it. My aim was to stay true to a debate that was started and argue it to its end, even if it meant scrutinizing one’s idols, mine included. Somehow this never worked peacefully, someone always got ruffled feathers. Very few understand that one’s taste is not necessarily the same as fact. Someone who said IR is the best in the world was making a proclamation of taste and not necessarily adding anything as proof in a debate. So, these discussions raged on and on as people were defending their taste with anything they could dress up as fact. I must admit I was involved in many such arguments long after having realized their futility. Another thing that painfully dawned on me was that it’s hard to read people’s intention when posting. My posts never benefited from smilies, so there were times that a sarcastic comment I made did more damage than was necessary. I most of all learned the power of the word from the DF and use it judiciously these days.
  
  The good easily outweighed the bad experiences though. The first thread I started was “Favorite TFM Analogies” which received tremendous participation. After that, I started a whole bunch of threads to focus on underappreciated MDs like Vijayabasker, V.Kumar or anything but ARR and IR in the usual worshipful manner. I revived or started many threads on old timers, technical details and lyrics. The first philosophical thread “Is Art Amoral” was a great effort in going beyond the usual, but now it rests in peace in the forumhub archives somewhere. I’m very proud of the “Kannadhasan vs. Vairamuthu” symposium that I started (which the admins still haven’t made a Permanent thread!); it saw some amazing participation. I heard a friend recall that when he met one of Kannadhaasan’s sons, he had heard about the symposium. The research and effort that went into those threads were awesome. I started the “Paattukku Paattu” thread which has its own dedicated following. Paattukku Paattu spawned a chat room that did the ultimate good in bonding two participants in marriage. Circa 98-99 I was the most frequent visitor to DF and the archives have the statistics to prove it.
  
  I’ve learned a lot about music in general and TFM in particular. I’ve learned to go beyond the sweetness of the voice and appreciate technical aspects in singing,( i.e. Hariharan), from singers like RajaG and MS. I’ve learned to regard Kannadhaasan, MSV and Ramamurthy even higher than I did before from Manisegaran’s posts and the Pazhaya Paadalgal Pakkam. My appreciation of PBS and LRE are due to long delightful conversations with Sriram Lakshman. I wish people shared their knowledge the way Sriram does. The normal tendency is to tout the facts one knows, and to use facts as some sort of weapon in argument or as a snotty remark to insult another. Sriram never does that and it humbled me. Sashi and Geetha and few others used to give excellent reviews to new soundtrack releases that helped in discovering new treasures. Unfortunately those days are gone. Anyone attempting a review these days is gangtackled and harassed by lesser humans. These days I restrict myself to a handful of threads that don’t deal with garbage. My personal TFM collection soared after discovering the DF. I found friends with rare songs that I needed and got them shipped from places like Singapore and Australia.
  
  “Paadal ezhudha vaarungal” was another fabulous DF venue that stoked my lyric writing and paved the way for creative collaborations with Srikanth, RajaG, and Rjay. The forumhub brought along a host of other debates and arguments, but through it all it inspired me to write stories and poems. The poetry workshop still goes on strong and I can’t imagine my productivity without the forumhub. I made some lifelong friends through the DF and forumhub; the list is entirely too long and personal to share.
  
  
  
• From: bb (@ 206.154.118.2) on: Thu Mar 28 15:47:49 EST 2002
  
  nice writeup, Udhaya!
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.25.241) on: Thu Mar 28 23:35:05 EST 2002
  
  ONe more influence I ought to mention is GV - the one who made me a bigger fna of yesudas than I was :-) ( and sometimes accused of being notoriously addicted to his songs and style :-) )
  
  
• From: yaaro (@ 213.121.212.121) on: Fri Mar 29 06:34:46 EST 2002
  
  I have been away for a few days-my computer is down.not everyone has the previlege of browsing at your employers expenses!
  I stumbled upon the forum thru search engine search for you-know-who.and still here after 3 years.Amazing forum,very addictive too.I keep checking for new posts more often than I check e mails.
  Good discussions, good fights with a few dfers(most recent with she-who-should-not-be-named!).Past tiffs with bharath(in Ir experiment thread).
  I still dont know why we have not been able to get mentioned in Vikatan net page?
  But good to see a thread where peace and only peace rules!will come back with a vengeance once my computer comes back!
  
  
  
• From: peeps (@ 12.162.224.6) on: Fri Mar 29 07:30:45 EST 2002
  
  cosmician ,
  namma rendu peru thavira yarum meet panrathai pathi pesavey maatingranga...namma rendu peru mattum meet pannuvoma?neenga male cosmician'a illa female cosmiciana?:-))
  
  
• From: sabesan (@ 172.170.82.225) on: Fri Mar 29 07:59:50 EST 2002
  
  yaaro - i think newtfmpage did get mentioned in VIKATAN long time back - not sure though.....
  
  

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