Side A: Arunodayam (Varnam) : Bauli - Adi - Lalgudi Jayaraman
Entha nee Vina : Urmika - Tisra Adi - Pallavi Seshaiyer
Kamaakshi : Bhairavi - Misra Chapu - Shyama Sastry

Side B: Paal vadiyum mugam : Nattakurinji - adi - Uthukadu
Ramachandra (Bhajan) : Yaman Kalyani - Misra chapu - Tulsidas
Sivasthuthi (With Rudram) : chatusra gathi
Thillana : Mand - adi - Lalgudi Jayaraman

When the spools start to move, you would hear a screeching sound as though there is some mechanical problem with your machine, but don't rush to switch the device off. The sound is only the backdrop music, and (as you would find out eventually) is supposed to be that of birds chirping merrily, denoting dawn. Then comes the first notes of Bauli.

The inlay card promises that this album of Jagruthi is "a bundle of surprises" and it indeed is. Whether one would like those surprises or not, is quite another question. This reviewer certainly didn't. The sudden advent of the flute or the harp, or even worse, konnakol and Vedic recitals, is more a disturbance rather than a pleasant surprise. What Music Today, the makers of this album intended to provide the listener is not quite clear, but what is clear is that it is not unadulterated Carnatic music.

An appropriate title for the album would have been 'Jagruthi--A vadya vrinda' and perhaps then, a listener might get what he expects to. But even that would not be quite true, for the album is a mix of vadya vrinda, a bit of classical Carnatic, some bhajan and some Vedic chanting. While each one of these would make for a very pleasant listening experience, the fusion devalues their merits. Unless the cassette shopper buys it with the full knowledge of its contents, he is bound to be disappointed.

There is nothing in the album that is designed to delight. If one has to still point out the better features of the album, one might tap on the items No 2 and 3, which are the Urmika and Bhairavi bits. Urmika (which has a touch of keeravani) has been rendered very beautifully by the artiste Jayanthi, whose talent is obvious in this piece. Kamaakshi, the Bhairavi swarajathi and the famous Nattakurinji piece Paal Vadiyum Mugam, are for sure good, but there is nothing remarkable about them.

It is obvious that Music Today has striven to provide a very different listening experience. But it appears to have been conceived by somebody who has a MBA in marketing from IIM Ahmedabad, rather than by someone who has his fingers on the pulse of Carnatic connoisieurs