The Magic of Music

Hi friends,

I have often wondered how music can without the use of any words evoke so much of our emotions, invoke our senses and often inspire us to live our dreams. It has that innate ability to transcend all barriers.... be it cast, creed or color... or be it even a community, country or continent. Don't be surprised if it resonates in distant cosmos too. Every child perhaps has grown up with the lullabies of his/her mother. As a child grows into an adult, music also expands in life depending upon individual's taste, time and trials in life.


My journey in music has at best been patchy in best of its times; nevertheless interesting. Right from my middle school days in the early 1970s, I have been treated to a multifarious diet of PBSrinivas , SPBalsubramanium and of course in the later years the inimitable Dr Raj Kumar... all in Kannada. The evergreen Binaca Geet Mala which was handed over down the generations, was a must to listen to, week after week after week only to be contemporary with the Bollywood music. I must admit, this Binaca musical extravaganza helped me to hone my skills in Hindi to a great extent.

In terms of Indian classical music, all that I could then vaguely co relate was with the Greats, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and MS Subbulakshmi who were talked of, with reverence when their programmes were aired on AIR. Who cared ... what the difference was between Hindustani or Carnatic.. All that raga, tala, pallavi and for that matter, the shruti, swara or the alankara etc were merely some forgettable terms of the musical world only heard of during a classical music show. Words such as Thumri, Kajri or the Gharana were never music to the ears. Even the jazz, the rock or the hip - hop etc were only noise. Anything melodious found a place in our hearts. Be it devotional songs, bhajans, folk or light classical filmi songs which were embraced with open mind and heart. Gazals ofcourse came much later in life when I learnt the language to appreciate the ever so meaningful lyrics.

My tryst with Hindustani and Carnatic music however eluded me for a very long time.

During my tenure at Trivandrum however only a few years ago, my whole perception about Carnatic music changed. These South Indian cities, by Jo, I mean ‘by Thiyagaraja’, thrive in Carnatic music. It appears to be a way of life for most middle and upper class families. Every boy and girl is taught the basics by default. How they follow up this art and craft later in their lives is left to them.

The month preceding the ONAM festival is most keenly awaited by all the music lovers. Many concerts and Sangeet Sabhas conducted in this Annual Event with great fanfare and all over Kerala, these events find great patronage.

With a child like enthusiasm as I attended some of these Sabhas, I soon realised that what I had started off as a mere curiosity had fast turned into an obsession. A little later with little effort, I could easily identify most instruments, be it mridangam, ghatam, kanjira, tambura, nadaswaram, voilin or the thalam. Not just identify the instruments but even discern the melodious sound of music they produce with eyes closed.

Names such as Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar, A Ramanuja Ayengar, Dr M Balamuralikrishna, Nityashree Mahadevan, Bombay Jayashree, Sanjay Subramanian, NJ Nandini, etc started becoming common in general conversation. Just thinking about the forthcoming Carnatic music events in the coming days thrilled my heart and eagerness to attend these concerts excited me no end. Apart from the Greats who performed on the stage and the their diehard followers, what impressed me equally was the involvement of the youngsters who listened to the renditions with all types of gestures romancing the music with their heads, hands and feet. The entire musical environment transported the listeners to a zone of its own beyond time and space.

My quest to learn about the basics of Indian music however remained unquenched for a long time until I accidentally hit this series of videos in youtube by this young lady Anuja Kamat. Have been immensely impressed by the depth of her knowledge in the subject, flair for presentation, command over language and the innocence of her enthusiastic connect with her viewers. Every episode of her video series is fast proving to be a great learning experience for me. Thanks to this lady, the mystic of Indian classical music has started unfolding in all its majestic flavours. If you search her name on youtube, her episodes will dote all over the screen.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VQjH0RrdXU
 
That indeed folks, is the magic of music. My musical journey goes on..... albeit at a faster pace now.

Wishing you too the very best in your musical sojourn.....

Bye and cheers.....


✍️✍️satishdeshpande✍️