SMACK THAT!

Prenote:

This post goes out for the South Indian youth , with due respect to their individual taste of music.

Even if you have a bad voice, never mind. Sing your heart out,even if it reminds people of a pregnant goat!

I have a faint remembrance of reading somewhere that music plucks the strings of our heart, and everytime i sing, i prove it right. My taste in music roots back to M.S.Subbalakshmi's renowned Venkatesha Suprabhatam(VS). Now, i am not surprised if anybody comments that i am a shithead for having called VS, my taste of music. I am apathetic to such comments from others. Nevertheless, I cant help it. I grew up with keerthans and devotional carnatic songs being called "music" at home.

Keerthans are the compositions of eminent devotees of lord Vishnu, namely Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa and Vadiraja. Purandaradasa was the first composer to include morals on ordinary daily life in song compositions. For all the enormous influence that he had on carnatic music, musicologists call him "Sangeetha Pitamaha". Based on one of Kanakadasa's compositions, it is interpreted that after he got severely injured in a war, and was miraculously saved, he quit his profession as a warrior and devoted his life on composing music and literature with philosophy explained in common man's language. I feel that their erudition on the Almighty and the life of a common man is astounding because of its simplicity.

In a performance centered world as ours , we do not have time to fraternize with our own brothers or sisters, let alone neighbors and relatives; pray to god, be it even for a few minutes; take a walk in the woods; to really stay connected with our inner-selves. Amidst such a scenario, i do not think music would serve its purpose if it just gave you some adrenaline to dance a few random steps in a disco. There is more to it. Music is attributed to have healing powers. It is gateway from the earth to the heavens.

I have been observant enough to see people avert the carnatic songs , just because such songs are not fashionable. As Indians, we are happier with western artists like Eminem even if we cannot understand half of their songs , when they hit our ears for the first time.

For me, keerthans have given some of my best moments of ecstasy, alleviated my sorrows, apart from inducing devotion towards god. Do try them. It would even give some room to nourish the moribund spirituality within us.

" We are not human beings with spiritual experiences,

We are spiritual beings with human experiences."

-Kahlil Gibran

Does that ring a bell? :)