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Monday, January 12, 2009

Yawned… Stunned… Soared… and …and… Landed

This is what happened to me on Jan 11th, 2009, a date that will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life. It was sheer privilege that Music Connoisseurs in Hyderabad had one last opportunity (most probably) to drench in the melody tuned by the one and only Pandit Ravi Shankar along with Anoushka, his daughter. Why would anybody let a chance of that magnitude go by? I might have if thinking only for me, but I wanted desperately to take my parents to that concert as they are totally in love with music. So, I ensured that I get the invitation to attend this one organized by Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) at Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC).

On a personal note, I was a little apprehensive right from the beginning as to how the concert would shape up for my own comfort. And boy!!! I was served with divinity.

The way things unfolded initially seemed to make my doubts concrete with lullaby kind aalaap and I found myself violently yawning. I was desperately trying to keep myself awake and fake enthusiastic participation. This inconvenience was only for a very short time though.

What ensued later jolted me from my slumber and I was stunned at the transformation. The lilting solo Sitar music a while ago gave way to a confluence of Sitar and Tabla. There were things I felt, like a brilliant spring day early in the morning with fresh leaves and flowers blossoming, a sprightly drizzle enveloping life with THE LIFE and with peacocks making the most of it, a crimson sun shining on the up and waking from the dullness of the night to spur into the action of the day and the emotion went on. I was a part of all that for a span of over an hour.

If seasons change with the movement of earth and sun, here they changed with the movement of Sitar strings and Tabla. As the concert moved into its climactic stage, there was no dearth in excitement and music was of such high paradigm that I was soaring high into the skies visiting celestial territories of Brahma, the Creator and the Dancing Shiva. I was so taken in by the power of music. I even surprised myself with the way I got myself totally involved with the way I was foot-tapping to the vibrant waves from the hollow wood with strings.

The speed at which the music was flowing made adrenalin pump harder. I was flummoxed at the way they controlled the pace and brought me back on land. The landing was so smooth that I didn’t even feel the touch down. The notes were pitch perfect and timing precise. It was an overwhelming standing ovation at the end and amidst screams of encore Pandit Ravi Shankar and Anoushka along with his entourage made the exit from the stage.

His Entourage:

Tanmay Bose from Calcutta (Tabla)
Ravi Chandra Kollur from Bangalore (Kanjira)
Anshu (Tambura)
Sanjay Sharma (The man behind the making of the two Sitars for the Stars)

Truly, this is a concert worth experiencing and reliving time and again. It gave me and my family immense pleasure to be a part of such a musical journey where the soul was taken for a ride par extravaganza.

It is true as I found out today that “Music is divine and doesn’t have any language”. It appeals directly to ones emotions and that is definitive in its influencing powers. I wish we could have such events organized regularly around places where I live as I am eager to be going through a similar experience over a thousand times.

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