Category: God

AR Rahman Live. Lessons from Shanta Gokhale. And Riyaz.

So, last weekend, I had an opportunity to see AR Rahman perform live. And thanks to a friend who was there to manage a part of the event, I had the best seat in the house. You know, the one at the console and next to the stage? That! And I have to say, it is worth all the hype. The guy is a genius, a magician and everything else that you have heard about him.

He did a Sufi music set and while I could not understand a lot of it, I could see the amount of hard work and dedication it would have taken him and his team! They performed in Hindi, Urdu and some more languages that I could not place. I am guessing Arabic. But I would never know.

The point is, while I was there and even though I could not understand what he was saying with his songs, for once I realized that music does transcend boundaries. Not everyone may understand the sounds and sights and the voices and the narratives but the music allows you to communicate without words. When they were performing, they had their eyes closed in prayer, their heads were covered, the hands folded and all of them were barefoot.

There is this reason that they seemed to be chasing with their songs. There was this orchestrated rhythm to what they were doing. They were not merely performing, they were in this zone where they were meditating. There was this deliberate practice that shined through their songs. In their singing, there was this reverence that you typically reserve for kings, or Gods or both.

And why not? A lot of Sufi music emerged where these singers and preachers and practitioners will sing songs of kindness, forgiveness, and praise for God. The songs talk about how the almighty is kind, gracious, caring, forgiving and more. And often they would compare their kings to God! If I could use a Hindi (or is it Urdu?) word, the songs are meant to shower tareef on their beneficiaries. Both, spiritual (God) and financial (King). 
If I could decode the songs and the meanings, I would probably find the connection! 
In fact, one of the crew members from backstage told me that ARR does a recitation of Namaaz every time he goes up on stage. I am not sure if this is correct. But may I say that I am inclined to believe? It sounds like truth. After all, there is so much feeling of peace that, sort of, dawns upon him (and the audience) when he is singing! 
Thing is, I love these traditions. These norms of how they’d work together. They add meaning to what you are doing. The traditions also help create this bond between everyone that is a part of the entourage. You know, the backup singers, the musicians, the technicians, the support staff and more. After all from what I can estimate, it would have taken more than 500 professionals to make ARR sound like God! 
Traditions help instill discipline. Traditions help navigate the unknown. Traditions help ease the new ones into the fold. Traditions help the old ones grow taller in stature. Traditions is what separates great from good from average to poor. 
And why not? After all their music, their work is a thing that is bigger than them. Their work, their songs give words to prayers that everyone else may not have had. Look at me for example. There are so many things that I feel so strongly about and want to say them in so many ways and yet words fail me all the time. To a point that I feel helpless and stifled. I am sure I am not alone, no one else is. The uniqueness of an individual and even thoughts is a myth. I often come across terms and phrases and expressions and ideas and incidents that help me describe things that I can’t find the words for. Music, I think does that. It gives a medium to communicate. And just for that one thing – giving others an ability to communicate – is a large enough reason to ensure that music is deliberate, disciplined and follows the norms and traditions. 
I think this is true for all art forms. Music. Painting. Writing. Acting. Even the newer art forms like photography and others. Just that the impact that an AR Rahman and his troupe singing live can have on you is so large, so lasting that so many thoughts strike you with such a velocity that your brain jolts from its perpetual slumber into a whirlwind that can lift you higher and take you farther! 
Oh, and as I end this, lessons for me? Well, two. 
a, Need to add deliberateness to what I do. This is also what Shanta Gokhale Maam told us at unBlock105. Read more about it here. She said that every line, every sentence that you write must be a deliberate act. Something that you are conscious of. Something that you know you are working on. Each attempt at writing has to like your riyaz, your sadhana, your deliberate practice that you do NOT miss for anything. 
I need to think hard about it and do it. 
b, Need to create traditions in how I work. If I am writing, I need to find a way to start with something that allows gets in the flow. If I am going to talk to people, I need to remind that I need to be kind when I talk to them. If I am thinking of a thing, I need to first take a deep breath before I start. Of course, all these are examples. But I do hope that you get the drift. 
With this, over and out. 
Do consider attending one of AR Rahman’s concerts. It could be life-changing! 

Bittersweet Symphony

In my Chennai office, amongst regular folks there are a couple of North East Indian boys. Nothing wrong with them and nothing against them but the sight of them lifting heavy cables, lights and other equipment under the harsh sun was really saddening. It made me want to cry.

I totally agree to the notion of dignity of work and I dont think any work is below human standard but here are two boys, who would have spent most of their childhood and youth in mountains, next to gentle streams of water, amongst beautiful flowers, in the green misty valleys, running after one another on those twisting and turning mountain paths, climbing up and jumping down in probably the best weather that God has showered upon us humans.

Call it twist of fate, most probably they left home for some Rupees and somehow landed in Chennai. Where the life is totally opposite to what they are used to back home!

If God had planned life and things little better, he would have made each community self sustainable. May be he did and us humans spoiled it all trying to chase material comforts and such things. Whatever it is, if I could play God, I would either not give anyone any emotions or I would ensure that everyone from the same kith and kin stayed together. To end it, a famous line from The Verve.

Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life.
Trying to make ends meet
You’re a slave to money then you die

Aug 05: The God Delusion

We, the people, the children of Gaia, believe that we are strong. We tell ourselves, all the time, that we can achieve anything that we set our eyes on. We are invincible. Its us, ourselves, who hold back any kind of achievement. After all we have conquered the entire planet. We have breached the limits and set foot on moon. That too about half a century back. We have created mammoth structures that can be seen from the outerspace. We can now play God and create life. We are no less than God himself.

I say, BALLS!

We are probably the most fragile of all the nature’s creation. Take us to cold places, our heart stops pumping blood. The brain does not get its oxygen and and we get giddy. Take us to hot places, we start secreting vital minerals. Make our heart work overtime and try and pump more blood, to make up for the loss. Keep us off food, water, air, sleep and we get cranky. And then we get angry. And then we lose hope. And then the mind. And then the body. And then the soul.

We are so fragile, and yet, we bicker over small things like religion, caste, money, authority and other hazaar things. We need to rather realize our place in the universe. Accept that we are as insignificant as a grain of sand in the great Sahara. All this while, we liv our lives chasing greatness. And we refuse to notice supreme greatness, surrounding us, all the time. Everything, from that innocent smile on a kids face, to a smirk on the face of a prankster, to that street dog trying to cross the road, to that new leaf that has just sprung up, to all those rivers, clouds, rains, mountains, everything screams of greatness. Greatness of an artist that no one has known and will never probably know. With all the limitations of this human mind and body, how can we even think about competing with the greatest artist and his greatest creation? Who are we to even touch the magical creations that we can never ever even think about creating? Who are we to stake the claim to superiority when we are mere blips?

We should, rather be grateful that so much diversity is at our disposal. To help us get through this passage that we know as life. We should be thanking the mother nature for the sincere and honest creations. We need to try and preserve them. We need to try and give back.

You know, I have no clue if God exists. If he does, he is really unfair. If he doesn’t, good for us. The bottom line is that we need to realize that when we are feeling most heady, that is the time when mother nature (you may choose to call her God) would spring a surprise and show us our tiny little place in the scheme of things. And humble us.

Time for a lot of self-reflection.

This is day 05 in a series of 31 daily blogposts. Other posts are here.
I thought about this first when I was en route to Mumbai. I was travelling with a friend who is very scared of flying and yet has to take more than three flights a week. While talking to him, I realized that we are probably as delicate as glass, or may be dreams, to use a poets metafor. It takes a split second for that blip to disappear.

Taare Zameen Pay

One of those days when I left home really early. I was in Mumbai and had to meet someone for a breakfast meeting at 7. Since I no longer stay in Mumbai, Neo lent me his car and I was driving from his place. It was to be a thirty minute ride through a city that is more alive than anything else. It had just rained and the entire city was washed and had that damp look about it. The roads were clean, the air fresh and there were puddles of water all over. Not the mean ones but the cute ones. I could see life all around me. Kids trying to reach their school, vada pao vendors trying to make a living, little boys cleaning autorickshaws, sporadic traffic on the road. It all looked like a movie. And I was shuffling FM channels, the way I do all the time, hoping to catch a song that I like, still hoping for a better song. With so much of shuffling, its actually funny that I even get to hear some music. So anyways, some station was playing Taare Zameen Par from the movie, well, Taare Zameen Par. The movie is easily about 5 4 years old (it released in 2007. checked on IMDB) and the song got really popular back then. Those days I hardly paid any attention to it. So its a surpise that I actually stopped my fidgeting on this song and heard it. And as the song reached its high point, the chorus, I was so overwhelmed with the beautiful picture the song was painting that I got this lump of the size of a football in my neck. Ofcourse boys, I mean supposedly grown ups dont cry, I couldnt shed any tears but I would have, if I dint fear a public outcry and declaration of a national calamity over it. Obviously I am an emotional fool and I get carried away easily. Also, the tradition of wetting eyes runs deep in the family. Its one of those traits that I have acquired from mother side of family. Of course I have all the bad traits ;P.

So the song played and I was drowning in my emotions. One part of me wanted the song to get over as soon as possible and the other one wanted it to keep playing. Forever. May be for next few minutes that I could tolerate it. But then like most things in life, I dint have a choice with this song either. Like other things, the song ran its length and something came over to replace it. Isnt it funny, that our entire lives, we try to do things that would make us, our names, our work, our legacy permanent and when the day you bid adieu to the world, no one notices. I mean they take a note and they talk about your glorious achievements and illustrious career, for exactly three minutes. Imagine summarizing seventy years of your existence in three minutes. Ok, enough of rant. So the song got over. I was left with that itch. That despite it being such a brilliant song, how could I miss it! The itch that I had to scratch and hear the song once more. Somehow I had to. I dint have it on my laptop or on my music player (BB 9700 :D) or in the car, the only way to hear it was to download it off Internet. But then what about the damned meeting that had been planned for more than 4 months? And these are exactly the situations where God likes to plays his funny games. Makes you want to believe in his existence. Turn into a believer. Get you to goto temples, mosques, churches or whatever sanctuary.

So I wanted the song badly and I had no access to it. I hoped that it would be on some other station. I flipped stations and, yes, you guessed it. It was there! It was fucking there on some other station. It was playing. The way I wanted it. Without me making an effort for it. Without me praying to God.

Taare Zaameen Par is such a brilliant song. You must hear it. For best results, put it on a loop, put on some really nice headphones, turn off lights, set the AC to 24 and close your eyes. If it doesnt touch your soul, give you goosebumps and elevates your spirit, I will do anything you want me to. Anything. And I am not kidding.

Thanks Prasoon Joshi, Shankar Mahadevan and every other unknown name who played a part in making of this song. Thank you so much for giving us Taare Zameen Par.