Amir Khan

I once had an occasion to buy a silver soup ladle. The obliging salesman brought forth quite an array of them ,including ultimately one that was as plain and unadorned as the unclouded sky –about as beautiful ! But the price ! It was nearly double any of others .

“You see “ the salesman explained .”In this highly ornamental ware ,the flaws do not show. The plain one has to be the very best. Any defect would be apparent “.

THERE IF YOU PLEASE ,IS A FINAL BASIS OF COMPARISON OF ALL THINGS.

THE BARE DIGNITY OF THE UNADORNED THAT MAY STAND BEFORE THE WORLD, ALL UNASHAMED ,IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF ITS PERFECTION.

Please visit here , for a more comprehensive look into the work of this Artist

http://stat.psu.edu/~mharan/amirkhan.html

Bala

Balchander S

BGAK

What a contrast !!!!!

Bhimsen Joshi

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Dwaram

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Dwaram – The Zen Violinist

Every time I experience Dwaram, my mind goes back to the days when I went to banks of the river in my hometown and studied the various kinds of men and boys who would come there for their daily swim / bath.

The first type of swimmers would pick a tract that ran parallel to the bank and was a bit shallow. There would be great fun and frolicking there. In fact, too much splashing around to be able to see through clearly.

Further up was a rocky patch where a bit of diving too would take place.

Next to that was a clear stretch, where the currents would be strong and only those who loved their art, would venture there.

Lastly was a patch close to the mid section, a place where a Mantapam stood. The degree to which it was immersed, would tell the town folks, if the river was in spate.

All through my childhood, I came across only one guy – a rustic merchant who would have his daily bath in the river – swimming in that zone, for hours together. Others who liked to make a quick entry and quick exit, never ventured there. This guy made that zone – his home. Lying on his back and swimming backwards just enough to beat the current, he would remain static from my point of view. Occasionally he would burst into energetic swimming, to the other bank and return.

To me, Dwaram’s music has all the qualities of that swimmer of my childhood. Operating in a very exclusive zone, not as a matter of great exultation, but of personal choice.

Emani

Other Related Links

http://emanishankarasastry.com/

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GNB

Higgins

This is a Photo which always gives me a lump in my Throat .

Such Innocence !!! Such Happiness !!!! Such Charm !!!! All to be interrupted by a Car accident ? Amir Khan , Vasanth Desai , Higgins … All of whom gave so much pleasure , only to meet the same end ?.

His Music gets so poignant , with this photograph . Cruel . Are the ways of Fate .

Mali

Will there be another, Like him !!! ? Another , who can play like him ?

I have often wondered about the process of badhath – the progression from primordial uttering of syllables , weaving through patterns and cycles , through tempos and reaching a cathartic climax.I have always thought of any ones style as a point into a graph of two axes

The python like crushing of its belly swollen with a kill , wave after wave in miniscule increments .Like Amir khans .Or for that matter a playful wave on the seashore , wetting a patch of sand in its inimitable design , only to withdraw , just enough to keep the sand half moist half dry and come again .Relentlessly
Or the flight of an eagle riding on thermals not visible to the “ordinary “ eye.

I would sometimes extend this to a 3D model to include the state of mind of the artist

But Malis elaborations had always eluded me .There seemed to be a fourth dimension . For many years his slowing down the pace somewhere , the absolute stillness elsewhere etc would defy definition.

And then one day , as I was watching Larry King Live on CNN , a different analogy came to my rescue.

Larry was interviewing Hugh Von Prather , the psychic medium who had just released his book Talking to Heaven.As part of the interview there were live calls from all over world with people asking questions about their (now deceased ) loved ones. And he managed to give an incredible account of himself. Astonishing the callers with details of those departed souls.

But my purpose of recounting this is not to judge the rationality part here . It is more to do with the completeness with which it stood relevant for describing Mali’s magic.

When Larry King asked him how could it be so obvious to Hugh on one side of the table and so unintelligible to himself at the other , the reply was this:

Imagine yourself passing a busy traffic junction , with shops lining the streets , traffic moving , people walking around .

If you pass in a motor car at some speed the image perceived by the brain is something.

Switch yourself to a cycle the perceived world becomes different.

And now instead walk along the same path you had motored . Fast and then slow.

Next Stand there for some time. And then for a long time.

With each iteration the perception becomes sharper and more distinct. This was the secret of the Indian sages who retreated and stayed still for long.Gaining incredible insights and power .

Something like that Larry , he quipped.

And then I thought may be that’s why mali’s music is uncomfortable to as many as it is ecstatic.

Everytime I listen to dwarams ragavadhini or malis major elaborations , I cant help remembering that cnn interview.Maybe there is a fourth a fifth and a sixth dimension to our existence .Maybe not.

Humphrey Trevelyan on Goethe :
It seems that two qualities are necessary if a great artist is to remain creative to the end of a long life : he must on the one hand retain an abnormally keen awareness of life , must never grow complacent , ,never be content with life ,must always demand the impossible and when he cannot have it ,must despair.
The burden of mystery must be with him, day and night. He must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent , this disequilibrium , this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy.
Many lesser poets have it only in their youth : some of the greatest lose it in middle life .
Wordsworth lost the courage to despair and with it , his poetic power.But more often the dynamic tensions are so powerful that they destroy the man before he reaches the end.

Mansur

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MDR

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MLV

Somu

My first visit to Somu’s house brought to me to realities with a thud. I got a firsthand experience of what any artist can expect in terms of the ways in which society will remember him / her.

Since then my work has been towards probing into these matters deeper and deeper and patch up an image closest to what “might have been”

Somu’s widow welcomed the group of us who had gone visiting, by hugging me, clutching the tapes of Somu’s concerts I had taken as gifts.

Wailing – “I thought Somu was dead. But he lives in your hearts.

No one ever came visiting after his passing away and I would wait. Occasionally the radio would broadcast his songs and I would be comforted. But for all practical purposes, he was forgotten…. Or known for his thukkadas and film songs.”

Years later when I played these tracks for Lalgudi (who features in most of the 100 odd recorded concerts available)

The Maestro winked and remarked:

“And I kept thinking of guys who had been recording concerts as some sort of thieves all these years.

Looking back, I was mistaken. They have rendered a great service in fact……”