Nirvana

I still remember that day....sometime in 1984....my final year BE exams approaching....and I, along with my parents and grandparents, worried about what would be my fate......their worries being whether I would live up to the hoary family tradition, hopefully would not besmirch the scholastic excellence that they were all used to...while my worries were more down to earth...would I pass ? Or no....oh, perish the thought...

I don't exactly know why I was in Madras, when I ought to have been in college in Bangalore, slogging it out....I faintly remember a friend ( 1 yr junior in both school and college, AND an Aquarian to boot) remarking that there was this band of musicians who were scheduled to perform at the Music Academy in Madras, and he had also loaned me a cassette tape of theirs called "Natural Elements", which I listened to on my way to Madras, and I was literally blown!!! To come back to the res, I was idly scanning the papers, while sipping coffee ( I fondly remember "Amma", as I used to call my grandmother)....and then I received a jolt....there was the ad....SHAKTI by John McLaughlin, with L Shankar, Ustad Zakir Hussain, and "Vikku" Vinayakaram, on in the evening @ the Music Academy. My mind was made up...I had to attend this...but how to get out...I'd told the folks that I was busily studying...concerts would not be taken kindly to...then I remembered my good friend Kalyanaraman (then in IIT Madras). Kalyan was held in high esteem at home, so he was the fait accompli I used to get to the concert....and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since then, I have made it to almost all their concerts in India, save a couple, have seen the transition from SHAKTI to REMEMBER SHAKTI, witnessed the "Shakti" guitar of John McLaughlin and the strange yet mesmering music that emanated out of it, the double violin of L Shankar (remember the late Chowdaiah), the magic of the "one and only" ustad, and the man who created a new meaning for the word "pot", "Vikku" Vinayakaram.

That these musicians perform impromtu, feed on the adrenalin, and produce mystic, wonderful music is universally acclaimed. The next generation has broadened the horizons - witness the virtuosity and inventiveness of "Mandolin" Srinivasa, and the rythmic perfection of the "kanchira" exponent, Selvaganesh. Boy, I can go on and on....

Friends!!!

A man is known by the friends he keeps. I consider myself very fortunate in this respect. Who says one cannot keep in touch with old schoolmates. My batchmates left school for college in1980, and went on to diverse fields of study and specialization, and most of them are at the forefront of their respective professions - combine that with family responsibilities, and you would have thought that all this talk of schoolmates meeting up was a figment of imagination, and relegated to the bedtime stories section!!

Well, you could not be more wrong!! You only have to sample the group activity that has been going on - ours, to take a case in point. Starting off with tumultous school times, introduction of co-ed during the crucial 11 and 12 standards, and the associated joys and pitfalls, and then on to a focussed career-oriented life, it was only natural that, once we all re-established contact, it would just have been a seamless continuity of what was inevitable!! Technology and IT have also come to the aid of such like-mided groups. Witness the popularity of Facebook, Yahoogroups, Twitter and the like.

Every such group needs a catalyst, a person or persons with strong inter-personal, and networking skills, around whom the group blossoms. PSBB80 is one such group, and every time we meet, I cannot cease to wonder about friendship, kinship, and the joy it brings to one's life. I'm sure everyone has this feeling.

Why I'm here!!

I was born into a family which had firm roots in Carnatic music. My Grandfather, the late Prof. Krishnan, was a conoisseur of Carnatic music, and loved listening to all its varied forms. So much so, that he encouraged all his daughters to learn this frorm in a formal way. My Mother took it up as her career, and with his encouragement every step of the way, now runs a music school as part of GeethaNivedhana Trust, formed jointly by them and a similar-minded group of people with music as a common bond. All my aunts had formal initiation into Carnatic music, and one of them even added Bharatanatyam to this repertoire. Today all of them are in the forefront of their careers in diverse fields of education, yet this is the common bonding factor.

My first exposure to this sublime art form was in my early childhood; I was fortunate to be in Madras during my formative years, Madras being the home of Carnatic music, and music already being in my blood. I was encouraged to contribute of my own to the "kutcheries" that used to take place at home - I did not realize what a great thing it was to be a part of this great art form then; but I did so, and that stimulated my taste buds for music!!!

As I grew up, this tradition of music continued at home; I started picking up the threads of my career, which took me all over the country, and I had the chance to expand my horizons in music - I chanced to attend concerts in Hindustani music in Delhi, and unconsciously added this to my collection of music. Later, during my college days, along with the usual mix of film music, Michael Jacksons and Phil Collinses, I chanced upon some excellent pieces of fusion music by a group called SHAKTI - a diverse band of musicians with an East-West culture mix, which really sent my pulse racing, and that really started this blog!!!

The purpose of this blog is more of self-education, and the hope of attracting like-minded people so that good music can spread far and wide, uniting people of various and diverse cultures; I would love to get a chance to share and read blogs of people with their experiences of good music and culture, and thereby add to my knowledge-base.

More from my end later.