I honestly wonder at times if its really possible for someone to infuse life into an inanimate, non-living object ? Is it possible that we feel bliss every time a string is plucked ? How true is it that an instrument made out of wood can transfix us in our seats for hours together and quite literally elevate us to a world which rightfully explains the meaning of words like 'purity', 'enchantment', 'marvel', 'peace', 'tranquility' ? But then I realized, all this is the magic of the hands that work on the instrument.. it is the magic of Pt. Ravishankar !
A man who not just set standards in Hindustani Music but extended them to stretch the horizons on World Music. A name revered in very part of the world not as an instrumentalist who played Sitar in the best possible way, but also as a World face of music by writing concerti for sitar and orchestra. He truly made Sitar global ! His association with George Harrison, for example, was in a way a pioneering step in the setting and creating something new, the raga rock trend ! He just created music, quite literally all his life.. which began with a bang with this debut album back in 1956, 'The Three Ragas' !
Raag Jog :
Raag Ahir Bhairav :
Raag Simhendra Madhyamam :
.. and today after all the tapasya of all these decades, of venturing into all kinds and genres and forms and styles of music, after composing impeccable music for Indian and also for western films, from performing in front of literally all kinds and creeds of audiences from all over the planet, from collaborating with artists that World Music salutes and as a result create that life-enriching music, from being the proud owner of highest dignified awards from all the various countries in the world, from teaching new students the art and craft of the Ravi Shankar-form of music, from being a reason of the ecstasy each music listener experiences with each pluck of the Sitar string in that resplendent alaap - jor - jhala style.. Pandit Ravishankar's music still stands strong thrashing away the confinements of the boundaries of age, time, region, religion, race and culture.
His Sitar has been an embodiment of every human emotion possible, a mirror of every minute flicker of the human sense of being alive. His Sitar can make the abstract, obvious ! My post today is related to his enchanting elaborate exposition to the explicit expressions of human mind.. his album, 'Transmigration Macabre' (which his composed for the British Art Film, 'Viola')
Madness :
Fantasy :
Anxiety :
Torment :
Submission :
Death :
Transmigration :
Retribution :
Reflection :
This is a journey of life and Pandit Ravishankar effectively and evocatively becomes a part of it.. long live this man who made us proud to be an Indian and feel lucky to have witnessed something extraordinary ! Time to sit back and lose yourself in the ambiance and vicinity of peace and the realm of heavenly tranquility !
