Musical Moments Stories and Anecdotes about Indian Music - R Srinivasan

Our musicians will do anything for the sake of friendship. They have a very lively sense of humor too.

True art is never made to order; it comes as a result of an irresistible inner urge. We hear a song of Tyagaraja and are enthralled; we see a majestic temple tower and gaze on it with wonder; we see some of our ancient sculptures and feel thrilled. Why? Behind all such works of art is a great spiritual urge. The artistes poured their devotion in the shape of such exquisite works of art; it was an act of self-effacing dedication.

Raga is the basis of Indian music; it is the soul of our musical system. Each raga has its own essential, unique, aesthetic quality, called bhava; each raga has an individuality of its own, it is as it were a unique entity. Each raga is associated with a devata (presiding deity), which is the enduring principle which gives life and unique structure to the raga.

In those days, when vidwans were patronized by rulers and zamindars and had not to play to the tune of anyone who came in with ticket, the vidwans enjoyed great liberty; they sang as they liked without having to keep a program which provided only twenty minutes for ragalapana, tana and Pallavi all together. Some of them used to sing a raga for hours, and for even days without any repetition; they were capable of such originality and creative expression. Some specia-lized in some ragas that they came to have the names of some ragas attached to their own names, such as Todi Sitaramiah, Begada Subramania Iyer, Kedara-gowla Narasimha Iyengar and so on.

© "Bhavan’s Journal" (August 15, 2003) published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kulapati Dr. KM Munshi Marg, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400 007. Website: www.bhavans.info. Reprinted with permission.

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