Music and Joy

A special concert series called 'Delhi Celebrates' (organized by the Punjabi Academy) began last year and because of the overwhelming response it received, the government decided to make it an annual event. This is a series of free concerts by eminent Indian classical musicians from all over the country and takes place in the beginning of October.

I attended the last two concerts yesterday - they were beautiful, stirring and joyous at different moments - very apt for this time of the year which is full of festivity and celebration. Sharad purnima (the full moon at this time of year) has just turned the corner - it is a harvest moon that bestows happiness and prosperity. The work is over, the renewing rains have left their imprints and it is time to sit down, breathe in the cool air, look up to the clear skies and be thankful.

This is just what the musicians recreated in the large and flower decked Kamani Auditorium yesterday. The concert began with Pt. Laxman Krishnarao Pandit, who is the fifth in a continuous lineage of legendary musicians from Gwalior (a city that has one of the oldest forms of Indian classical music) along with two accompanying maestros (on the tabla and sarangi - the sarangi is a string instrument said to be closest to the human voice, it is now not always used as an accompaniment but is utterly beautiful to hear). The second part of the concert was by Pandit Jasraj, who has an amazing range (three and a half octaves) and style and his own dramatic form of expression which keeps an audience spell bound.

I enjoyed both concerts; the energies and sounds were quite different but the musical genius of each of the artists was evident from beginning to end. It is at times like this that one realizes the sheer power of music (and musicians) to wash away pain, evoke love and peace. As I listened I felt a slowly growing happiness and awe at life and all of creation - something that the musicians themselves seemed to feel and express and communicate to me personally and perhaps to everyone who heard them.