Embodied Music: A Tribute to Sarode Legend Pt. Rajiv Taranas

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“I don’t understand when it is said that Indian music is abstract. All I can say is that it takes Ali Akbar to create the direct sensuality, the darkness, the indescribable sadness and desolation and the vibrant golden tranquility that every One that embodies the specificity of love that touches a person in the dark.

I wrote these words in 1988. So, Rajiv Taranath. Some of us – disciples, friends and fans – wanted to organize a celebration for him on what would have been his 56th birthday. As part of this event, we plan to give away souvenirs. We also asked Rajivlucky Write us an article (he doesn’t like writing, he talks and then someone writes it).

This time, the writing task was entrusted to me. I clearly remember the way he sat on a big wicker chair and talked. I keep writing. The whole article is like a piece of beautiful, perfect, and always perfect music. Rajivlucky The amazing journey of his life is recorded in two rare and wonderful pages. In essence, what he says about his mentor in this essay is central to his musical thinking. Rajivlucky Think Indian music is not abstract. It manifests when body, mind, emotions and spirit come together. It’s the concrete sense of wholeness you feel when body and music become one.

Krishna Manavali

Agnosticism and Dedication

Rajivlucky Such metaphors of musical embodiment are often cited. For example, he describes such a reincarnated moment when he recounts meeting his guru Ustad Ali Akbar Khan for the first time and hearing his music. Interestingly, Rajivlucky Called his Guru “ishtadevatha” (his personal God). Among the many rich contradictions of his character, the tension between agnosticism and devotion is prominent. His rationalism in all other walks of life was curiously influenced by a deep sense of devotion to music and his guru. No wonder he sometimes used religious analogies to illustrate the transcendent moments he experienced in his art.

This was fully demonstrated in an interview he had with me at Doordarshan in the 1990s. He spoke of the indelible impact of hearing his mentor’s music at the Town Hall in 1952. [Khansaab’s] The music was conceived by me. It’s like childbirth…pregnancy. You can find such expressions and experiences in the Bible. You are filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything came together in that moment. It was an epiphany! Rajivlucky This sense of embodiment was evoked when he spoke of his mentor’s teachings: “Khansaab’s music flowed into my heart.” He also felt Khansaab sitting on his fingers as he played.

Sarod Guru Pandit Rajiv Taranat

Sarod Guru Pandit Rajiv Taranath Photo Credit: MA Sriram

Eliot and Yeats

In fact, Rajeev’s key linklucky The fusion between music and body reminds me of two poets he studied during his long and illustrious literary career as professor, critic and writer (although he claimed to have moved away from literature, he always read – from Shakespeare to Kambal, from Wallace Stevens to Ananthamurthy or Adiga, who even today remains a seminal thinker in the world of Indian literature highly respected). One of them was TS Eliot, whom he didn’t particularly like. But his doctoral thesis was about this modernist literary giant. The other was a poet after his own heart, WB Yeats.

Both poets describe a glorious moment in which ephemerality and eternity merge, a moment in which transcendence is manifested. According to Eliot, in this moment of light, “You are the music/While the music lasts.” Yeats evokes this unique moment in a somewhat different way. His famous rhetorical question: “How do you distinguish a dancer from a dance?” underscored a completely intrinsic, similar experience of art. In Rajiv Taranathlucky, You feel this sense of music permeate your whole body. After all, the maestro’s iconic image – his head bowed on the instrument in his lap, eyes closed, engrossed in some musical otherworld – is familiar to lovers of Hindustani music. His life was filled with music and more.

Literature, languages ​​(he spoke nine languages ​​with ease), poetry, poultry, cooking, sports – the range of interests and knowledge possessed by this brilliant, life-sharp man was mind-boggling. However, neither his unique pursuit of musical excellence nor his strong focus on spiritual things kept him away from people. His fearless expression of social commitments, political stances or his deep cultural concerns made him feel deeply about his environment. His remarkable ability to connect with people, laugh and empathize with them was an integral part of his life. The multi-faceted genius passed away on June 11 this year. But his music, literary and cultural works, social care and, above all, his unforgettable love for people are his great legacy to us.

Perhaps this is why his lifelong friend Chandrasekhar Kambar declared: “Rajeev and his father were both tall men and walked with[ed] among us. They always appear in my imagination as larger-than-life mythical beings. Their contemporaneity blends with something timeless. Chandar Murta, the dreamer and musician of Kambal, sets out in search of the moon raga (perhaps reminiscent of the raga created by Ali Akbar Khan and played brilliantly by Rajeevji – Chandranandan ). Whether it is the young boatman looking for the silver moon on the flood night, or the hunter boy aiming at the moon under the shade of a tree, Ninadi of Shiharasuya, or the rebellious Chabasa in Shivana Dangura, Kambal’s There are many dreamers and mythical heroes in the work, who the stalwart Kannada writer says were inspired by his musician friends.

Oddly enough, there is another mythical figure, Karna from the Mahabharata, Rajeevlucky Sometimes agree, albeit for different reasons. He was spotted quipping: “Like me, Karna’s life has been a series of sad events. So, throughout the centuries, we have all felt this feeling of being thwarted again and again. But between the two The parallels are certainly higher. The son of the sun god, the extraordinary archer Karna did not get what he deserved in his life, but his generosity was not diminished in the slightest by whoever offered it to him. Whatever he asked for, he was generous with it and so was the good-hearted Rajiv.lucky. He simply removed any ill will with “baksh do” (forgiveness). He was truly a complex and unusual combination of a visionary who relentlessly pursued his impersonal art and a loving, caring and extremely generous man.

Activities this Sunday

On Sunday the 19th of this month, the Pt Rajeev Taranath Memorial Trust will organize an event to celebrate the birthday of this great musician, literary figure and cultural thinker. Ravindra Kalakshetra’s event was co-organized by Karnataka Sahitya Akademi, Bengaluru. The evening will feature famous musicians and literary figures such as Hamsalekha, Boluwar Mohamad Kui, Sarvamangala and Mukundraj. Give a speech. Next up was the Hindustani Vocal Concert organized by Pt Venkatesh Kumar.

(The author is a student of Pt. Rajeev Taranath and is currently a professor in the Department of English, University of Mysore. She is a well-known English and Kannada translator.)

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