Programme Highlights

“Swara to Ishwara”

June 29, 2008 at Chinmaya Mission, UK

As the lights of the auditorium dimmed and the four hundered people who had gathered, settled down in their seats, the stage lights slowly faded in. With Gurudev’s altar on one side, decorated with flowers and illuminated with tall gleaming brass lamps, the mood for the evening was set. It was for his work that we all had assembled as his instruments that day.

The music that we were going to present was not mere entertainment. It was a medium, in fact a fast track to reach the ultimate goal of every human life - attaining Ishwara. Hence the name “Swara To Ishwara”. A true musician is one who realizes the purpose of music and is able to take the listeners with him to that place where everyone is detached from the world outside. To quote the words of the great Shehnai Maestro, Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahab - “Music is that space where man finds his connection with divinity”!

After a heartfelt introduction of the theme and the artists by Sanjeev Ji and Karuna Ji, we stepped on to the stage and seeked Gurudev’s blessings. We surrendered ourselves at his feet, before taking our positions and tuning our instruments. The opening piece was a classical Khyal in Raag Yaman, perfectly suited for that time of the evening. The pleasure of singing with a pair of tuned tanpuras, a swar mandal, harmonium and tabla is something that cannot be described in words. The sound of Aum in perfect harmony with all the instruments symbolizes the accuracy and subtlety required on this path to unite with the Lord.

After a slow and detailed exploration of the the seven notes (sapta swaras), we moved on to a faster paced piece also in Raag Yaman portraying the ecstacy and joy a seeker experiences when his goal is achieved. We also explained the different moods evoked by different ragas through the time cycle (Samay Chakra) of the day. Raag Bhairav for the morning, Bhimpalasi for the afternoon and Malkauns for midnight were discussed and little glimpses of these moods were shown.

Our little Tabla “Pandit”, Parth gave us a scintillating solo on the tabla while Prashna, on the harmonium, and myself accompanied him with a lehera in the background. The clarity of the bols (syllables of tabla) and the sweetness of this twelve year old’s hands on the two drums was something that really touched the hearts of everyone.

After exposing the audience to the vocal and percussion Gharanas of our music, we moved on to a Sitar recital by Mehboob Nadeem, who belongs to a family that has been musical for the past fifteen generations. The graceful glides of his fingers on the strings gave us an insight into the very lyrical souding (Gayaki Ang) technique of Sitar playing popularized by Ustad Vilayat Khan Sahab. He in fact sang the composition in Raag Kedar that was being played, reinforcing the tune (Bandish) that we heard on the instrument. He then built up the tempo with intricate “taans” and “layakari” gradually going into a “Jhala”. This part of his recital was intense and fast paced. Added to this, the tabla and tanpura support given by Mitel Ji and Smt. Vaneshree Ji filled our ears with the richness and grandeur that classical music had to offer.

After a short break we came back to talk about a person who has been inspirational to all of us and has been instrumental in developing the musical wing of our mission - Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda. The whole effort of this evening was towards Chinmaya Naada Bindu, a residential school for Indian Music and Dance being built by Pujya Guruji. It was his birthday the next day and what better offering can anyone give to that Mahatma, who in not only a Master of our Vedanta but is also a lover of music. We wished him a Happy Birthday in his own words by singing “Janmadinam Idam” - a birthday song composed by our dear Guruji himself.

The second half of the evening had our full team of musicians on stage like a Darbar for our Gurudev. We started with two Bhajans from Narayanan Ji who is an award winning, versatile musician gifted with a mellifluous voice. The first one was Omkara Swaroopa, a popular Marathi Bhajan in Raag Bairagi having a very peaceful and tranquil feel to it. He then moved on to singing Gurave Namaha where the entire audience joined in creating a feeling of oneness as our goal (Ishwara) and passion (music) were common to everyone.

Unnati Ji then filled our hearts with her sweet and sonorous voice singing Chakar Rakho Ji and Mohe Shyam Rang Bhaye. Her bhava and involvement was so strong that she literally seemed to assume herself to be Meera Bai while singing these Bhajans. It was this sense of surrender and love for the lord that brought tears to some eyes in the audience.

We then sang Mrigtrishna - a powerful song that spoke about this meaningless “thirst” that everyone has for tangible objects not realizing that happiness doesn’t lie in the materials of the world. This meaning was emphasized by the popular dhun Jai Jai Radha Ramana Hari Bol in which we experienced the joy of “Naam Sankirtan” - repeatedly saying the name of the lord in unison - this is where true, permanent happiness lies!

The concluding piece was Bhavani Dayani in Raag Bhairavi combining all aspects of music and spirituality that had been exposed untill then. It was a Raaga based piece with classical aalaps and taans combining a jugalbandi between the singers and the Sitar. Finally it moved into repeated chanting of Bhavani Dayani where everyone present in the hall joined in singing and clapping to the beat and getting lost in the name of the Godess of Music - Mata Saraswati. The evening ended with a loud, thundering applause and standing ovation from the listeners filling our hearts with satisfaction as musicians and more importantly “Sadhaks”.

After our closing prayers when I went to our dear Brahmacharini Sumati Ji and said, “If Gurudev was there, he would have been very happy to see all of us this evening”. She then said “He was very much present! If not for his presence we wouldn’t be able to experience what we just did”. That way we all left the evening with our hearts filled with joy and love for the Lord as this is just the begginning of the journey that we all had embarked upon.