A motivational poem. Keep Smiling :)

SMILE

Pain and suffering lie beneath the veil     

But he can compose himself in a while

To embrace life is what he follows as the holy grail

Across his face lies a faint smile.

Plethora of emotions dance in his mind

He chooses which to display with utmost grace

Joy in the tiniest of things is hard to find

But appreciating the beauty of life finds him happiness.                 

The trick lies in the few muscles that are to be flexed

A spark of joy is all that needed to light up the face

Vagaries of life at times, forces him to stand vexed

But treading ahead with a smile makes the difference.

Life is not a bed of roses

Thorns are spread across miles

No matter the number of bruises

Half the problem is solved, as he smiles.

We are not alone

We are not Alone

In the realms of this wicked world , one might feel helpless and hapless at times . The despondent looks on the faces of the destitutes who crave for shelter and food sometimes make me wonder if “God treats everyone equally” rule gets applied in practical life . What if a good samaritan places a hand on the shoulders of a man scarred by the blemishes of life and assures him that he isn’t alone ? that help is ready for him ? Will I be lucky enough to witness such a day ? Will I be capable enough to be that good Samaritan ? 

When one feels abashed by the so  called “cruelties of life” , one must take a moment and think that there are worse that people go through . They are not alone . But asking for help is always encouraged . The beauty lies in the fact that if one actually puts aside ego and seriously asks for help , there will be more than a dozen hands ready to offer help . They are not alone . The quintessential lesson of life as philosophers might say is that faith is the strongest weapon a man has. Try saying that to a man who has been starving for days and about to bid the cursed world adieu. Therein lies the hypocrisy. But counter arguments may arise saying that the man had already given up on life and never made any attempt to circumvent the situation. He was never alone. He just never made any attempts to find a friend. 

God is very witty. He hides the treasures of life amidst mountains and deep forests of life. One must be brave enough to embark the journey of fighting his way through the ominous obstacles and discover the treasures. Help will come along in the way. 

Never are we alone. The universe has its own way of running things. Mankind curses their life filled with afflictions. Who knows if there is any distant world in some other galaxy with some other life-form cursing life in their own sense? We are never alone.

The glory of Indian music over the years

Every being born in India has an extraordinary boon of music flowing through their veins. No doubt music in every part of the world has its importance and significance. But the indispensable contribution the ancient land of India has given to music is magnificent. The melodies lying around you can actually bring a being back to life aesthetically. Music comes with words like melody, harmonies, scales, chords, tones, progressions or maybe rag, tal, sur, alap, tana, sargam and a lot more. Quite heavy, right? But these words have the power to change the world. This reminds me of Ravan, building a whole grand palace for Lord Shankar with the power of music. Amazing! The harmonies emerged within him and the magic was seen… Probably every human emotion can be expressed with the help of music. People say that the beauty of language is the gift for humans only. But I guess every living creature can express music. Even the smallest and the sweetest chirp of a bird is soothing.

From the father of kawalis, Amir Khusrow, to the pioneer of the legendary Senia gharana, Ramtanu Pandey,  better known as Tansen , Indian music has had the quintessential contribution of many greats in the pre-19^th century era to justify its reputation . But Indian music spread its wings into the western world in the post 19^th century era. It struck the right chords throughout the world thanks to the endowment of the likes of Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustd. Allarakkha Khan, Ustd. Ali Akbar khan,Pt.Jasraj, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and many more . The richness of Indian music is eternal and perpetual .The digger one deeps into it, more beautiful does it get. From George Harrison playing the sitar in The Beatles’ “Norweigian woods” to Indian classical albums being nominated in the Grammys, the western world has indeed embraced Indian music with open arms.

The lavishness of Indian classical music is easily appreciated by any connoisseur of music.  The elements of Hindustani classical music and Carnatic classical music when fused together, dwindles the cultural barrier between North and South .Any article on music is incomplete without mentioning the grandeur of folk music . The extreme cultural diversity creates endless varieties of folk styles. India inevitably has a very rich tradition of folk music. From the melodious beats of the Lavanis to the rustic charm of bhatiyali and baul geeti, folk music symbolizes the affluent traditions of India. Regional music reflects the vast cultural and traditional variety India has. Moving on to popular music, Bollywood music is probably something that plays in every Indian household. Now the beauty lies in the fact that fragments of classical music and folk music has been blended and used in almost every bollywood song over the years .I always wanted to mention Pancham da in my writings. I think the innocence, purity, the subtleness and the creativity he emerged with in his era was just class apart. One can’t possibly ignore the major contribution of the talented lot of Lata Mangeshkar,Kishore Kumar ,Mohammad Rafi and many more towards glorifying bollywood music.

Every raga and harmonic used has a meaning and the beautiful lyrics of folk songs and classical songs alike, melts like an ice-cream in our mind. The incessant efforts of the pallbearers of Indian music to introduce and spread Indian music across the world are laudable. We must at-least try to explore the wide possibilities Indian music holds. Any quest on exploring new possibilities is never futile. Any journey that involves melody is always fruitful. J