Musical Thoughts, A Surreal Experience, A Folk Song

Musical Thoughts “Do we think about instrument makers?” When you have a stalwart musician such as Shubha Mudgal talk to a class of undergraduates good things happen. The challenges artists face, was one of the topics she spoke on. She also cited the example of kirtaniyas (temple musicians) who have suffered greatly during the pandemic. What began as hesitant queries soon turned to a flood of questions from my students at Ahmedabad University and she answered them all. “You can speak up, you can help shape policy” was her message to the students. Read more here.

A Surreal Experience
The bhajan in raag Bhairagi Bhairav stopped me in my tracks. I’d just walked into the Birla Mandir at the BHU campus. It was a walk down memory lane for my husband (BHU being his alma mater.) As I stood entranced by the singer’s rendition, my host invited me to sing too. I began singing Mahadeva Shiva Shambho in raga Revathi—the corrresponding carnatic raga. Singing in the marble hall of the mandir was a surreal experience. Though I never met the bhajan singer again, the experience is still with me this Shivaratri. One of my favourite renditions of this carnatic song is by D.K.Jayaraman.

A Vibrant Folk Song When Kidakkuzhi Mariyammal’s song with Santosh Narayanan in the Tamil movie Karnan went viral it was a culmination of a dream for the struggling folk artiste. The vibrant song Kandaa Vara Sollunga with its band of folk musicians draws parallels between the character from the epic Mahabharatha and the eponymous protagonist in the film.