Wednesday, June 07, 2006

UStad Amjad Ali Khan, Sarod and Indian Classical Music - Being one with oneself!

He creates magic - not music! Each beat from his Sarod is like a wave that touches each cell of your brain or perhaps your soul considering that the soul is the congregation of each dimension of your mental ability. This reminds me of a saying - "The heart has reasons that the mind knows not" Rather, I believe in this one - "The heart has reasons that the mind believes not." In fact, we don't know our minds ourselves. What we know is an artifact of the model the mind creates for itself.

Oh, I was talking about the magic of music, or rather Sarod, an Indian classical instrument. Sarod is a very rich many string-ed instrument like the guitar with a bigger resonating box base and longer wooden neck. Amjad Ali Khan devised his own 19 string sarod! It is much harder to play a sarod since it does not have any frets (the metallic part under the strings that is pressed to create the desired note) in it.

I have attended one of his shows in India. There, he was playing with his two sons (Ayaan Ali and Aman Ali) and Zakhir Hussain. He is a genius - there is a clear distinction between his music and the one his sons play! I remember the energy I felt during that show I attended. It was a feeling analogous to the synchronous dancing of all the brain cells in eternal light and immortality (free/endless energy)! (I am writing alot about the brain and the feeling because I am listening to his music even now and am totally enchanted and drenched/soaked in it :) You could really feel that top of the world (literally) experience in his live performance, the feeling that you may only get sometimes when you are very drunk! I also remember his rendition of 'Ekla chalo re' (by Rabindranath Tagore). It was exalting. His music is available on musicindiaonline.com under the Hindustani Instrumental section. Go, check it out and enjoy!

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