Translation, Transliteration...

I am a mixed breed half-telugu half-tamil, second generation south indian born and brought up in Mumbai, making my psyche a bhelpuri of many cultures. As a by product of this lingual confusion-funcusion the language I think in is English mixed with a bunch of other languages, which is what I use to understand many compositions and texts.

The first time I wanted to sing Bhaja Govindam I had to use a transliteration as I had never really learnt sanskrit. At the same time I had to be given a translation to understand exactly what I am singing about. Funnily, I had heard the song so many times, I knew it by rote, just like so many other songs, but didnt really understand fully what it meant. The translation made me fonder of the composition and made me want to learn sanskrit. I realized that while understanding a composition makes it beautiful for you, knowing the language it was composed in takes you to a different level.

This happened again when i was exposed to Ravindranath Tagores compositions. Beautiful sounding lyrics and Music scores, when i understood the meaning I fell in love with the compositions. I felt I should learn Bengali to be able to grasp the soul of these compositions better.

And thus I think is the journey of wanting to learn a language ...in todays times I think translations and transliterations really bring us closer to languages and give us that first taste, which may later make us an addict for the language itself...


I tried to bring these thoughts together is a sculpture of mine , a table book, where i touch upon transliteration..Lost in Transliteration or Lost, in Transliteration ?

The Joy of Uninhibited Dancing

Last year,  when Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar graced Mumbai with a much awaited visit, I had gone for a Maha Satsang organized by the Art of Living Foundation at Thane. It was conducted in a stadium, and I had a birds eye view of the entire stadium from where I was sitting.


As the satsang progressed, everyone became more and more joyous with each passing moment and suddenly I found myself surrounded by some 10000 odd people all of whom were dancing away with complete joy, enthusiasm and abandon. It was a moment I will never forget, as all I could do then was stop dancing and look at thousands of people around me all dancing away abandoning all their inhibitions. The joy that was on their faces made their dance beautiful to watch, even though it did not fall into the generally perceived norms of beauty in dance. It did not matter to them who was watching and how they were dancing, because it was an expression of great happiness...


Art has the ability convert great pain into an object of great beauty. When we let go of our inhibitions and dance for pure joy, we take our art to a level beyond that imparted by our training. The pure uninhibited joy transcends the boundaries of technical finesse and refined beauty making our art and our dance a divine experience for both ourselves and anyone who is watching us.

Nadaan Parindey Ghar Aaja...

I have been listening to this Sufiana rock song for the last few days and it has touched a chord on so many levels for me. One some level each of us is searching for home, and we look for it in our music, our art, in love, in friendships and in relationships. The elusive home where we are perfectly happy with who we are and at ease with ourselves, where we are at peace...

The search for the divine is one such search, where the soul yearns to be with the divine. This is the ethos behind sufi love where the divine is the home and the Sufi is on a journey to unite with the divine. I think this is the reason why sufi songs, music and ideas seem to be so loved today by everyone. Music has the ability to connect to our soul and since we are all on some level on a search for our home, we identify with such music that speaks the same language as our inner selves.

Ending with my favourite sufi lines, which were also used in this song...

Kaaga, Sab Tan Khaiyo, Sab Maans Chun Chun Kahiyo
Yeh Doh Naina Mat Khaiyo, Inme More Piya Milan Ki Aas...

(O crow, please eat all my flesh if you have to, but not my  eyes, for in them I harbour a desire to meet my lord)

The Thread of Continuity

Compositions are permanent, sashwat, continuous. Each time we sing or dance, we make a connection to all the greats who have infused the composition with a piece of their soul. Everyone who danced before us and all those who will after us are singularly joined in time by the permanence of the composition and thus we become part of an infinite thread ...
I see this when I see people around the world who have never heard of Thyagaraja and other greats, being immersed and touched by the music even though they may not understand the composition. At that point isn't the artist channeling the soul of the composer through his own? When we lose our own soul and become one with the composition , the divinity of the composer makes our own soul divine at that moment. It then becomes a journey where the more we lose ourselves, the more we gain....
I feel this the most whenever I see Pt. Birju Maharaj Ji dancing Kathak. The origin of Kathak is associated with the fabled dance of Lord Krishna on the hood of the snake Kaalia,  and when I see Maharaj ji lost and immersed in the thread of Kathak, he is Krishna reincarnate. Maharaj ji dancing to a composition by Bindadeen Maharaj is a unique example of the composer, the composition , the dancer and the rasika all becoming part of this continuous thread of composition...