World Music Day!!!
Not long ago was I introduced to music, it was just the same
day as I was born!
There is enough and more music in our surroundings, if only
we make less noise and spread calm!
As I moved forward in the journey of my life, one blessed
day I was introduced to SPICMACAY, a mobile temple of faith, grace, music,
dance, art and some mystic aspects of life that each of us our born with, but
slowly forget to practice them due to known and unknown reasons!
Today on the occasion of World Music Day, a lot of people in
the world will do the talking about legends (living or dead) and their
legacies. And I will follow the cue, but with a person who has the knack of
creating mesmeric waves and legacy in way that is too close to her listeners'
heart. And before I introduce you to
her, I whole-heartedly thank SPICMACAY, the temple to have introduced me to a
divine like this.
Ruchira Kedar, a singer, a musician(her hums are the
instrument she plays), a sincere human, a guru that one can never find
easily... That's what she is to me (no exaggerations made… no questions to
answer)!
It was during the Rural Workshops for Hindustani Classical
Music, that I as a part of SPICMACAY was introduced to Ruchira Ji. My first
encounter with her was in the train, where we both, with a few accompanists and
another friend travelled to the villages of Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh!
She was plain, nothing of what one feels after seeing a
renowned artist(no jitters), probably because she is more than that!
Unfolding the "many" of my celebrity!
During the 7 days stay with her, I closely got to know what
it takes to be a classical singer (how it is not all that easy and glamorous as
it looks and sounds to most people of another profession). It takes
'saadhna'(meditative learning), determination, time keeping, proper food, and
keeping oneself entertained (in good measures) that makes a performer. Now what
about a performer along with being a guru, a team player, a social worker (she's
all that!)
Some true "guru" moments that I had with her
The sessions in the Rural School Intensives (RSI) were
programmed as a mix of a performance followed by a workshop or vice versa.
Ruchira ji would first take the children to a musical journey with her divine
voice to a world of Bhajans, where she would ask all the children to close
their eyes(all the ways and means of instructing the children subtly flowed in)
and listen, after that she would teach the children the basics of SaReGaMa,
Alankaar, Aaroh, Avroh! And while she did all this teaching there never
appeared a single trace of a Hindi-Telugu linguistic conflict! Music is THE
language of hearts!
End of every workshop, the most beautiful lines that she
would say: "Mazaa aaya na?" And the children would nod in acceptance,
then continuing the dialogue she'd say: "This is what music does to you,
it brings you happiness". One simple line, but not understood my so many
of us in this world!!
Then in the closure of the entire program with the school,
she would give the children a homework (knowing that we would not comeback to
check if they did the homework). And guess what the home work could have been;
it was singing SaReGaMa for five minutes every day while they walked or cycled
their way to the school(one of the most beautiful ways of teaching, tell the
student what to do and have faith...instead of not telling them at all)
I can go on writing about this beautiful lady who turned
from a celebrity Ruchira Ji to a sisterly figure Ruchira Di to me in just days!
She is synonymous to music to me and the number of teary-eyed moments (due to
the ecstasy of reaching another world) that I have had while she sang some
immortal bhajans during those 7days, make her my most sort after celebrity in
the field of music for the rest of my life!
While she practises music. I practised alchemy through her
and everything around turned into gold!
Love.Peace.Happiness
