Uplifting

Attended Pt. Rajan Sajan Mishra's concert today. It was, to say the least, mesmerizing. Hearing them touch the high chords with the lower ones with such an elegant finesse and consistency was very refreshing. I was in such a meditative trance that I almost felt that I was riding those chords with them. I always wonder how much practice/riyaaz and focus/sadhna do such performances require. One almost feels humble in the presence of such greatness.

More on their concert here.

At the same time, I was aghast at the snobbish attitude of some in the audience. They were there only because it was it was almost like a ritual for them to attend an indian classical concert just because there was one in the area. Their purpose there was to let people know that they have a discernible ear to differentiate between raag nand and raag durga. Granted its a difficult art to master, however, I think somewhere in their pursuit, they have forgotten the first lesson of Indian classical music, and that is humility. To prove my case, I am presenting an example of that great (and therefore humble) vocalist, Ustaad Amir Khan. They were giants, and as Carl Sagan would say, in comparison, we are nothing but a speck of dust:

In other words:
"laalayeet adhRoN se jisne haaye nahiN choomi haala
harshit kampit kar se jisne haay madhu ka chooaa pyaala
haath pakaD kar lajjit saaqi ko paas nahiN jisne kheencha
wyarth sukha Daali jeewan kee usne mahdumay madhushaala"