Sublime Experience

After reading this, I felt that I had to share my experience of Margazhi Raagam too. I had wanted to do it soon after I watched it but somehow found myself at a loss of words to describe the experience.

When I first heard about the attempt at filming a concert on celluloid, I did not know what to think, what to expect. I thought that perhaps the regular sabha hopping music lovers would not be too enthusiastic about it. However my curiosity had been piqued and anyway, I was an ardent fan of Bombay Jayashree. So when they were screening Margazhi Raagam at our place, I knew I could not miss it.

A friend arranged for the tickets and there I was waiting at the venue eager and expectant. The screening began with no ado and it was a different feeling altogether- I mean – looking at the screen in a theatre waiting for a concert.

The lights dimmed in the theatre and the screen came alive. The backdrop, the aesthetic décor, the lighting, the sound experience - was indeed unique. And though this was not a live performance, I don’t know why it felt like an intense personal experience. Like it was only Music and the listener- everything else was blotted out.

I remember the surprise and delight I felt when how first Jayashree rendered the Khamas serenely, then followed a percussion interlude and finally brought to an unexpected buoyant culmination by T.M. Krishna!

The piece with just the Tampura as accompaniment was out of the world. If I'm guilty of using hyperbole, its only because my experience was such.

While Bombay Jayshree closed her eyes and let Music flow out of her soul-it was like she was having a personal conversation with the Divine and we were the lucky eavesdroppers. And Krishna,he sat there playing with Music - the swaras, the thala like he was on some jocular jaunt...and did not mind us joining him ...

When it was over, I did not want to leave, I wanted a little more… I emerged out of the theatre in a trance...