The Evening Raga

Life is not a race

Do take it slower

Enjoy all its melody

Before the Song is over

If games are the youth of life, then most certainly music is the soul of life. The very name Bharatha, Swami often reminds, connotes Bhava, Raga and Tala. A mother’s lullaby lulling her little one to sleep, a boatman’s oceanic cadences, a tribal’s woody rhythms, a preacher’s catholic submissions, a bird’s avian chirpings, a mountain’s faithful replies (read echoes), a dj’s groovy cuttings are all nothing but crystallization of music. Even silence is but a sonata where two hearts tuned to its same cosmic frequency dish out duets to the letting strains of the most exalted melody, simply termed as LOVE. Has one ever wondered about the singular fact that across geography and over different eras men of God from St. Francis of Assisi to Saint Thyagaraja could get on par with God on only one platform! You got it right-MUSIC! The moment they were ‘confronted’ with Divinity, words took vacation and verses found vocation. Such is the power of Music.

This year’s orchestra saw contrasting themes being portrayed. For the UG houses it was ‘In the Beginning…’ and the PG counterparts faced ‘The Last Note’. At quarter to six, in the evening House-C began exposition of the theme. Theirs was a simple and noble interpretation-music helps man graduate from the obsolete to the absolute. Every day in a man’s life is generously sprinkled with music. Natesh donning multi-tasking roles across violin, keyboard and the sax, Avishek’s ‘electrifying’ performance on the guitar were the easy picks. House-D foray was an odyssey seeking to trace the genesis of Music itself. Commencing with the pranavakar their musical itinary included tribal rattles, western classicals, Hindustani, Carnatic, pop, fusion and a final stopover at a peppy latino number. Vinyas on the keys, Ravi on the skins, Saketh on trumpet, Swagath on the bass all shone.

The P.G. houses hit off in the right earnest. House A with an Intro by Barru traveled through the swaras across several music genres that had a strong Rahman flavour. Shankar on violin, Rat and Sainath on tabla, Harish Mani and Preethi on the keys, Om P heading the chorus with Sujith working out some tasting drum rolls, provided the sparkles. A technical hitch though marred an otherwise flawless performance. The jury though has assured G.A.M.E network that practice recordings would also be considered in view of the technical hitch. House B followed up a stirring D.V. Hemanth intro with a beautifully executed performance. Anshuman, KG, Manoj on keys, Aswath, Kalidas(chorus) – Jaideep on the violin, Subbu on the congo and drums, Harivijayram on the mridangam, Deepak on the tabla – all enhanced the musical renderings which displayed a strong Yanni hue and verve.

The impresarios were Anmol, Ajay Ram, KVS and Shyam. Overall the orchestra competition was not merely a treat to the ears but also a moment of reckoning for the participants. The message was clear. The ‘beginning note’ belongs to God, so does the ‘last note’. What happens in between is an orchestra that we mortals proudly assert as life. It too belongs to GOD!!!