The Musician

Indian Classical Music has a special style called the Banaras Gharana that originated in this magical place.

And most students in the city learn Hindustani classical music in some form – either vocal or instrumental.

This is a subject about which I do not know very much but as long as one has ears it is possible to enjoy music in all its forms.

So here I was on the banks of the river Ganga when I heard the melody of a famous 1960s Bollywood song played on a flute.

The lyrics are written with deep love of a woman for her sweetheart:

“As long as there is water in the River Ganga, may you live on”

We all grew up listening to Bollywood songs on radio and very popular games have been devised with Bollywood songs – so recognising this one was not difficult.

And so I walked over to the flute player …and listened to the whole song.

The dots all connect in the end and if you are watching for it you can spot the connections as they occur. Sometimes the connections are like rivers meeting oceans …slowly and serenely. And sometimes it is like electric charges from the clouds connecting to earth in an explosion of lightning energy leaving the earth rattled from the connection.

But once the dots connect there is no unseeing the connection.

And so it was with this music. The lyrics, the river named in the lyrics, the gentle breeze there…

Magic!

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jm