The bell tolls for thee !

One thing got me pretty interested last weekend.. And kept me thinking throughout this week too!

I got a chance to attend a concert by the Isha Yoga Centre's 'The sounds of Isha'.

This is not the run-of-the-mill music group who practise for a month before every stage performance and are so clearly aware which song would go for that coveted 'Once-more' chant !! They were all amateur singers who are mainly volunteers with the group and have a common interest but not traditional background in music. A mixed group with one from Lebanon, two from the US, two from North India, two from South India, and one from some Arab country. And their instruments too were created at their own backyard: the kitchen pots had become one or the other kind of percussion instrument (of course the string instruments were not created by them!).

Believe me when I say this amateur group churned out wonderful, wonderful music for two hours without once letting the tempo down. And the songs did not fall under any of the catgories you can think of:

1. One song was in Arabic thanking the Guru and celebrating the Guru - disciple relationship.
2. One song was in Tamil celebrating Rain and forests (a folk number)
3. One was in Hindi about rain and water again.
4 One was about train and journeys in general (named S3 after the compartment in which they created it).
5. A classical rendering on Lord Shiva (because he is the yogic guru)
6. The rest were instrumental not coming under any genre : folk or metal or classical or whatever it may be

I was impressed for many reasons:

1. They have not learnt music.
2. They do not get time to practise unlike the other musicians.
3. The diversity ofthe group and the way the the people from US sung Tamil songs without any accent you associate them with. Or the way the Tam guys sung Hindi songs again without any accent spoiling the song.
4.The theme of the concert. Revolved mainly around mother nature and rain and forests. A very interesting theme for a concert in my opinion.

As is well known, I am a pessimist and the biggest agnostic you would come across. I don't connect with people who believe in Gurus and human deities (inspite of (because of!) being brought up in Kanchipuram known for the Shankaracharya lineage). But Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev makes me sit up. I am stirred up by his speeches. His reasoning. His logic. His charisma is overpowering. It draws me to him inspite of my inner protests that I don't know much about his idealogies or philosophy. But my dreams were dominated by him for three consective days after the concert. I was seeing him play football, hearing him talk to the kids, seeing hime plant saplings !! And I wondered if he is a hypnotist.. Then I realised mass hypnosis works only when you hear someone's prolonged speech;that too only if you are made to concentrate on it intensely.

I now want to go to Vellinagiri hills. To see the Dhyanalinga he has painstakingly built. To drown in the experience as told by those who have visited it. When I think of what the group is doing, I feel belittled and worthless. There are so many of them working for the wellness of the society. Many of them are from abroad and don't even have any obligatiosn to give back anything to this community. Global warming is a every day terminlogy for each one of us but we wont raise a finger against it. And here they are planting 8.5 lakh saplings in a single day. In the quest to restore 30% of the forest cover of Tamilnadu by 2012.They conduct rural health camps to treat those who have no access to healthcare. They open schools in villages where children have to travel a lot to attend school.What do they stand to gain? Only the satisfaction of having done your best towards achieving what is good for the world.Probably that pretty much compensates for everything they are deprived of (If at all they feel that they are).

For once I think I understand what professional satisfaction means. Doing something which you not only find interesting but which also makes a miniscule difference to someone's quality of life. Not in terms of automating it or making it easier, but in terms of uplifting those lives where only your contribution actually made the difference!

I am having a strong urge to join hands but I have to wait and watch if this is going to pass or if it is with me to stay. If it does, my MBA would be put to a good use (assuming sooner or later I would be one) !!