The Lulling Lure Of Karnatic Music Poem by Ananta Madhavan

Fellow lovers of Karnatic music,
‘Namaste'. Salutations to you.

‘Rasikas' are those who relish and taste
The nine ‘Rasas', the essences of that heritage.
We are not ‘fans' or fanatics who exclude
The drill of the life-world and so embrace
A single Muse divine. Let us rejoice
That the lull and lure of song and lyric
Finds enraptured Rasikas. It is the soul
That listens, not the ears that hear
Jumbles of sound and noise. It is our inner being
That learns to listen beyond the vibration
Of auditory nerves.

Let us praise the
Benefactors who gave us our music,
The genius of composers and disciples
Who bestowed on us this melodic gift.
They are the acolytes of the Muses.
Go beyond the tickled eardrums to imbibe
The ecstasy of psalm and hymn and ballad.

Let us praise the ‘Trinity' of music makers,
Who composed the songs we treasure.
They lived in the deep south of India,
About two centuries ago; the British Raj
Had its own sepoys marching to band-tunes,
Which they must have heard.
.
Our Trinity endured both fame and hardship
With the lilt and lure of lulling melody,
Always imbued with their own inner rhythm.
They defined, refined and embellished Ragas
In daily devotion to the Divine in 'keertanas'
Of many tonic hues and moods.

Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Shyama Sastry,
Each one a saintly genius and devout.
They knew the Almighty by many names.
Thyagaraja idolised Rama, the model Rasika,
And avatar of Vishnu, sustainer of all existence.
Thyaga bemoaned his ordeals but stayed true
To his image of the Saviour. In a beloved 'keertana',
'Nagu Momu' in Abheri raga, he pictures Rama
As a benignly solacing hero with a smiling face.
Yet he ends the threnody on a despairing note:
"To whom, O Soul Supreme above the world,
Can we appeal? "

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7 May,2016.