The Bhairavi of year 2019 : Suffering ennobles you .. makes you a better person !

Dr Christian Barnard, the pioneering cardiac-transplant surgeon, has been influential in me being a medical doctor and not some engineering graduate from IIT. Had decided to be a doctor early at the age 16, after reading a lesson "In celebration of being alive" in English textbook of CBSE standard 10th ! In-spite of being extremely strong in Mathematics and Physics , I chose biology and Medicine because of my passion for serving the sufferers and poor. I have maintained that passion throughout my life as a clinical scientist , clinical researcher and Healthcare Executive.
I posted this "sort of a disclaimer" , because of some general (mis) beliefs that :
1) Doctors take up medicine because they are poor in Mathematics and Physics
2) Doctors become doctors just to make money and lack passion of service , research and innovation

I have tried my best to prove both these (mis) beliefs wrong through my life and career.

Coming to the topic of the blog post, the quote that I remembered and inspired ( or instigated) this final blog post of the year was the following by Dr Christian Barnard :

"Suffering ennobles you, makes you a better person. You don’t become a better person because you are suffering; but you become a better person because you have experienced suffering. We can’t appreciate light if we haven’t known darkness. Nor can we appreciate warmth if we have never suffered cold. It’s not what you’ve lost that’s important. What is important is what you have left.. "

Recently, Dr Shriram Lagoo passed away. He was known "atheist" and a doctor who had given up practice for his passion for theater. He never believed in existence of God and has been an idol/ poster boy of liberals, socialists and atheists. In one of his interviews (that I heard recently), he reminisces about how life is full of suffering and that there is very little happiness in life. He even mentions that life is like a huge mountain of unhappiness and suffering while happiness is small pinch of sand !!
This sentence intrigued me. Made me think if this person was really logical in his acts and thinking or was he depressed and unhappy all along and lacked positivity , good guidance and advice from a mentor ?  Was it his stubbornness that made him suffer all along his life and made him live a life that was more unhappy than happy ? Whatever ... I would not subscribe to his philosophy of life and stick to the philosophy of Dr Christian Barnard, who as a doctor - cardiac surgeon , a religious man who later devoted his life to study of pharmacogenetics , genetics, biotechnology and gene therapy , all in service of the suffering patients and humanity in general !! He was a positive influence to many and a cheer leader to his patients , infused life and happiness to even the young dying children who needed cardiac transplants !
That is how I concluded about these distinct philosophies. For me this is a takeaway from year 2019. It re-emphasizes and re-establishes my long held belief in passionate life , positivity , en-nobbling value of suffering and positive thinking. That is the way I plan to venture further in 2020 ! 

Enjoy this serene video "Sunset of 2019" .. sights and sounds at twilight on the beach !

Goodbye 2019 !  Welcome 2020 !! 

 

From Classicalness to Massicalness : Productization of Indian Classical Music

Change is a constant phenomenon and Hindustani Classical Music is a living example of how the "classicalness" of music has changed over centuries .. initially from Dhrupad to Khayal , imbibing the folk tunes into the classicalness, new rhythms and thekas , newer forms of "light classical music" in the form of thumris , tappas , gazals and bhajans into the concerts of Indian ( Hindustani ) Classical Music.
As a "Punekar" , every December, over last 20 plus years ,I have witnessed this changing form and face in Pune's very own , the world famous festival of classical music , popularly known as "Sawai". The change is pronounced in last 4-5 years. With the advent of social media , penetration of mobile internet to every nook and corner, cheap internet access and more so , WhatsApp which had immense effect on music / music industry and especially Hindustani Classical Music

This blog post is a continuation of the thought process that was initiated in Dec 2018 through the blog : Classicalness Vs Massicalness - A story of Hindustani Classical Music
  
As I ponder over the basic idea behind starting such festivals like Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav in 1950s , I realize a grim fact that forced musicians to initiate such "marketing" tricks to attract more audience and patrons for the Hindustani Classical Music ! Most of these Classical Music festivals in India were started by musicians themselves to make Classical Music more "accessible" and "popular" among general masses. The gharana gayaki of classical music was limited to "Darbars" and concerts of Princely states until the freedom of India around 1950. Infact , these princely states were instrumental in the growth of gharana gayaki and were the main patrons of all the classical musicians. The rebirth of Jaipur and Kirana gayaki could be attributed to the patronage of princely states of Kolhapur and Mysore respectively.
With the fall of princely states the patronage was lost and these musicians , had to find newer audience to appreciate and pay for their art. Their livelihood was at stake. The emergence of "Natya Sangit" in Maharashtra could be attributed to this initiative to bring classical music near the masses through light classical compositions in dramas ( Natya). The emergence of Gandharva Sangit Mahavidyala to promote classical music was one such step. Active initiatives were taken by various Pandits and Ustads to make classical music appealing to masses , by sometimes diluting it. Pure form of Classical music concerts became rare and each classical music concert was inter-spread with some light classical compositions like thumris , tappas , natya sangit , gazals , qawwalis etc , for commercial reasons.
This lead to disappearance of pure classical genre like the old Jaipur gayaki ( based on three schools of Dhrupad ) and the Dhrupad itself from the concert scene.

The Hindustani classical music is like a flowing river, constantly changing its form from the Dhrupad ,to Khayal of Amir Khusroo to Modern day Khayal of Gharanas to Current mix of Khayal and light classical blend. This transformation is ongoing for ages and the audience is the determining factor that decides the further growth and transformation !
We all connoisseurs are just spectators and unbiased witness to this change and transformation !
 

Mumbai ,Bombay : The villages trapped in roads , trains and metro !

Mumbai keeps surprising, every time one visits it!
One other identity of Mumbai I realized this time very clearly is that Mumbai is essentially a huge group of very small villages connected together. Mumbai tries to pretend to be modern city simply because of the pace of the immigrant workers and being the center of financial activities.We all realize this but tend to believe that it is a cosmopolitan planned city, which it is definitely not.
I however do enjoy visiting it once in a while to experience the surprises !
During my recent visit , mainly for meetings and conferences, Mumbai surprised me pleasantly at the Juhu's  Silver beach  with the cleanliness and less crowded peacefulness like one experiences in a serene village beach..
Here are some nice pics and short videos of the silver beach near Juhu..(Facebook Album)


Previously I have written about Mumbai / Bombay as it fascinated me with its dichotomy , the spectrum of diversity and transformation .. from Mills to Malls .. from BKC to small coastal villages , the crowded Eastern and Harbor line to the Western suburbs! Everything fascinates and surprises me! I was a "Mumbaikar" for 2 years (1996-98 ) as "worker" for WHO and ICMR but have never dared to be back as resident. I do visit Mumbai now and then for business meetings and conferences and that is enjoyable and surprising simply because the stay is only for few days!!

Here are some of my previous blog posts about Mumbai (since 2014 till date )

Revisiting Mumbai 
 
A Western Trail : Photo-diary of walk along the western suburbs 

Bombay : The Mumbai of mill workers .. from mills to malls 

Girgaon : The forgotten heart of Mumbai

Bhendi Bazar : The area , gharana , the gayaki 

Three part series on History of Mumbai

History of Mumbai : Part I  A quick read compendium

History of Mumbai : Part II

History of Mumbai : Part III

Mumbai is a great place to visit , at least once a year especially for business and meetings. It is meant for "Business", people "exist" and survive here to make money. Living is altogether a different thing! I have seen Mumbai closely since 1996 or so ..very closely. I like it for the way it is, it gives me a good perspective of life. I however feel more proud and blessed that I was born as Punekar, raised in Pune and have been groomed in the culture of Pune. I must mention here that there is absolutely no comparison here. These are two different "cultures" and worlds separated by around 200kms !