Beats In India

In the chilling season of despair

Hope hybernates,

My spirit seek the musical dreams—

Where in my ears were hit

By the sweetest melody ever tuned,

My mortality towards salvation turned.

Looking into eyes of the majestic Vamsi player,

Dressed in gold on the skin tinted blue.

His flute the river of devotion,

Embraced Meera in its hue.

She pleased him with Ektara,

Collected more in Bhakti pitara.

Once the Lord of Kailash and Kashi—

The ash smeared Nataraja

Played Rudra Veena and Damru

Each string, each beat imparts

All the performing arts.

Since then,

Bansuri was weded to Tabla,

Shehnai to Surbahar,

Sarangi to Sitar.

In this lyrical carnatic family,

Ragas were born,

Ghungroo danced kathak in happiness

Jal Tarang leashes off

The salty drops of smile.

The only land

Music is in water and on sand

A rich assortment of pipes and strings

Can ripple the air from summer to spring

Tabla pakhwaz dhol mridangam

Has rhythm abound can make human restless even worm

We drink music from wood and pool

They are dulcet though without rule

We have song tender and wild

Gurgled in the mouth from old to child

But the legends living or dead are strict about grammar

Be he a vocalist an instrumentalist or a drummer

Their pupil are no less than their child

The bond between like sometimes thunder sometimes rain a mild

The only land where the earthen pathways

That still carry the trail of footprints though some washed away halfway

They are folklorist hamlet's minstrel

Sing song to shake the world but amid pomp and dazzle they don't look at all frail

So this my India and its music

In taste and essence evermore unique

Vamsi — The longest flute of Lord Krishna.

Meera— Lord Krishna's devotee and a saint from Bhakti movement.

Ektara— Single string Musical instrument that Meera used to play.

Bhakti— One of the famous devotional movement in India.

Pitara— box.

Kailash— A mountain associated with the ascetic life of Shiva.

Kashi— A city associated with the social life of Shiva.

Nataraja— An incarnation of Lord Shiva which showcases him as the Lord of Music.

Rudra Veena and Damru— Musical instruments associated with Shiva.

Bansuri, Tabla, Shehnai, Surbahar, Sarangi, Sitar— Indian Musical instruments.

Ragas— The indian classical tunes.

Ghungroo— an anklet kind of ornament made up of little bells only worn by dancers.

Kathak— A classical dance form.

Jal Tarang— An extraordinary tune created only when the bowls filled with water are hit.