Far Away, a Kokila Sings...
The Ashtanayika in the Poetry of Music
SHANTHA BENEGAL
Abstract:
The poetry of music is a meadow of unassuming flowers. If you pick a flower and put your
nose to it there is often no discernible perfume. It takes a breeze to release the subtle
fragrance. At first acquaintance, the poetry of music also seems trivial, unscented. Lyrics
are, after all, are asumed to be of secondary importance in music. Their authors have long
been considered vaggeyakar [lyricists] not kavi [poets]. It is with surprise that I discovered
there is more to this poetry than meets the "nose"
