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The name's Raj, just Raj. | ||
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John Campana writes
Pt. Jasraj and the Baroque
I didn't take any notes during last night's concert in Toronto by
Pt.Jasraj and Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri. There were too many notes there as it
was: short ones, long ones, stretched-to-infinity ones, soft ones,loud
ones, running-into-the-other-ones ones, very low ones and very loud ones.
Instead, I started jotting down "sur" words which contained puns on notes,
possibly applicable to last night's programme. I thought that this might be
a way of relating some of the highlights of the recital and keep occupied
at the same time.The first one which came to mind was "sursumcorda": an
incitement to courage; lift up your hearts.
surcharge: the four rows assigned to the cheap seats having alreadybeen
taken, I was forced to pay double and be close to the action.
surveyer: assess the lay of the land and of the raags.
surveillant: at all times, except for the bidi breaks.
surfeit: too great an amount, excess of.
surface: not the pakad, but the superficial features as of a personality.
surround: (super andare) to move in waves (v. surgy).
surcease: which never happened; the wavesof notes did not ebb. Infact, they
transmuted into tears in Pt. Jasraj during an emotionally surcharged
bhajan.
surrogate: Sanjay Abhyankar?
surgery: would have helped.
surplus: v. surfeit.
sur-perfluous: ditto, poetic licence.
surculose (bot.) a graft, sucker.
surface noise: :-)
surly: masterful, imperious.
surplice: a white, wide sleeved gown (not of asbestos).
surprint: print over matter already printed (a palimsest?).
surprises: not many, except for a Sa spanning various avartans.
surrealistic: surpassing the bounds of reality.
surrebuttal: Swapan-da displayed his mastery even in simple theka.There was
no need for a sawaal-jawaab in jhaptal with the pundit.
surreptitiously: me stepping out for a bidi on a few occasions.
surrender: a woeful lacuna in the performance. Pt.-ji is a performer,a
dramatist, nay, a melodramatist of "son et lumiere". "Music as soap-opera",
a friend of mine said. The pundit was the sole administrator of his music,
always in control of his notes, making them sit up, sit down, heel and roll
over dead. The taans and bolbants were unleashed in the same fashion.
cocksure: general performance attitiude.
surviver: I'm still here to talk about it.
The moods ebbed and flowed at the turn of a phrase or of a finger. The
raags were controlled from without not from internal imperative and
surrender. The opening Nat-Narayani, instead of lowering our blood
pressure, as Swapan-da promised the audience, simply made my blood ebb and
flow. The Bhavsakh and Bahar I missed. A long bidi it was. The Husseini
Kanada opening the second half had initial promise, falling in line with a
traditional exposition. But then, this raag too, became domesticated and
docile as the ocean was dammed by the master. Basant too, eventually struck
the dam wall and got lost in the eddying white water notes at the dam.
Within the recent classico-romantic discussion, we must define a permanent
baroque niche for the music of Pt. Jasraj - rococo, I would venture to say.
This style, as we know, is "fantastically overdecorated; gaudily ornate."
Here I am thinking more of the architecture of the Baroque than its music.
surely: I wasn't the only one who felt this way.
And finally: sur enough!
Eric Parker writes
Using John's "sur" puns as a springboard and taking one large
etymological step we have:
circuitous: vakra
circadian: sung daily (or during the day)
circulation: sanchari
circumspect: vivadi
circumlocution: vakra
circumstance: nyas sur
circumvent: varjit
circumflex: meend
circumnavigation: sanchari
and last and maybe least: circus :-)
Rajan Parrikar writes:
Keep those anti-Jasraj posts coming. We, at the
JBS (Jasraj Bhakt Samiti) headquarters, will be issuing
an official response soon:-)
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