moment of discovery

yesterday brought me a moment of discovery, and resulting euphoria. i was at a pt. shivkumar sharma concert, where he was accompanied by ustad zakir hussain on the tabla. it was a surreal experience. as soon as i heard the sound of the santoor, cliched as this sounds, i was transported to the valleys of kashmir.

(note: it occurs to me now that that might have something to do with the "mile sur..." ad film where pt. shivkumar sharma plays the santoor with the valleys of kashmir in the background (or so they appeared to me back then). you know what i'm talking about?)

anyway, what was most special about yesterday was that i found myself making a concerted effort towards figuring out what he was actually playing on the santoor, and what zakir hussain was doing with the tabla. couldn't help but wonder what i'd been listening to all these years? yes, listening to the sitar, the sarod, tabla etc. but not really listening. what did it really mean to appreciate just the 'melody' of what they were playing? for the first time, i was able to dissect the melodies into notes and actually understand the raga from the rendition. this was a first ... an unforgettable first.