A great savant
The title of the post and the blog might lead one to think that I am talking of Dikshitar himself. At the outset I mention that this post is dedicated to my, our (students of Guruguha Gana Vidyalaya) to everybody's Teacher.She was is and will always be known in the annals of history as Teacher. A guiding light for thousands of students for more than 50 years now, a definite Guinnes book candidate maybe. A musician par excellence and by far one of the best teachers. A perfectionist and advocate of hardwork and sincerity and keeping things simple. Her sincerity towards writing the notations, towards spreading Dikshitar's kritis to known and unknown people is something one would know only when one interacts with her. A reticent person and the last person to come in public view, only the students know that she was the bulwark of the institution which has been the benchmark for Dikshitar kritis. And why not, after all we belong to the direct sishya lineage of Dikshitar. An advantage one may say a bigger responsibility another might. The responsibility part was what teacher fulfilled to the utmost. Even a month ago she was instrumental in bringing many new Saraswati kritis that people never knew existed. Why there was a dispute that a Dikshitar kriti in Charukesi has been lost or never existed and lo! Teacher brings up a Saraswati kriti in Charukesi. Her forte were without doubt rare kritis of Dikshitar but virtually she was always working to bring out unknown kritis of each and every composer. Why many never knew that a Tyagaraja kriti existed in Rishabhapriya.
The post will go on eulogizing her but she alas isnt physically present in the bhuloka anymore. The great savant that Dikshitar was needed a great servant in the form Teacher to bring his kritis to the mainstream. This is no way intended to equate them both as there is no room for comparision itself. However as nature demands a great composer is many a time brought to light aeons later by dedicated servants and Dikshitar's kritis and Teacher are an example of the same. One should only listen to the Aradhana utsavam recordings of the past several years to listen to atleast 10/20 rare kritis of Dikshitar being sung every year....
Teacher isnt physically anymore with us. But for students like me who have been with her for more than a decade and a half her values virtues and hardwork are the most common source of inspiration. If Dikshitar's kritis enlighten me today it is because of Sir and Teacher. As a true Guru, they have shown us the path of salvation and quietly moved away to annals of history. I truly realize from the core of my heart today the sayings of poet Kabir:
Guru Govind dou khade,kaake lagoo paaye|
balihari guru aapno, govind diyo bataaye||
( Kabir says "I am in a dilemma, both my Guru and the Lord himself are in front of me to whom should I prostrate first?" He realizes then and says that "it should be the Guru because had the Guru not been there he wouldnt have recognized the Lord himself")...It is rightly said that after your parents the most important person in your life is your Guru and even the Lord comes after that. I therefore prostrate through this post to Sir and Teacher and its my greatest misfortune that I am not physically with Teacher as I was with Sir...but as they say its all in the mind...Its the mind which wants to rededicate itself to the values the principles and the morals that the Vidyalaya has ingrained in the form of two of the greatest servants of Carnatic music especially Dikshitar, Sir and Teacher. Salutations to both of them.
The post will go on eulogizing her but she alas isnt physically present in the bhuloka anymore. The great savant that Dikshitar was needed a great servant in the form Teacher to bring his kritis to the mainstream. This is no way intended to equate them both as there is no room for comparision itself. However as nature demands a great composer is many a time brought to light aeons later by dedicated servants and Dikshitar's kritis and Teacher are an example of the same. One should only listen to the Aradhana utsavam recordings of the past several years to listen to atleast 10/20 rare kritis of Dikshitar being sung every year....
Teacher isnt physically anymore with us. But for students like me who have been with her for more than a decade and a half her values virtues and hardwork are the most common source of inspiration. If Dikshitar's kritis enlighten me today it is because of Sir and Teacher. As a true Guru, they have shown us the path of salvation and quietly moved away to annals of history. I truly realize from the core of my heart today the sayings of poet Kabir:
Guru Govind dou khade,kaake lagoo paaye|
balihari guru aapno, govind diyo bataaye||
( Kabir says "I am in a dilemma, both my Guru and the Lord himself are in front of me to whom should I prostrate first?" He realizes then and says that "it should be the Guru because had the Guru not been there he wouldnt have recognized the Lord himself")...It is rightly said that after your parents the most important person in your life is your Guru and even the Lord comes after that. I therefore prostrate through this post to Sir and Teacher and its my greatest misfortune that I am not physically with Teacher as I was with Sir...but as they say its all in the mind...Its the mind which wants to rededicate itself to the values the principles and the morals that the Vidyalaya has ingrained in the form of two of the greatest servants of Carnatic music especially Dikshitar, Sir and Teacher. Salutations to both of them.
posted by Unknown at 10:27 PM
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