Very few living people amaze me, TM Krishna is one such person. It’s not that I am an expert on him or that I read his book The Spirit of Enquiry, which I plan to read now. You can read many of the essays in probably 2 of the best independent and thought provoking news sites which I visit (Scroll & The wire). In fact it’s a scroll article which is making me write this small note.
I have just seen one of his presentations in NCPA when during lockdown, NCPA had opened its archive for free viewing. He was presenting on the topic - Art & Activism in Tata Literature Live festival. For that 1 hr or more he was speaking I just could not get out of my chair. The way he spoke with complete passion & belief - meaning of art & activism & how music relates to it, it was like an immersive experience of you being in his mind. It was like he had meditated on this topic for hours and hours and formed his point of view - whether you agree or disagree.
I found the similar sense - when today I heard him sing the Ashoka edict & the subsequent interview. He is probably the first person who has put this edict on music. I have never heard carnatic music but I heard and read the edict (it was translated in English although it did not bring out the full meaning of edict and was quite superficial, I could make it as I read the real text which he was singing).
Again, here if you hear him speak, you could see the same quality of him immersing himself into the words and its pronunciation and how he spent time putting it in music. More importantly, it was not just the music, the reason why he wanted to do this. How, as he read, understood and created the music - the music started talking to him & he and music became the same. Which is what in my mind the true essence of music & you can see it in the eyes of Pandit Ravi Shankar - if you see him playing in a concert or any other greats. As a listener we take refuge in that moment through them and feel blissful.
I have never in life read the edicts - but as I heard and read it. I found it so relevant at these times that it lifted me up - that someone could write it in the 3rd century BC. If we just followed it the world wouldn’t have been where it is now with all the conflicts across countries, states, language, caste, environment. I know it was not a possibility & never will be but the mindfulness of the edict was really astounding.
Some time back I wrote about the meaning of life - and this is a clear example of someone who has put out something because it provoked / enlightened him / spoke to him and he hoped that the same will happen to many of us who read or hear it. From the outside at least it looks like he has found the meaning of life at least for those moments when he worked on the edicts, till his next search journey or project begins. All of us should be lucky enough to get at least 1 shot at this moment(s) if not more.
Here’s till the next one.
Read the scroll article here: https://scroll.in/article/1032229/why-emperor-ashoka-still-matters-historian-nayanjot-lahiri-and-vocalist-tm-krishna-in-conversation (pls listen to the edicts )
One of the books on Ashoka recommended by Manu Pillai (one of my favourite history story teller) : The great Mughal by Ira Mukhoty. https://www.amazon.in/Akbar-Great-Mughal-Ira-Mukhoty/dp/9389836042/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Ira+Mukhoty&qid=1662623595&s=books&sr=1-1 (Buy it here)
Some TM Krishna articles, you can read them here:
https://m.thewire.in/byline/t-m-krishna
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