Ask an eight- year old or even
a five-year old the following question:
What
is the significance of Feb 14th?
..and you will get the answer
before you count 1.
Now, ask this question – What is
the significance of June 5th ?
..and I bet you will see blank
expression.
It is not the child alone who will blink but even a
majority of adults can be seen
scratching their heads(and hence become potential models of anti-dandruff shampoos and creams!).
In a country where the ‘special days’ are celebrated (and this
includes Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Friendship Day and many such ‘Days’…) more to keep cash registers in the small and big malls ticking than out of any real
love or concern, it is not a surprise at all that the significance of June 5th is not known to
many.
The United Nations has declared the day as ‘World Environment Day’ to bring awareness about our environment.
Though the word ‘environment’
should give positive vibes to all concerned, to many it still remains a ‘dull
word’ devoid of any value. It is
because we care less for the world
and more for our comfort. The fact that both are mutually inclusive is
unfortunately not realised by us and the result is there to be seen.
The Gangotri glacier has retreated by as much of 3 kms in the last 200 years.
Some of you may know that this glacier feeds Bhagirathi, the source stream of Ganga. The rate of retreat has been alarmingly increasing since the
‘70s(20th Century). The
basic reason is the increase in
temperature and this is an effect of global warming.
If this is the state of a natural stream which has a direct
impact on human beings, let us see
the state of other living beings and
how we have been treating them. In the ‘National Parks’ like Bandipore and Nagarhole, snaring of spotted
deer, peacocks and wild boars is reported frequently.
Elsewhere- in the TN-Kerala border-parakeets,
a beautiful species of birds are smuggled and raised as ‘pets’ in cages. Their wings are clipped (literally and figuratively) and even the beaks are damaged. Apart from this,
many animals are poached and killed because of superstitious beliefs that the animal-based
medicines will do wonders to the man’s
potency and can also act as pain killers.
Such things are not confined to
India alone. Just a week ago, 40 tiger
cubs were found frozen in a freezer in a Buddhist Temple in Thailand
(what an irony!). If we cannot treat the animals on par with us, we can at
least let them be the way they are.
Then, we have our most
favourite ‘tree-cutting’ which is done most of the times by the people who rule
us. But the blame lies equally lies with us too.. We, for our selfish needs do
not hesitate to chop a tree. I have
seen this happen at times in front of my eyes in my neighbourhood and have felt
helpless.
The theme of this year’s ‘World Environment Day’ is ‘Go Wild for life’. Let this not be
misinterpreted. It means ‘Respect the wildlife and stop illegal wildlife trade’
If ‘global warming’, ‘animal-poaching’
, ‘wildlife trade’ etc., sound too technical and even beyond our control, we as
human beings and responsible citizens can at least ensure that we don’t indulge
in activities that we know will affect the environment. Or at least, spare a thought for our surroundings.
The rare gem of the day in fact makes us feel for the nature. Not just
feel for it, but also be one with it.
‘Poonthottam Poovil PeNNin
JaadaigaL’ from ‘Nadiyai Thedi
Vantha Kadal’(1980) describes
the beauty of nature in simple words
and beautiful music. This must rank
as one of Shailaja’s best, as the composition needs a lot of breath
control (isn’t breath a very significant factor in environment and nature?).
I really don’t know how many
times I am going to say the tune is
great and the orchestration is
excellent. But if he puts me in a quandary by repeatedly giving marvellous compositions, what can I do?
At the most, I can change the adjectives
and also come out with new kind of sentences. Let me try it henceforth. But for
the time being, let me have the privilege of saying yet again that it is a beautiful tune with awesome interludes.
The natural sounds he manages to produce in such songs is something
that needs a very deep study. In ‘Poonthottam..’, the chirping of
birds make us feel that we are in the midst of the forest. But apart from these
natural sounds, he also makes the instruments
sound so naturally giving us a natural feeling.
Take the prelude. It starts with the humming
of Shailaja which in fact gives the
sketch of the Pallavi. Even as the
chirping of the birds is on, there is that pizzicato
on violin. The effervescent flute makes a circular movement. The keys sound(sound he used to give during
the ‘70s and early ‘80s) follows and the strings
play with delight. What an amazing experiment
with sound!
Note that the theme of the prelude revolves around the melody of Pallavi and yet sounds different.
As always, he plays with the rhythm too with the bass guitar along with a percussion instrument sounding ‘ta ka
dhi mi ta ka’- tisram broken down
as 6 micro-beats. This occurs during
every even count of the taaLa with another set of percussion playing during the odd count. Of course, this pattern is seen only in the Pallavi
when it is sung in the beginning and whenever it is sung after each CharaNam.
It is the reign of the strings in the first half of the first
interlude, and these move with unique elegance even as the flute makes an entry in between. A kind
of funny sound from the keys(probably depicting a jumping
animal) is interspersed in the melody
and after the flute takes a respite,
the pizzicato appears again. So does
the chirping of the birds.
The CharaNams have delectable lines with the folk-stringed instrument backing the vocals in the third and
the fourth lines.
The keys punch with joy in the beginning of the second interlude but it is the violin
which literally scores in this interlude.
There is pizzicato again and the solo violin plays a kind of offbeat
melody making us float in the air.
The third interlude is lilting with his favourite key sound playing a piercing melody first which is repeated by the solo violin rather subtly. The flute plays a different melody
parallely though it is also in the same scale
and can be called as an extension of
the melody played by the violin. Now
the keys change the scale and move
as if in a trance while the violin
continues its melody.
Unnaturally natural?
But in more than one ways, it
depicts the diverse nature or to use a commonly used term- Unity in Diversity.
What does this teach us?
Rather than my saying-or even sermonising-
as individuals you think about it and put your thoughts into action.
Happy World Environment Day!
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