Altruism

Sometimes in the most crucial moments, we forget basic humanity.

No, I am not talking about the Captain of the Argentinean Team, who walked off the field last night without bothering to shake hands with the opponents or the referees. Nor is this about his angry gesture at a Croatian player after the latter ‘fell down’ and was looking helplessly perplexed!

In fact, the line which I have quoted is from an article I read a couple of days ago and it had nothing to do with Football. The article is a chilling account of his encounter with a family of tigers; yes a perfect family of tigers with a Tiger, a Tigress and two cubs.

This happened some time ago at Todoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra and I still remember the news item -which appeared that time – about the ‘Tiger Family’ picking up the lunch boxes of the villagers and savouring the treat. Are tigers carnivorous or herbivorous or omnivorous? It is for the zoological anthropologists-if at all there is a term like this- to find out, and in any case this post is not so much about zoology or anthropology as about human behaviour during a crisis.

To continue with the story, there were two ‘Houseful’ tourist jeeps with many villagers perched on top of the jeeps. Some 15 villagers-who were grass cutters-, were on the ground. As a matter of principle, it is said that the tigers do not attack humans when they are on four-wheelers (yes, even animals have principles unlike our politicians!). Now, some of those villagers were pleading with the tourists to let them in even as the tigers were crouching and were getting ready to attack them.

The Tourists refused.

That line quoted in the beginning appeared now in the article and I am sure the relevance requires no explanation.

The author had the presence of mind to ask his driver drive very close to the villagers and made them jump inside his jeep..

..and that is when the tigers decided to have an altogether different lunch!

This story might indicate different things to different people, though the L.C.M. would be ‘Never forget basic humanity’, but to me it conjured up some images, images of what happened very recently.

‘Yours truly’ and his two children were sitting in front of the majestic monument, which is considered to be one of the wonders of the world. I, for one have never been enamoured of its perceived beauty, but that is a different story altogether and requires a separate post. The evening was bright and equally hot. A man along with a 4-year old kid came to us and asked for some water. We had 3 bottles out of which 2 were empty already and there was just a quarter(no, no, it was pure H2O  as you all know I am totally a teetotaller!) left in the third one. We had to walk back to the gate which was approximately 800 meters away and we would certainly need that water, especially the kids.

So, when the man asked for water for his kid, I flatly refused. My two children said in the same voice (yeah, it was counterpoint too, literally), ‘Appa, please give’. I looked at them with a stern face, turned towards the man and again said, ‘No’. He asked thrice and then walked away with his kid holding his hand. My kids gave a disturbed look. There was a mix of emotions written on their countenance. Sadness, Anger and most importantly Disappointment.. The last mentioned was because they did not expect their dad, who is known for care and concern for others, to behave the way he behaved that moment. I told them I cared for them more. My statement indeed lacked conviction, a fact which I could make out from my tone and from my kids’ expressions.

On the way back in the bus, my daughter was watching a Hindi movie , which according to me was ‘third rate’ and which according to her was ‘first class’, my son was busy fiddling with his phone and I was busy listening to songs. So, the incident was forgotten..Well, almost!

The following day, we went to Akshardham, a place meant to be spiritual , visited by people who confuse spirituality with something else. The long and short of it was that the place was over crowded and by the time the three of us joined the line to go inside, we had hardly any energy left. The Delhi heat made things worse. My daughter said she would faint soon and asked for water. There was no bottle with us and I spotted a man holding 2 mineral water bottles in the Q. Without any hesitation, I asked him for water. He hesitated for a moment. I said it was for the little one. His friend immediately asked him to oblige. And he obliged..

Needles to say, at that very moment what happened exactly 24 hours ago crossed my mind and I was left with a sense of shame. My daughter smiled at me and though there was a touch of innocence in that, my guilty conscience read a lot in that smile.

If I got reminded of a song that moment, it was not just because of the first line but due to a variety of reasons.

‘Mandira Punnagaiyo’ from ‘Mandira Punnagai’(1986) is undoubtedly a composition which spreads serenity and gives tranquillity. If I said that the composition is musical meditation, it would not be an exaggeration.

Listen to the prelude. Guitar string repeating the same extended note; keys responding with a string of notes; an oboe like piped instrument playing languorously; another set of keys striking at the right frequency.. Is this a lullaby? Or is it something more than that?

The absence of percussion during the entire prelude which runs for 4 complete cycles of 8 beats(aadi taaLam) with each beat consisting of 3 micro-beats(tisram) speaks volumes about the brilliance of the composer and the composition. Isn’t it a fact that silence speaks more than words, or that music speaks when words fail?

The Pallavi in the voice of Janaki is soft and sensitive and pierces the heart. The guitar piece which appears after the first line and the fleeting flute piece after the first and second phrases in the second line, complete the spiritual experience.

It would be difficult to believe –especially for first time listeners- that this indeed is a film song and not a western symphony. They can be excused for mistaking this to be the latter, for if one listened to only certain segments of the two interludes, without listening to the Pallavi and the CharaNams, it would seem surely like a pure western symphony.

The melancholic solo violin in the beginning of the first interlude is joined by another violin in higher octave and the latter is joined by two groups of violins, with each one playing different sets of notes. Note the shift from the minor scale to the major scale here. The brass flute repeats the violin melody even as the groups back it subtly with a parallel melody. Two sets of strings now move with grace, of course playing two sets of notes with the percussion-which was absent till now- and the bass guitar backing them. The solo guitar brings back the touch of poignancy with two sets of flutes replying with great discernment.

The guitar and the flutes combine together yet again but this time producing totally different sets of melodies, that is different from what these produced in the first interlude. In fact, one can even say that the guitar piece can be used as a teaching tool for aspiring western classical students in general and guitarists in particular.

The seamless transition from minor to major happens yet again with the brass flute and the strings enlivening the atmosphere and playing with verve and vigour showing us a sleek silhouette in the process.

Forgetting all these musical terminologies and technical terms, and listened with focus, the song-that is every bit of it- stokes some unknown and unseen emotions and most importantly calms our mind.

If only the group of tourists in a forest in Maharashtra had listened to this song when they saw the faces of helpless villagers..

If only the Argentinean Captain listens to the song in his hotel room in Russia before the final encounter with Nigeria..

If only the father of two kids had mentally played this song when he was sitting in front of the huge monument considered to be the Symbol of Love..

Well, the first two mentioned are unlikely to have happened/to happen.

The last mentioned did not happen though it should have happened. But the experience and the subsequent recollection of the song has made that father, a better human being..

                  

                  

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