I have been to heaven...

There is heaven on earth, believe me! You just have to take the effort to buy a ticket and go there - and no, I'm not talking about Kashmir.

I'm talking about attending Pt. Hariprasad Chourasia's flute recital the next time he's performing in your town. Let nothing on earth stop you from attending. He performed in Pune yesterday, and I thank the Good Lord for making it possible for me to go... And the peace I found there just cannot be described in words... its impossible to believe that such divine melodies can be created out of one hollow piece of bamboo!

Punditji started off with raag Maru Behag... and then came Desh raag on audience request (Here there was an awesome jugalbandi with Tabla... all the more awe-inspiring because it was unrehearsed and impromptu) and then a short rendition of a Pahadi dhun, again on audience' request... I know I could've spoken greek right now, and most readers would've understood the same amount, which is probably zilch! But take my word for it, if you will. All technicalities apart, for even I understand nothing of it, his music has the power to completely enthrall his audience and transport them to a different level of feeling... The melodies just flow, and they tempt you to come outside yourself, to forget that anything other than your sense of hearing exists. There can be no reality other than the present. You cease to be a person - you become a sense... and waah waah's just escape your lips, without you even realising it. There are moments when you are so mesmerised, that even a waah waah is beyond you - all you remain capable of is clasping your hands and staring at the master performer, bewitched! All pain is washed away, as if you're bathing in a river of the clearest, purest water...

Music has the power to heal - give it a chance.