The request for a visit to Veereswar Punyasrama at Gadag.Which was being postponed for several years now.
As we packed our bags in chennai , The AIR national program announced the name of the singer of the evening.
It was to be Mouneswar Chawni , the latest to graduate out of the school run by the Gadag Math and make a national mark.
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/yov75wo ... nesh_Kumar
Marking another milestone in a path peppered with the grooming of the likes of Basavraj Rajaguru, Arjunsa Nakod , his two sons on the tabla (Raghunath andViswanath) and another as a vocalist ( Balchandra),Venkatesh Kumar...and now Mouneswar .
We made up our minds to visit the place without fail this time around .Gadag is about two hours drive from Hubli.
And it turned out to be a soul stirring experience,Even for a bunch of hard boiled champions of music and disability related issues.
As we conducted the few-frills pooja at the samadhi (Puttaraj Gawai passed away four years ago at age 96 ) we heard a mild strain of music floating through the corridors .We were mesmerised and followed the trail to a small room .A boy was sitting in front of the portrait of Puyttaraj and singing.
Without asking for permission we took a seat by his side on the floor.Soon we had quite a few following suit making it look like a baithak..And what transpired was this
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/pqmo2dl ... edited.mp3
The boy told us he did not know who had dropped him at this orphanage ten years ago.But was happy to tell he was in good care of Ajja.Like the thousands before him.Looking out , The scene from the window was breathtaking .
The busy schedule of an institution running thirteen schools and hostels.And one which has never taken a grant from the Govt.In existence for over six decades.
The boy went on...
The memory of Ajja and these notes that I am taught - what else should I pray for .What else is there to living .
Memories of my own dad came flooding.He too was orphaned and carried a small piece embroidered by his mother as an item for his puja.His only link to his parents.
You will find it more difficult than the likes of me to get a concept of a formless shapeless God- he would often say,
As he emphasised the champion in Dickens and made his works compulsory reading for us.It was all coming together today.
Somewhere in between we requested Puriya Kalyan and he replied that he did not have a deep acquaintance.
Ashtu Parichaya ilree - as though it was a human being we referred to .And he was in the school for a decade!!!!!
As we took our leave ,I asked him if he would be willing to participate in programs in my home town.So if I could have his number...please..
He gently reminded me that we had interrupted his daily prayer session with Ajja.And he would have to rush before the next
bloke came barging in . Ajja Avarige Patha oppisabeku ( we need to show our progress to grandpa)Come after ten years maybe , he said.I should be ready with puriya kalyan , he grinned.