Be heartificial

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram,

 

I had the good fortune to spend a couple of hours with Shri

Aleppey Hari. He is the person in charge of the All Kerala Bhajan Samiti and he

is benevolent enough to share his knowledge to people interested in learning the

art of touching Swami’s heart through Bhajans. He has had the Lord’s grace and has

composed several beautiful Bhajans.

 

What touched me was that though he was admitted in a

hospital for some Ayurveda treatment (it involves a very rigorous as well as

tiring schedule), he was magnanimous enough to invite who ever was interested

in learning from him any time after 5.00 PM (the time when his treatment for

the day would end.) He even spent his free lunch hour for the same purpose I heard.

Sometimes the sessions would go on till 10.00 PM.

 

He told us how Swami opens His eyes when we sing in front of

Him only when we touch a cord in His Heart. Otherwise he keeps them closed and

waves off the song as if to say, “All right then next singer”. He mentioned

that when you sing in front of Swami, keep your eyes focused on Him as He gives

the singer hints subtly as though to say, “Sing faster or focus on this line a

little etc.”

 

He taught us what makes a singer unique. It is the feeling

the singer brings to the words. The importance of each word in the Bhajan needs

to be brought out. There needs to be a lot of practice done before a song is

sung. Swami insists on it because the purpose of the Bhajan is to diffuse a

little bit of Divinity into the devotees present and send positive vibes into

the environment. Sing from the heart Swami says.

Your effort should be Heartificial not

artificial Swami says. Practice makes one a good singer. With practice, the

words, beats, the Shruti can be perfected. But emotions and feelings make the

singer unique- the love, the plea that comes from the heart.

 

The Bhajan should make you and the other devotees present, break

down as we bring the day’s problems and surrender them at Swami’s feet.

 

The next thing he told us that Swami insists on is that we

should cater to the audiences. Please the listeners not yourself. He gave an

example where in, they had organized a Bhajan in front of the Allepey railway

station. That area has shops owned by Muslims mostly. Initially I believe that

the moment they came to know of this activity of the Sathya Sai Committee,

there was some opposition. So the Samiti started singing Arabic songs and

verses from the Holy Quran. The shopkeepers one by one started peeping out and

enjoying the program. At the end they distributed kits containing sweetmeats

and fruits to each of the singers as a token of their appreciation and

gratitude. That was definitely one session that served the very purpose it was

held for.

 

I recall that he had sung a few verses from the Quran as a

prelude to a Sarvadharma Bhajan and he sang it so beautifully and perfectly, I started

crying with joy. I then thought that the singer must be a Muslim as he was

pronouncing the Arabic words so perfectly. It was later that I came to know his

identity. Love

for the Lord has no barriers of caste, creed, language, nation, or race does

it?

 

 

 

 

 

laxmi