Saptaratna-s. Or Saptavarsha-s. Call them either ways,
my sister Apoorva’s and my life for last seven years have been seven precious
gems. On this day, seven years back in 2006, we met THE most influential person of our
lives, our revered guru, Chitravina Ravikiran Sir. To us he was guru, family,
friend, guide, mentor, inspiration and God. And he still is. All seven in one.
I vividly remember
the first day of our class. He taught us a short Tyagaraja composition in Ragam
Maruvadhanyashi, Mrdu bhashana. The
composer has described Lord Rama in this song as ‘satguṇa bhooṣhaṇa’, one
who is adorned by virtues. The virtues are popularly identified as Chastity, Temperance,
Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness and Humility. Seven in number.
Be it the music and life he taught us, the words of advice
he has given us, the recounts of a globetrotter, the wise words of a humorist
of impeccable class, the ease with which he spoke any tongue, the depths of his
knowledge in any field or the inspiring way he lead a whole generation, there
is no end to the youthful zest for perfection and success he sought through
sheer hard work and learning. I can keep adding a lot more to the cap that already adorns the above seven feathers.
Our S-I-R, as I reverentially and dearly address him, can
never be anything but the most magnificent person we have ever met in life. We
owe our biggest thanks to our parents and family for having brought us into the
closest circle of such a genius. It is something that can never be explained in
words. It has only to be felt. And felt deeply, every living moment. To be his
disciple has been one of the biggest blessings, a student as I could ever earn.
We are always grateful to those that gave me this wonderful experience. To the two sisters with seven letters in each of their names, this is a humble “Thank you” to
the one who means the seven worlds of
the universe. Talking of two and seven, here is an interesting piece of
trivia. Seven is one of two single-digit numbers that has two syllables, the other being Zero!
To
sum up his life would be best done in Mahatma Gandhi’s words. Mahatma’s list of
the destructive Seven Blunders of the World that cause violence- Wealth without
work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce
without morality, science without humanity, religion without sacrifice and
politics without principle. My Guru stood against each of the seven. And we are
so proud to be under him.
These
seven years mean so many things to
us, from each of the year being the seven
swaras that our music is made of to the seven wonders that Earth has. Ravikiran S-I-R might just be one individual
person. But his personality is multi-faceted, like that of the rainbow, with seven colors.
If
there is one expression that fits this feeling like a glove, it is in the Reetigowla composition of Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi in Tamil, Enna punniyam sheideno-
‘vāḍiya payirukku peiyyum mazhaiyai
pōlē
vaḷar mullaikkoḍikkoru
kozhukkiḍaittār pōlē
tēḍiyum kāṇāda dravyamē satguru
dēva! un aruḷ peṛavē nān
enna puṇṇiyam sheidēnō…
ettanai tavam sheidēnō…’
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