Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Indian Classical Music in a post-AI world
Generative AI is currently just pulling the rug under the feet of musicians. Still, it is poised to snatch away the ground on which the musicians stand. At least, many musicians believe so. Whether we accept it or not, AI is here and it’s going to stay. How would it affect the landscape of music and the musicians…
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Unveiling Beauty | Musings after the concert of Pt. Partho Sarothy Ji
Unlike many other vocalists, I truly enjoy listening to instrumental music. Rather, when I listen to good instrumental music, most of the times I am fascinated; partly because of the tonality of well tuned instruments, partly because of the dexterity of the player. Listening to a tonally rich instrument like Sarod being played by one…
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A Broken Puzzle: Reflections on the Delicate Ecosystem of Intimate Baithaks
Scene 1 Two of the most promising young Hindustani classical vocalists (they happen to be husband and wife) are about to perform at a centrally located venue in Pune. They are quite famous and have a huge fan following. We entered the venue with the expectation that there would be little space to sit. To…
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The ‘Headless Rower’ of Sant Kabir
नैय्या मोरी नीके नीके चालन लागी आँधी मेघा, कछु ना व्यापेचढ़े संत बड़ भागी।नैया मोरी नीके नीके चालन लागी। – संत कबीर Different paths point towards the same truth. The Zen masters talk of ‘no-mind’, Nisargadatta Maharaj talks of ‘death of mind’. Krishnamurti talks about a state where observer is the observed. All these masters…
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Descendants, Disciples and Discrimination : Is Indian Classical Music Ecosystem a Fair Ground?
He was sitting on the floor, in middle of a couple of craftsmen. The entire place was a bit overloaded with the hues of blue; some soothing and some provoking. With the clear blue sky on the top, one could start doubting the very existence of other colors. That being said, there were notable hues…
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Who is an Avadhuta (अवधूत)?
The word Avadhuta – अवधूत comes quite often in Kabir’s Nirguni Bhajans. In fact, most of the Nirguni Bhajans are addressed to Avadhuta, like this one : युगन युगन हम योगीअवधूता, युगन युगन हम योगीआवे ना जाये मिटे ना कबहुंशब्द अनाहत भोगीअवधूता, युगन युगन हम योगी || Over the years, the biggest obstacle in making sense…
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Looking at Maya (माया) from Kabir’s perspective.
Maya (माया) is a very common word used in the spiritual world. Often associated with a web, as per the Advaita school of thought, Maya stops us from experiencing the non-duality in the world. That’s why, often the word माया is often used with another word – पाश which literally means a web. It is…
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It’s Time We Stop Associating Great Music With Greater Whims!
The world of Indian Classical Music had (and has) musicians full of whims. These whims vary over a wide range of notoriety – from as harmless as expecting the host to feed them Sabji they liked to as nuanced as expecting a host to provide them Nivea cream right before the concert begins at 7…
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कलाकारांची आत्मग्लानी कलेच्या ऱ्हासास कारणीभूत ठरतेय का?
कबीर त्याच्या गुरूंकडे गेला. कबीर ‘एन्लायटन’ झाला. कबीर त्याच्या गुहेत गुडुप्प झाला. बुद्ध निर्वाण अवस्थेच्या शोधात वणवण भटकला. बुद्ध निर्वाणावस्थेला उपलब्ध झाला. बुद्ध एका घनदाट अरण्यात लुप्त झाला. वरील दोन्ही घटनांच्या पहिल्या दोन ओळी सत्य आहेत. वरील दोन्ही घटनांमधील तिसरी ओळ मात्र धादांत खोटी आहे. कबीर गुहेत नाही जाऊन बसलेत. त्यांनी थेट बाजाराच्या मध्ये उभं राहून डरकाळी फोडली –…
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Sant Kabir’s Wisdom and E.F. Schumacher’s Economics : Drawing Some Parallels
साहेब सो सब होत हैं, बंदे से कछु नाही |राई सो परबत करें, परबत राई माही || Translation : All doing is done by Him (the lord). How can I claim doing something? He can turn a mustard seed into a mountain and fit a mountain in the mustard seed! Nothing comes close to this…
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