Many swayed their
heads and tapped their feet while some sat still-- heads bowed and eyes shut --
in deep thought, as if deciphering what lies ahead as the soulful melody of
raga Bairagi Todi reverberated in the air. Hundreds of inmates in Delhi’s Tihar
Jail had a spiritual experience on a rainy morning here in a bid to augment
their rehabilitation process through music.
The second edition of
"Morning Raagas" was organised by the Tihar Jail authorities in
collaboration with Legends of India, a registered society organising live
performances of renowned artistes in the central lawn of Jail no.5 that has
around 800 convicted prisoners, from pick pockets to murderers.
Renowned sitar player
Pandit Shubhendra Rao and his wife Saskia, who plays the cello accompanied by
tabla player Shailendra Mishra began their hour long recital with Bairagi Todi
and two popular compositions -- Mahatma Gandhi's "Vaishnava Jana To"
and bhajan “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram” followed by a “classical dhun"
leaving the audience mesmerised.
The around 600
inmates, seated on plastic sheets due to the wet grass under a purple coloured
marquee filled the vast ground as around a dozen policemen stood guard
surrounding them.
Many
possessed a fine sense of music as they enthusiastically applauded the complex
compositions especially the ones that oscillated between high and low octaves.
Some of them were even
tapping one of their hands against the other to match the beat of the tabla and
it was quite evident that the rhythmic jugalbandi between the tabla, sitar and
the cello had taken them to a different dimension.
In fact, one could
have easily mistaken the convicts to be connoisseurs of classical music.
Tihar Jail which is
Asia’s largest prison and houses close to 14,000 inmates.
The first edition of
the 'morning ragas' was organised in Jail no. 8 on April 27 and from then it
was decided that the event would take place on the first Monday of every month.
As I exited Jail no.
5, with a changed opinion about its convicts, the mellow tunes still played in
my head only to be smothered by the blaring of vehicle horns as I got stuck in
a traffic snarl.
For once, staying in
the confines of Tihar Jail seemed a much better deal than to venture out in the
chaotic civil society.
