The Calmness of Beauty
In The Remains of the Day, the ever-so-insightful Kazuo Ishiguro writes, “What is pertinent is the calmness of beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it.” It is one of my favorite quotes and is so profound in what it says. Beauty is calm because it knows its worth and does not need to tell everyone that it is beautiful. It is not falsely humble; it has grace, dignity, and confidence. We get involved in many games of false pride, but we do not need to scream and tell everyone that we are delighted or content—it will appear on our faces. I have always been fascinated by this calmness of beauty. With that in mind, I thought of starting this newsletter, where I will try to write about and share beautiful things. They can be a piece of writing, a work of art, a snippet from history, or a lesson in etiquette. All around me, I see that sense of rush. Everyone is busy. But, sometimes, slowing down and admiring beautiful things is okay. There is much beauty around us, and we must pause and look at it.
My first beautiful thing is a piece of music. The sarod theme by Anupam Roy in Piku is a thing of sheer beauty. It is moving, and somehow, it reminds me of someone playing in flowing water. It starts slow, reaches a crescendo, and then slows down again towards the end, mimicking a story. It plays smoothly and does not have one harsh note. There is a lot of sadness in it; not the grim one, but a melancholic one.
I asked Perplexity as to why a sarod sounds melancholic. This is what it replied:
The sarod's unique tonal qualities contribute significantly to its melancholic sound:
Deep, resonant sound: The instrument's construction, with its metal-fretted fingerboard and skin-covered resonating chamber, produces a rich, reverberant tone that can evoke deep emotions.
Sliding notes: The fretless neck allows for smooth glissandos and intricate melodic phrases, enabling the player to create subtle nuances and express a wide range of emotions, including melancholy.
Tonic intervals: Specific tonic intervals played on the sarod in ragas are associated with different emotions. For example, the 'minor second' interval is a direct predictor of negative valence, which can contribute to a melancholic feel.
The legend Zakir Hussain passed away recently. I listened to him once in 2019 when he was visiting Luxembourg, and my colleague had an extra ticket for his show. I decided to join him. When I first saw him, I told my friend that he looked much like Imtiaz Ali. Although I don’t understand the nuances of music much, I was amazed by all the different pieces he played. Waah Ustad!
We are used to listening to songs with lyrics, but listening to instrumental music has its highs. It is meditative, mellifluous, and melancholic. Perhaps that is why they say music is God’s language.