Monday, 14 April 2008

On The Power of Singing...

Some songs delight us, some move us. And yet there are the rare few that reinforces our faith in the unknown - that unknown power that we doubt even as we believe, that we believe as we doubt.

Songs are said to move the most powerful of forces - little wonder why saints of yore sang like there was no tomorrow :). I still remember a scene from Thiruvarutchelvar. In an attempt to get the sealed doors of an abandoned temple to open, Appar (Sivaji) would sing for a good 10 minutes and the first door would open. Thirugnanasambanthar (Prabhagaran) who was till then awaiting his turn, would do his bit, and lo, within seconds, the next door would open. Then, of course, Appar would pass out.

Sambanthar would revive him later and ask, "Why sir, what happened?" To which Appar would say, "You are just a little boy, yet all you had to do was sing for a mere few seconds to move God and to make him open the sealed door. I, on the other hand, had to sing again and again till He relented. I am an old man, how much more prayer do I have to perform before I reached your level, and even if I could, would I have the time - me being old and all?" Sambanthar being Sambanthar, would say - "My good sir, God opened the door within seconds of my singing because he probably had had enough of my singing. But he could never get enough of yours, and was so mesmerised in it that he obviously had forgotten himself. Thus the delay in Him responding with the opening of the door."

When I first saw that scene, (I must have been 20 then), I wondered - surely, the scriptwriter could have had some sense than to include this piece in the movie. Afterall, would Appar stoop to that level and judge his relationship with God based on the length of his singing? But now, as I reflect on it, I realise how necessary that scene was - for it relayed key messages even in all its tactlessness.

The moral of the story? None really. Need there be any? :)

Watch the following video and you would probably realise that music can indeed move the most powerful of forces. So the next time your singing does not reap the desired result, remember - God had probably lost himself in it. Have patience and ye shall be rewarded. :) But stop singing not...:)




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