I couldn't resist a dance


Bharati in Amsterdam

I just love it. Words fall short when is time to describe my feelings for India.
There is a natural empathy, a sense of deep belonging, an overwhelming feeling of happiness.
And India as I wrote other times is also chaos, cacophony to the point of deafening, smog and pollution, not echological, dirty and still in many places very poor, but it will always remain to me my second love after the mountains.

Last night I was taken through 90 minutes of colorful collection of India's rich and breathtaking diversity.
The musical Bharati is the most extravagant and delicious selection of a varied dances, music and folk tradition of India. I couldn't take my eyes off the stage and admire the amazing ability of the dancers to move so rapidly and so precisely at the beat of tablas, drums, sitar, and magnificent voices. In those dances and music I could remember the hidden treasure of this vast and enchanting land.
In its regional, linguistic, historical and religous diversity; in its myriad peoples, life-styles and traditions I can still feel at home.
Perhaps I was an Indian beggar in my past life or a sadhu on the Kedarnath mountain in Himalaya, or a Tibetan monk, or just a fisherman in Kerala, or a maharajah in Delhi, a rickshaw driver in Bombay or just a "holy cow". Or maybe it is because of the many years I lived in Poona and the deep effects it had on me, more then what I thought.

In my personal perception the sky in India is bigger then anywhere else in the world. I like to think of it as a country blessed by the gods and by the Buddhas where everything and everybody can co-esist in the arms of her warm and gentle embrace.

And that is what I also felt last night as I was watching the Bharati musical. A sense of belonging to this culture that my mind cannot understand but my soul resonate deeply with it.
And that is what matters, to me.

The show was a celebration of the vitality of these traditions and an invitation to taste and participate to this unique Indian flavor.



"When thou commandest me to sing, it seems that my heart would break
with pride; and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes.
All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet
harmony- and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight
across the sea.
I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer
I come before thy presence.
I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing of my song thy feet which
I could never aspire to reach.
Drunk with joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art
my Lord".
Rabindranath Tagore

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