Indian Classical Music
The deeper questions. [This essay was published in Icelandic in Morgunblaðið on August 08, 2026. See screenshot below.] The total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026 has generated great excitement. If the clouds cooperate, it will be best viewed from the western reaches of Iceland. Everyone will be absorbed with questions such as where to [ ] The post The Wonder Is Not the Eclipse appeared first on…
Kesarbai Kerkar, Marie Curie, and the empty frame. [This column was published in its Icelandic version in Nútíminn on June 2, 2026. It arose from a simple observation: despite the bragadocio surrounding women s rights, gender equality, and female empowerment in Iceland, the country has produced no women of truly exceptional accomplishment.] In December 2024 I [ ] The post Iceland s Great Women…
[Written as a coda to Sagas and Itihasa: Cultural Cognates.] A common Western tendency is to approach Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita through categories familiar from the Abrahamic traditions: “God” and “scripture.” The impulse is understandable, but it is also misleading, for it encourages the assumption that they belong chiefly to the domain of religion [ ] The post Bhagavad Gita and Krishna…
[This essay was published in Icelandic in Morgunblaðið on May 18, 2026. See screenshot below.] Iceland and India lie separated by ocean and a civilisational chasm no map can bridge. Yet the bones of language still carry what geography and time cannot efface. In both Icelandic and far older Sanskrit, traces of a common inheritance [ ] The post Sagas and Itihasa: Cultural Cognates appeared first on…
Is melody fundamental, or is harmony? From a long civilisational view, melody is the primary element in almost all musical traditions across the planet. Human song begins as a single melodic line. Rhythm, and later harmony, are additions to that primal impulse. The melodic line carries expression, contour, inflection, breath, and language. It is music [ ] The post Melody Before Harmony appeared…
Many non-Hindus, and some Hindus, even those otherwise educated, hold a fixed image: a Hindu standing before a stone or metal figure, understood to be God itself. From this image arise familiar labels, chief among them “idol worship.” The purpose here is to clear that misconception. The stakes are not merely conceptual. Across centuries, Muslim [ ] The post Mistaking a Murti for an Idol appeared…
Not of an age, but for all time.* Asha Bhosle passed away today, April 12. No parallel anywhere. A voice that carried entire eras. The photo was taken during the making of the Legacy album in 1995 under Ali Akbar Khan at Skywalker Ranch in Marin Country, California, where George Lucas placed his facility at Khansahab’s disposal [ ] The post Asha Bhosle: 1933-2026 appeared first on Rajan Parrikar…
There is the sitar, and then there is the instrument in Ravi Shankar’s hands. This isn’t just a matter of virtuosity. India has long turned out masters every bit as accomplished, some greater, most barely known beyond its borders. The change is structural. Shankar modified the instrument by adding kharaj (bass) strings tuned to the [ ] The post Tiger in the Sitar appeared first on Rajan Parrikar…
[This essay was published in Icelandic in Morgunblaðið on March 30, 2026. See screenshot below.] Years ago I met an elderly farmer in the countryside beneath Hekla. As I stood taking in the land, he said: “My father was too poor to admire this beauty. Now my sons have too much to admire this beauty.” [ ] The post Iceland – Irreplaceable appeared first on Rajan Parrikar Music Archive .
[This essay first appeared in Icelandic in Morgunblaðið on February 17, 2026. Though it speaks of Iceland, its theme is universal: a meditation on thinking, and on the consequences of neglecting disciplined attention to evidence.] As a young man, I read an essay by Bertrand Russell urging the habit of forming opinions on the basis of evidence [ ] The post The Art of Not Becoming an Idiot appeared…