Losing life by racing against time- Balabhaskar
Hi folks,
As I write this piece, the whole of Kerala, my homeland, is mourning and coming with the terms of the tragic loss of the violinist and music composer, Balabhaskar. I had not known his existence and it was by accident (pun intended) that I noticed him. It is a pity that this gem of a violinist was not known outside Kerala and by the time we started to notice him, God snatched away from us.
From the day he and his family met with the fatal accident which was on the wee hours of September 25th, I kept track of him on whether he will recover from the injuries which led to the multiple organ failure along with head injuries. They had gone on the thanksgiving trip to temples in Thrissur for their 2-year-old daughter whom they had after 16 years of their marriage. After fulfilling the promises in various temples, they started their journey way back to Thiruvanathapuram by driving overnight with the help of their driver-cum-friend, Arjun. At the crack of the dawn, the driver was believed to have dozed off resulting their vehicle ramming into a tree killing their daughter instantly.
Violin to Balabhaskar was like Mandolin to Late U Srinivas. In whatever videos of his performances I watched over a span of the past one week, I felt a certain melancholy which made my eyes moist. He played popular film songs not just by standing on the stage, but going among-st the audience and connecting himself with them. The eternal smile that he exuded just captured my heart and it was like the smile when a child is happy with his plaything. He explored infinite possibilities with fusion of instruments. If he was at ease with film and fusion music, so was he equally adept with carnatic performances to which Iam still listening to! If the song 'Snehithane, snehithane' from Alaypaayuthe which he played can melt your heart, so can it be with 'Krishna nee begane baaro'! People like me who have missed his performances so far pick videos from Youtube to listen and understand the emotions that he poured into each song. He collaborated with leading musicians like drums Sivamani, Stephen Devassy, Biju Narayan, A R Rahman.
Balabhaskar's life was like a fairy tale gone wrong abruptly. Married to his college sweetheart, the ascent to the fame, and having a child after years of waiting, everything looked perfect to live happily ever after. Then came in the fatal blow in the form of driving in the dead of the night. Was it not in their hands to safeguard themselves and their hard earned child by avoiding night journeys in car? Chances were that their driver would have been driving back and forth continuously forgoing sleep. When a human body is deprived of sleep for more than 24 hours, the cognitive abilities start failing one by one and the brain automatically goes to sleep. Driving without proper sleep is equivalent to drunken driving or worse. While it is hard to put curbs on night driving like drunken driving, it is time that public is made seriously aware the dangers of driving during night. Sleep is as important as eating and breathing and to forgo sleep is to risk one's life. Had Balabhaskar and his driver taken break to catch some sleep, he would have lived much more to fulfill his dreams! We have lost quite a few cine artistes (not to mention many of the lesser known mortals!) due to fatal accidents like this which mostly happen in the early hours of morning. When I see whole of Kerala mourning his death, I hope they won't forget this unfortunate mistake he made. Before I sign off I would like to put a few lines from the old Malayalam film of Fazil 'Nokkatha doorathu kannum nattu'. This is one song which he played to perfection and words may as well be applicable in his life.
'Aayiram Kannumaayi kaathirunnu ninne jnaan,
Ennil ninnum parannakannoru painkili malar thenkili.'
Meaning - ' I waited for you with my thousand eyes,
But you flew away from me faster, oh beautiful bird.'
Deepa.
As I write this piece, the whole of Kerala, my homeland, is mourning and coming with the terms of the tragic loss of the violinist and music composer, Balabhaskar. I had not known his existence and it was by accident (pun intended) that I noticed him. It is a pity that this gem of a violinist was not known outside Kerala and by the time we started to notice him, God snatched away from us.
From the day he and his family met with the fatal accident which was on the wee hours of September 25th, I kept track of him on whether he will recover from the injuries which led to the multiple organ failure along with head injuries. They had gone on the thanksgiving trip to temples in Thrissur for their 2-year-old daughter whom they had after 16 years of their marriage. After fulfilling the promises in various temples, they started their journey way back to Thiruvanathapuram by driving overnight with the help of their driver-cum-friend, Arjun. At the crack of the dawn, the driver was believed to have dozed off resulting their vehicle ramming into a tree killing their daughter instantly.
Violin to Balabhaskar was like Mandolin to Late U Srinivas. In whatever videos of his performances I watched over a span of the past one week, I felt a certain melancholy which made my eyes moist. He played popular film songs not just by standing on the stage, but going among-st the audience and connecting himself with them. The eternal smile that he exuded just captured my heart and it was like the smile when a child is happy with his plaything. He explored infinite possibilities with fusion of instruments. If he was at ease with film and fusion music, so was he equally adept with carnatic performances to which Iam still listening to! If the song 'Snehithane, snehithane' from Alaypaayuthe which he played can melt your heart, so can it be with 'Krishna nee begane baaro'! People like me who have missed his performances so far pick videos from Youtube to listen and understand the emotions that he poured into each song. He collaborated with leading musicians like drums Sivamani, Stephen Devassy, Biju Narayan, A R Rahman.
Balabhaskar's life was like a fairy tale gone wrong abruptly. Married to his college sweetheart, the ascent to the fame, and having a child after years of waiting, everything looked perfect to live happily ever after. Then came in the fatal blow in the form of driving in the dead of the night. Was it not in their hands to safeguard themselves and their hard earned child by avoiding night journeys in car? Chances were that their driver would have been driving back and forth continuously forgoing sleep. When a human body is deprived of sleep for more than 24 hours, the cognitive abilities start failing one by one and the brain automatically goes to sleep. Driving without proper sleep is equivalent to drunken driving or worse. While it is hard to put curbs on night driving like drunken driving, it is time that public is made seriously aware the dangers of driving during night. Sleep is as important as eating and breathing and to forgo sleep is to risk one's life. Had Balabhaskar and his driver taken break to catch some sleep, he would have lived much more to fulfill his dreams! We have lost quite a few cine artistes (not to mention many of the lesser known mortals!) due to fatal accidents like this which mostly happen in the early hours of morning. When I see whole of Kerala mourning his death, I hope they won't forget this unfortunate mistake he made. Before I sign off I would like to put a few lines from the old Malayalam film of Fazil 'Nokkatha doorathu kannum nattu'. This is one song which he played to perfection and words may as well be applicable in his life.
'Aayiram Kannumaayi kaathirunnu ninne jnaan,
Ennil ninnum parannakannoru painkili malar thenkili.'
Meaning - ' I waited for you with my thousand eyes,
But you flew away from me faster, oh beautiful bird.'
Deepa.
spot on .
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
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