How does one express gratitude to an algorithm? :)
Social media in general, and YouTube particular, can lead you to some of amazing young talent. During the Covid years, there was this lady, Anuja K (Out of the Shruti Box), who demystified Indian classical music by relating it not only to popular Bollywood songs but also linked it to other systems of music in the world. There is also a new generation of historians like Anirudh Kanisetti (Thinking Medeival), who brings fresh perspectives to the way we examine our 'messy, bloody, colourful' past.
One aspect common to all these new content creators is that they understand not only the importance pitching to the right audience with appropriate tags and key-words, but also the need to keep their clips of just the right size - not too long, not too short.
This week the algorithm spirits led me to Navaneet Galagali who has a channel named "Rasaganga" for appreciating literature, poetry and music. Perhaps it is my interest in Sanskrit that led YT to suggest Galagali's introduction to "Meghadootam", or the 'Cloud Messenger'. Written by Kalidasa, one of ancient India's greatest poets (5th century CE), Meghadoota, describes the plight of an exiled, lovelorn celestial (a Yaksha) who asks a passing cloud to carry a message to his beloved wife.
Sanskrit poetry can be dense and forbidding but Galagali introduces the Meghadoota beautifully in two short clips. Initially I was a bit skeptical when he started off with his Yankee accent but got hooked the moment he switched to reciting stanzas from "Purva Megha" (Eastern Cloud).
On the first day of Ashadha month,
he sees a cloud clinging to a mountain;
It appears as though an elephant
is head-butting the peak!
He welcomes the cloud with love and affection, imagines it be a sentient being, and requests the cloud to carry his message while remembering to take breaks along the way:
As you proceed, use the mountaintops,
as your resting spots;
And quench your thirst,
From the water in the streams;
For its a long way ti Alaka Nagari!
It is a long way for sure! - from hills and plains of central India, all the way across a specific Himalayan pass to the base of Mt. Kailasha where Alaka Nagari is situated.
Navaneet Galagali presents the poem so well that I found myself looking for specific stanzas in the original text. He has only skimmed over the first part of the 120 stanza poem and I look forward to the rest of his series on this, as well as his melodious recitations!
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The Cloud's Itinerary :)
- Ramtek (Maharashtra)
- Amrakuta (Amarakantak
- Alaka (atop Mt. Kailasha)
- Vidisha (capital of Dasharana Desha)
- Neechairna Giri (Udayagiri caves)
- Avanti
- Ujjain
- Shipra River
- Devagiri - temple of Skanda
- Charmanvari River (Chambal)
- Dashapura (Mandsaur)
- Brahmavarta (between Saraswati and Drishadvati rivers)
- Kurukshetra
- Kanakhala (near Haridwar)
- Gangotri
- Krauncha Pass / Hamsadwara (Niti Pass bordering Tibet - north of Nanda Devi National Park)
- Manasarovar Lake
- Alaka Nagari on 'the lap of Mt. Kailasa)
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REFERENCES & LINKS
* Meghadoota by Kalidasa (5th Century CE) - https://avg-sanskrit.org/avgclasses/Books&PDFs/kavya/Meghaduta/Kalidasas%20Meghaduta%20Skt%20Eng%20-%20KB%20Pathak%201916.pdf
* Meghaduta by Kalidasa - Ashadha maasa (part 1) | Navaneet Galagali - https://youtu.be/ilgqmfO6Sy4?si=ndbQS-DJjidY6A9G
* The cloud's journey - Meghaduta by Kalidasa (part 2) - https://youtu.be/O9JxBm4C1CQ?si=Qh7unO8WeASz5M0P
* Exploring the Geographical Data of Meghadoota - https://ggw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/168/1/1112-GW%20%20WESTRA%20M.%20%20Ma-thesis.pdf
* Blogpost - Jaladhara - https://karpuramanjari.blogspot.com/2015/06/
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