Chants of India

Year: 2004, Venue: Naivedyam, a South Indian Café in Hauz Khas, New Delhi

After placing our orders, we were waiting (Time to Serve: 20 mins) when I heard a few of my favourite Sanskrit mantras the café’s music system was playing.

Which record is that, please? I walked up to the Manager and asked. He showed me the CD jacket: Chants of India by Ravi Shankar Produced by George Harrison. The CD had been released on 6 May 1997.

A few days later, I bought the CD and have played it often over the years till my CD Player died a few years ago. Now I listen to music from streaming services like Amazon Music, Spotify, You Tube.

Spouse has put all my CDs including this one as junk to be sold to the kabaddi, but I am not yet ready to let go.

This morning, I asked Amazon Music to play Chants of India by Ravi Shankar, and it played the soothing, uplifting album for me. My favourite tracks are: Asato Maa Sadgamaya, Omkaaraaya Namo Namah, Poornamadah Purnamidam, Sahana Vavatu, Gayatri, and Maha Mrityunjaya.

After breakfast, feeling nostalgic I retrieved the CD, dusted, and cleaned it with tender care. It had the touch and feel of a treasured love letter.

Is it the end of an era? Are music CDs, and CD Players dead and gone, I asked Google Assistant? GA brought up a Statista article with data and graph (See Ref). The world’s first CD, a copy of ABBA’s ‘The Visitors’ was produced on August 17, 1982 at a Philips factory in Germany. CD sales peaked in 2000; CDs are on their way out, but not yet dead. In fact, 2021 saw a modest revival of Vinyl and CD sales despite the unstoppable ascendancy of streaming services.

You have no CD Player at home, not even one on your laptop. Why keep the CDs? I asked myself. Then, on a hunch, looked up Amazon, and spotted an external CD Player for laptop, a Bestseller with 32% Discount, and bought by 11.7k buyers who had rated the product 4 Star or above. I placed the order right away. Delivery on or before Jan 6^th.

I feel good. The era of CD music is yet to end, and Chants of India by Ravi Shankar will not go to the kabaddi anytime soon.

Best wishes for your health and happiness in 2024.

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Notes

Ravi Shankar (1920-2012), Sitar maestro was the most well-known exponent of the Maihar Gharana, established by Ustad Allauddin Khan under whom Ravi Shankar trained for seven and a half years.

He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1999. He also won four Grammy Awards, the last one posthumously. 

George Harrison (1943-2001), lead Guitarist of the Beatles, and the youngest of the ‘Fab Four’ later became associated with Ravi Shankar, Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, and was deeply interested in Indian culture.

Dhani Harrison (born 1 August 1978) is the only child of George and Olivia Harrison. He debuted as a professional musician assisting in recording his father's final album, Brainwashed, and completing it with the assistance of Jeff Lynne after his father's death in November 2001.

Harrison is named after the sixth and seventh notes of the Indian music scale, dha and ni. Dhani is also a raga in North Indian classical music. (Source: Wikipedia)

Umakant Gundecha's daughter is also named Dhani, a friend told me.

Reference

The Rise and Fall of the Compact Disc by Felix Richter:

https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/12950/cd-sales-in-the-us/

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