An act of gratitude: JOI BARUA

'Rabha' is a conversation that started from a humid Mumbai monsoon evening with my friend Ibson lal Baruah. The story of another mad evening about the legend Bishnu Rabha and his equally audacious acolyte/admirer Gazi Rabha. About what transpired on a particular night, lost somewhere in the histories of Assam, around 1951.

Ibson was recounting the story he'd managed to hear/understand first hand from Gazi Rabha himself. As I was listening to him, I was thinking, these stories have to be music. Have to be art. We must centre ourselves inside them. Their sacrifices must be heard through our music. There has to be an Act Of Gratitude looking backwards. We are where we are because of our angels and heroes. In this journey came along the legend George Brooks on saxophone and Samudra Kajal Saikia with his visual flair for story telling. We created something we knew was special. Made from the heart. From soul ink. I will never forget the feeling I had when I had finished composing the song. I knew this was a gateway into a whole different portal. I knew it.  What I didn't know - how & who would I meet ?

Someone special on the other side

I met Dr Susan Lim in Singapore at the INK Conference, where I had gone to perform Rabha. Susan was an invited speaker in the very same session. Having experienced the piece from that shared stage, she and I sat down afterward to talk. We spoke of a plush, inanimate entity named "ALAN," the search for artificial life, and the future of companionship - a concept that has proven remarkably prophetic. Susan envisioned a world where no one was left alone, where education and science offered an antidote to loneliness.

All great journeys emerge from an embryo of an idea and mature through the soul's intent. Hitching the soul to an idea is the foundational step; if the two are not coupled right, pure intent cannot be born. I felt that brilliance - a spark of pure fire - emanating from our very first meeting at a quiet lunch table at the Shangri-La in Singapore.

Are we keeping that soul guarded, safe & pure ?

Can the soul guide you wrong? Never.

Bhagwat Gita - 2.29: Some see the soul as amazing, some describe it as amazing, and some hear of the soul as amazing, while others, even on hearing, cannot understand it at all.

A journey began. It addressed the Zeitgeist of modern eras' seeking and loneliness. Humans' search for meaning in this material world & beyond, as also the loneliness overtaking us.

We started creating the music. Identifying issues. Trying to think of solutions. Scientist, poet, artist, and musician, all together. Or is it that we were all one entity. I say that because that is the entity that came to be. One that has purpose. One that is probing. On earth. In space. In the oceans. A stream of consciousness that has emanated from Dr Susan and ventured deep into all of us. One soul. Myriad bodies. A mythic entanglement.

When I was in junior school in Jorhat, my father and mother (Deuta & Ma) would encourage me to go through the Readers Digest. I would try to understand what I could. In the humor sections, I once remember reading a bit about a philosophy test which had only one question and every student failed. The question was  "Please explain the Universe" . The whole class failed! I face the same problem when I am about to explain the Lim Trilogy World. I get tongue tied. Lose my mind. I don't know where to start. Is it an entity with infinite doors & windows? Is there one way to look at it? Or are there many?

Is it a vehicle of science/technology/healing/faith/cultures/futures, etc ?

Or is it all one? Have you heard of 'Sub Ek' ?

Only one thing I know for sure. The Universe of Lim is expanding.

With 'TELEPORTATION', Dr Susan has taken the Assamese language into the heart of the Philharmonic world. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestras & Abbey Road Studios, London. The Assamese are proud and emotional people. But today that needle has moved. We are Prouder. Her ideas and Ibson Lal Baruah's translation of them into Assamese have given our music a new vocabulary. A new dimension. Of Space, Science, Technology & Teleportation. This is the first Assam's timeline will forever bear this momentous history. Science has forayed into our cultural world.

With Cosmic Rhapsody, we take our sound into the cosmos. It all begins at the Hollywood Bowl in July 2027, followed shortly by the launch of our collaboration with NASA's COSI mission.

Let's see where the butterfly flaps its wings next.

What do I learn from this exercise and from her? This is the age of collaboration. After all that has happened, we create TOGETHER. We work TOGETHER. With respect for one & all. This journey gives me peace. We discover the dignity of friendships here again. Of commitments. Of spoken word contracts. Of love. Of understanding. To be honest again.

I was just a small town guy with a voice and a violin. In the journey I have learnt to carry one very special thing again - 'Gratitude'. It's a heavy bag. I have a lot there. But the magic is - the moment you start to carry it, you feel light. Such is the way of grace.

This morning a song came to me.

"By Your Grace/Gurudev" by Krishna Das. He sings - 'I am the singer ….. you are the song'.

This perfectly exemplifies my state of mind.

There can only be Gratitude.

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