Sound for Meditation

In 2001, about a month before we moved back to Ontario  from Nelson, BC, Tara and I went to the Langham Cultural Centre in Kaslo to see/hear Pandit Shivnath Mishra and his son Deobrat perform.

There were about 20-30 people in the audience, and the father-and-son sitar duo were accompanied by a tabla player. The best thing about the performance was how the elder Mishra defied my expectations, playing in a way that one could only compare to Jimi Hendrix. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he rocked back and forth in a frenzy as each piece progressed in tempo and volume, slamming his sitar downwards to strike either the stage or his own legs, introducing another percussive element to the ragas.

Deobrat was quite the opposite. Except for his hands, he barely moved and frequently closed his eyes as he played, his angelic face transfixing the audience as much as his father's antics did. (The album cover above captures exactly the essence of what I recall of that evening.)

It was the middle of a very hot summer and the theatre did not have air conditioning, so I had a really hard time keeping my eyes open. Despite this, it was an unforgettable experience. I never fully nodded off, and probably absorbed more of the music while in that wonderful state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep than if I had kept my eyes open.

After the performance, the audience was invited onto the stage to ask questions about the music and the instruments. In the theatre's lobby we purchased one of the CDs they had on offer, and since then I have purchased a few more of their discs through CD Baby including a recording of Deobrat without his father, Sound for Meditation. Unlike the others, which build to an intensity Tara finds incompatible with the atmosphere of her clinic, Sound for Meditation is gentle and even-tempoed, and could be used in a yoga or Qigong class.

A few years ago, while I was working on my screen adaptation of Autobiography of a Yogi, I became friends with Deobrat on Facebook. One day I wrote to him about my screenplay and asked if he was interested in doing the music for the film. After all, the Mishras hail from Varanasi (Benares) a city which plays a significant role in Paramahansa Yogananda's story. To my delight he expressed enthusiasm for the project, telling me of his admiration for Yogananda.

It has been a few years since that exchange, so if I ever manage to get the film made, I hope he remembers his promise.

The Mishras can be seen/heard on YouTube.