Musicians who are part of the band Ganapati Express have been performing Indian music for a long while. But until recently they have mostly performed canonic Bhajans (songs of poets who preach the traditions of Bhakta, devotional songs in a sense) accompanied by an accordion and tablas. The idea to unite Indian Bhajans with modern guitar arrangements emerged several months ago. The audience perceived the “newly-born music phenomenon” quite warmly, so the musicians, encouraged by this enthusiasm, started to work namely on performing modernized Bhajans. The band includes Mykola Pazynenko (guitar), Vladyslav Dorohanov (djembe), Serhii Roshchin (flute, bansuri, percussion), and Iryna Pazynenko (singing). Iryna, interviewed by The Day after the band’s recent concert, was taught singing in the Indian city Pune (India, Maharashtra State) by Prasad Khaparde, the favorite pupil of Ustad Rashid Khan, a star of the classical Indian music. At first, Iryna explained, she took private lessons, which was followed by many years of self-education when she came to Ukraine.
It is apparent for many people that music today may be a technology of destruction (this is a topic for separate discussion whether it is used purposefully). How can we affect this efficiently? For we all get under baneful influence in one way or another.
“We all have a very powerful weapon which we can use either for our good or for our destruction. This is the freedom of choice. We should resist not as much the negative music influence, rather the ruination, your self-ruination as a thinking person, a spiritual person. You may not listen to the radio, throw away the TV set, and ask a taxi driver to switch off the Shanson Radio Station in his car, but this won’t solve the problem. If your attention is above all this, this negative information won’t hurt you. But if a person orients to this wave, in spite of how much you trained him/her to Handel’s music, nothing good will come out of it. But I am speaking about adults. Children are quite a different thing. You should teach them to real art from the early age. But you should do so in a talented manner, showing the versatility of the world culture, pay attention to the subtlety in perception of art, how their emotional state depends on listening one or another kind of music.”
You position your music as an instrument of a person’s spiritual growth. What is the mechanism? How does it work? Why namely Indian traditional music? What codes does it carry?
“It has a deep interaction with a person’s energy. The thing is that all of us, besides our physical body, have so-called subtle energetic body (this is part of yoga tradition). It consists of seven energy centers (or chakras) and three channels. So, every note is called a swara in Indian tradition, it has a direct connection with chakra. When you simply sing the names of the notes, it will balance your subtle system. And when compositions are made of these notes, they are called ragas, and in every raga only certain notes are used in a certain order, so the influence on the state of a person is more subtle. Every raga is dedicated to a certain season, certain time of The Day, certain mood etc. Speaking about simpler styles of the Indian music – people’s Bhajans – the themes of the songs are added here. As a rule they all are dedicated to divine creatures, such as Sri Ganesha, Sri Shiva, Sri Adi Shakti etc. These things have remained unchanged for centuries. Actually, these are the roots of India’s spiritual culture. Ukrainian or any other authentic songs, if they are dedicated to God, bring the same favorable energy. But unfortunately we have not almost preserved this tradition: it has been forced out by the songs about suffering, vodka, or the godmothers of one’s children. We are actually attracted namely to the Indian music tradition also because really serious things, very deep, real spiritual things have no suffering or repentance implications. They are full of life, joy, and light, and at the same time philosophy, strength, and purity. On the one hand, we are not obsessed with India. If we happen to find a good Ukrainian text in the annals, we eagerly include it into our repertoire.”
The fashion for India is acquiring more and more popularity nowadays. Frequently this excess interest is spontaneous; it is heated by people who have commercial interest. Your singing produces an impression that you are a person who knows what real India is and where one should look for it. But the thing is not about India, isn’t it?
“Do I know what real India is? Probably not. You should be born there. Surely, India is a unique country. It is unique because it has preserved its culture, vibrations, the state of inner purity and freshness. And you have to go there to feel this silence in yourself. But you should not give way to illusions either concerning Ukraine, or India. Moreover, you know, it’s like the anecdote says: ‘don’t mix tourism with emigration.’ We all are looking for our Devaloka [the world of gods in Buddhism. – Author] or Shambhala [a mythical country in Tibet, Himalaya, also used for describing the enlightened state of a person. – Author]. By and large, you don’t need to go anywhere to find it. I went to India after several-year practicing of meditation according to Sahadja Yoga system and sang Bhajans in the way I could. I simply needed this, I suffocated without it. But after the first visit to Pune I understood that if your attention is bound to exterior things, India will shock you and you will never be eager to come back there. But if you are able to keep your attention on subtle, spiritual, real things, you will be able to find the Promised Land, and you will not have to go anywhere. The most important thing is the desire to improve, not just in the sense of music likings, but above all in the sense of spiritual understanding who you are, why you are here, and where you are goin
