The Music in Jaya

        
Service through Music               


“ I started singing even before I could speak,” says Jaya Thiagarajan. Coming from her this is no idle boast; for, she is immersed in music  and enveloping others in its serenity and sweetness. As she says, “Music for me is a 24 x 7 activity, knowing no boundaries. It is an ongoing learning process”. Jaya has lifted the Namah Sankeerthanam genre to heights hitherto unknown of, whether it is through the Hamsavahini song addressed to goddess Saraswathi with its soft dulcet Yaman Kalyan strains or the more catchy, foot tapping number, "Rama is greater than the Nama  ” . This unassuming lady has made Sangeet Sewa ( Service through Music) her mission of life. Cutting across social barriers, she has touched lives of the underprivileged, the sick and the depressed through her Satsangs conducted in various fora across Bangalore. An accomplished Carnatic musician, Jaya has chosen to bring Eshwara Mantra to the masses through short, meaningful songs, with lilting melodies and catchy rhythms.
                                   As a certified teacher of the Art Of Living Foundation,Jaya conducts classes in the Basic courses which comprise of breathing and meditative techniques and the famous Sudarshana Kriya. She has even taught the woman prisoners in Vellore jail,as she feels that the calming effects of  Kriya meditation will definitely provide solace in their stressful lives. Always, the class concludes with Jaya leading the group  singing joyously  slokas and songs invoking gods like Siva, Rama or Krishna. One has to just see the participants singing and clapping their hands in time with the music to realize the extent of their involvement.   
                                   Jaya learnt the basics of Carnatic Music from her grandfather who himself was a music teacher. Her early years were spent in Hyderabad where she graduated in Political science. Marriage brought her to Chennai where with the enthusiastic support of her father in law,(her husband always being a passive supporter) she completed her BA (Music) from Madras University in flying colours. “ I could have pursued the punishing schedule of a performing professional musician” , says Jaya. “ But  my children were small and my commitment to my family was foremost ”. So she taught students and also participated in Group singing even while undergoing intensive training from stalwarts like D.K. Jayaraman, S. Rajam and Nedunuri Krishnamurthy. “The styles of different schools have only enriched and enlarged my creativity and repertoire”. However Jaya jokes that Akashavani, Vijayawada had the greatest influence on her baani for she has learnt nearly one thousand songs from the All India Radio! One noteworthy performance while in Chennai, was Jaya’s rendering of the rare Krithis of Bhadrachala Ramadas at the Madras Music Academy for which she won the first prize.
                                     Jaya shifted to Bangalore in 1996 and it was around this time that both her sangeet and spiritual proclivity took off. Her meeting with Guru Shri Shri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living Foundation, Bangalore was an important occasion. Jaya was no stranger to the Art of living approach to life for she had already done the Basic Couse at Chennai.The family was going through a stressful period and Jaya approached Guruji for solace and support. The Guru told her to shed her worries and keep praying. Gradually the family came out of the problem and Jaya’s faith in the Art of Living system was reinforced and reinvented many times over.  “My meeting with Guruji was the turning point in my life”, says Jaya looking back to those days. “ I started attending and participating in Satsangs at Guruji’s Ashram and soon came to be identified as a Resource person for music for many of the Ashram’s activities and projects.” She became the lead singer in the satsangs and also started conducting Seva in slums. Children who could not think beyond their next meal, discovered and developed latent talents by learning and chanting Devi slokas and small, invocatory prayers to be said during poojas, before mealtimes and other daily activities. The music classes inevitably concluded with prasad distribution which added to its popularity. Food indeed for both body and soul!
                                   Once a week Jaya goes to a Rehabilitation Centre for the mentally depressed, which consists of destitutes and the elderly who have been abandoned by their families. Here she and her group sing songs, tell stories and teach meditation. “They look forward to our visits so much. Their lives are so dreary and desolate, we are trying in our own small way to ease their pain a little”, is what Jaya has to say. “Music energises and motivates, more so when it is infused with spirituality. That is why Bhakthi Sangeet gives Shakthi. Music elevates one to a higher plane-it is twice blessed, it benefits both the singer and the student".      
                                   Jaya has many projects on her platter. She has been actively involved in the activities of the Nadopasana Sankeertana Sangham, Bangalore for singing and propagating the Krithis of Annammacharya,under the aegis of the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam. She has also given performances in semi-classical music and has to her credit, a musical CD, “Bhakthi Arpana”,along with her son, which has songs in seven languages. Also on the anvil is a CD on Chakra meditation which awaits Guruji’s approval.
                              As I take leave, I step back to ponder at the magnitude of Jaya’s services and ideas.  I realize that there is a latent Jaya in all of us, waiting to be awakened and revitalize the universe. So, what’s holding you back? Go ahead and sing away your blues with a “secular” song, which is a parody of the popular filmi tune,“YE DIL MUJHE BATADE” and frequently features in Jaya’s satsangs-
                 
                SHREE RAM NAAM BOLO ,SHREE RAM NAAM BOLO
                SHREE RAM NAAM BOLO ,SHREE RAM NAAM BOLO
                 JAY JAY RAM, SEEYA RAM, JAY JAY RAM SEEYARAM
                 
                SHREE KRISHNA NAAM BOLO,SHREE KRISHNA NAAM BOLO
                SHREE KRISHNA NAAM BOLO,SHREE KRISHNA NAAM BOLO
                JAY JAY SHYAM,RADHEY SHYAM, JAY JAY SHYAM,RADHEY SHYAM.
                 
                ALLAHA NAAM BOLO,ALLAHA NAAM BOLO.
                ALLAHA NAAM BOLO,ALLAHA NAAM BOLO.
            LAILLAH-ILLALLAH-MOHAMMED-UR-RASLULLAH.
                 
                JESUS KA NAAM BOLO, JESUS KA NAAM BOLO
                JESUS KA NAAM BOLO, JESUS KA NAAM BOLO.
                HALLELULELUAIH-HALLELULELUAIH.
                 
                SHREE BUDDHA NAAM BOLO, SHREE BUDDHA NAAM BOLO SHREE BUDDHA NAAM BOLO, SHREE BUDDHA NAAM BOLO
                BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI, DHARMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI.
                 
                SREE GURUNAAM BOLO,SHREE GURUNAAM BOLO
                SREE GURUNAAM BOLO,SHREE GURUNAAM BOLO
                JAI GURUDEV, JAI GURUDEV JAI GURUDEV, JAI GURUDEV
                GOD IS ONE, GOD IS ONE.
                GOD IS ONE FOR EVERYONE.
                HE MADE SO MANY JUST FOR FUN.