Senior Citizens’ Vedic Chanting sessions - Update

The first step is the most important step in any venture, they say. The Rudram-Chamakam Session (RCS), spearheaded a month ago by a handful of SFV seniors, took off to a good start. And as the saying goes, well begun is half done. Today the group completed its first round. That is, all the members had the privilege to host the session in their sweet homes.

Nothing works without broad guidelines. We hold two sessions a week (11 am to 12 noon) and one on Pradosham days (4.30 to 5.30 pm). Each member, in alphabetic order, will host RCS in his house. After the session, the hostess would serve just coffee or buttermilk. Nothing more, nothing less. (The hostesses have better things to do on a mid day). On Pradosham day, it is coffee to members and bananas to God (which will be distributed to devotees as prasad). During the coffee session, no discussions whatsoever on if NDA is good or UPA was better; whether Goddess Cauvery will ever set foot in SFV, or if the raise in the haircut rate is justified, more so when seniors have less to offer for shedding…

Towards the end of the first round, the lady of the house where it was held, recorded the chant without the group’s knowledge, and shared it with the members, as a gesture. It served as a great leveler. Until then we thought that, like when we sing along with Mohammad Rafi’s song, we are in perfect unison with his melody and modulation until the radio goes off air suddenly and we are left to hear just our version, and realize the world of difference.

That said, it was gratifying that it wasn’t too bad, and total synchronization may not be a far cry, or far-fetched – whichever is closer to the objective. Precisely, umeed par duniya kayam, or, life is better off on hopes.

 Yes, members enjoy - or suffer from - varying degrees of exposure to Rudram and Chamakam. Hence synchronization might be found wanting, leave alone intonation and diction, the inseparable twins of this chant. But then we are incurable optimists. We know our way, and nothing is impossible – not for the moment at least.

Being seniors, arrivals and departures are inevitable – off on a pilgrimage to Amarnath and Vaishnodevi, or to Dubai, America; or returning from Chennai or Hyderabad after a naam-karan or tonsure ceremony - yes, we just need excuses to get away. Luckily none of these has affected our quorum, and we never had to reconvene the session after a while to circumvent rules.

Starting from the second phase, that is Wednesday, each member will recite independently one chapter, already allotted, so that he does his homework well and puts his best foot forward. We are keeping our fingers crossed on the outcome of this effort.

We have already identified two ‘experts’ – one from within SFV and the other who takes Vedic Chanting classes in one of the Shankara Mutts in the city – to preside over one session each and point out our strengths (if any) and weaknesses. Meanwhile if anyone feels enthusiastic about joining the group, he is welcome to do so, his exposure regardless.

Though a little premature to announce, in the long-term, God willing, we have two plans: one, to chant Rudram and Chamakam over the public address system at our Madeshwara temple on a Pradosham day and, two, attempt Purusha Sooktham, Narayana Sooktham, Siva Sooktham, Trisathi, Mahanyasam, and what have you. Imagination running riot, I hear you murmur. No harm. Aim at the star, and shoot at the tree. Even if we achieve half the target, it isn’t bad. Isn’t it?