Humilty & Respect

It was during Dussehra (2001) , when I was doing my graduation in Puttaparthi. As usual, all of us ,students, go for evening darshan & bhajans in the Sai Kulwant Hall (imagine this as a huge auditorium with no walls on the sides).Being Dussehra, it is customary that some noted musician(s) will come and perform every evening in front of Sai Baba and all of us during these ten days.

One of those days, "Mandolin" Srinivas came and performed and ,needless to say,enthralled us. The performance got over and after the aarthi was given, all of us started to disperse from the hall.Srinivas was being escorted out by the organisers and there were many people trying to speak to him/wish him and ,in turn,he was speaking to everyone there, while being led out.

Now, during these days, usually, after the performance is over, a local nadaswaram group sits in a corner of the hall and plays classical songs for about an hour. This tradition has been there for many years(much before these renowned musicians came to this place) and it was still continued. No one usually pays any attention to them and, i guess, they too go about their performance as a routine.

As Srinivas, was exiting the hall along with the group surrounding him, this nadaswaram group has just started to tune and they were making these sounds while tuning their nadaswarams( short bursts of "pi","pi" - am sure this is a pathetic attempt to describe the situation:-) ))).By chance, I was near him and was observing and he was about fifteen yards away from the nadaswaram group. Amidst all the bedlam,the moment he heard the tuning sounds from the nadaswaram, he stopped in his tracks,started looking around for the source of the sound. He noticed this motley group of musicians and,oblivious to the crowd who are trying to get his attention ,walked towards them. He went near them , gave a radiant smile and said "namaskaram" and went back the same way.

I was just stunned! Here was this guy who is world famous, but still had that respect for his art and his fellowmates ,who practices that art, no matter how low in social stature they might be. Simply put, there was absolutely no need whatsoever for him to even acknowledge the presence of the nadaswaram group, leave alone wishing them(coming to think about it , i do not remember anyone giving any kind of attention to them).But, still, he went all the way to them and wished them. That scene left a long lasting impression in my mind and whenever i hear/read about him or see his picture , this is the first thing which comes to my mind.

That day i learnt a lesson in humility and respect.