A Reflection of the Earth in Art Ragmala – Songs of Anthropocene
Tanishka Dl’yma

The song of the earth is the first thing the protagonist takes in when he steps out of his hut in the morning, and finds it good. The splash of water, the song of birds, the wind striking a chord against the trees, and the thump of footsteps on the sand – the sounds of the earth boom all around us, and we are a part of it. So interwoven is our life with the earth that are connection to it moves past the obvious and into something more innate and spontaneous – music – establishing intangible ties.

Kino heard the little splash of morning waves on the beach. It was very good – Kino closed his eyes again to listen to his music.” is what is written on the first page of John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. Throughout the novella in fact, Steinbeck talks about a score that does not merely accompany the characters to portray a situation but also lends a tune to their relationship with the earth and one another. The song of the earth is the first thing the protagonist takes in when he steps out of his hut in the morning, and finds it good. The splash of water, the song of birds, the wind striking a chord against the trees, and the thump of footsteps on the sand – the sounds of the earth boom all around us, and we are a part of it. So interwoven is our life with the earth that are connection to it moves past the obvious and into something more innate and spontaneous – music – establishing intangible ties.


Walk into a showcase called Ragmala – Songs of Anthropocene by Sanjeev Khandekar and Vaishali Narkar and their work will talk about the music of today’s earth. Music is the core of our existence; it is the lingua franca of the people of the entire planet, used to exchange culture, views and even self. So when talking about one of the most serious self-made problems that we face, what better medium than music and art to communicate with every person of the world and set alight awareness. And so music is woven into the show in the form of ‘Ragmalas’ – a series of paintings that depict the sentiments of the ragas. It is, as beautifully put, a ‘garland of ragas’ on canvas.

The ecological destruction is evident before our eyes, in the increased rainfall and subsequent flooding, the intensifying heat, rising sea levels due to glacial melt and expansion of water due to heat, the life-threatening monsoons that consume low-lying areas, and the collapse of the ecosystems and the creatures in it.