Very inspiring. some times it happens. I do not know whether it is a real one or a story, but in reality too, moments come, when one has to be spontaneous enough to avoid the anticlimax. Thanks and regards
----- Original Message ----- From: "Pamnani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 3:41 PM Subject: [AI] off topic but good > Yes I know its off topic but I will take my chances by apolagising before > you read this but do read it. > Kanchan > On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the >>violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery >>Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If >>you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know >>that getting on stage is no small achievement for >>him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so >>he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of >>two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one >>step at a time, painfully a nd slowly, is an awesome >>sight. >> >> He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he >>reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts >>his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his >>legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot >>forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, >>puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and >>proceeds to play. >> >> By now, the audience is used to this ritual. >>They sit quietly while he makes his way across the >>stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent >>while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait >>until he is ready to play. >> >> But this time, something went wrong. Just as >>the finished the first few bars, one of the strings >>on his violin broke. You could hear it snap - it >>went off like gunfire across the room. There was no >>mistaking what that sound meant. There was no >>mistaking what he had to do. We figured that he >>would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick >>up the crutches and limp his way off stage - to >>either find another violin or else find another >>string for this one. But he didn't. Instead, he >>waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled >>the conductor to begin again. >> >> The orchestra began, and he played from where >>he had left off. And he played with such passion and >>such power and such purity as they had never heard >>before. >> >> Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible >>to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I >>know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak >>Perlman refused to know that. You could see him >> modulating, changing,re-composing the piece in his head. >>At one point, itsounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new >>sounds from them that they had never made before. >>When he finished, there was an awesome silence in >>the room. And then people rose and cheered. There >>was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every >>corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, >>screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to >>show how much we appreciated what he had done. >> >> He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, >>raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said - not >>boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone - >>"You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find >>out how much music you can still make with what you >>have left." >> >> What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in >>my mind ever since I heard it. And who knows? >>Perhaps that is the definition of life - not just >>for artists but for all of us. Here is a man who has >>prepared all his life to make music on a violin of >>four strings, who, all of a sudden, in the middle of >>a concert, finds himself with only three strings; so >>he makes music with three strings, and the music he >>made that night with just three strings was more >>beautiful, more sacred, more memorable, than any >>that he had ever made before, when he had four >>strings. >> >> So, perhaps our task in this shaky, >>fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is >>to make music, at first with all that we have, and >>then, when that is no longer possible, to make music >>with what we have left. > Kanchan Pamnani > Advocate & Solicitor > 9, Suleman Chambers, > Battery Street, Colaba, > Mumbai - 400 039. > > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
