During my studies in Delhi I had the chance to see a few classical music as well as contemporary music concerts around the city. This small sculpture was inspired and modeled on my sketches of the musicians and particularly sitarists, see the drawings below. I wanted to capture the kinship between instrument and player as well as the distinctive position of the feet. Despite the clear energy of the musicians in the drawings, this sitar player above is drowsy, the neck of the instrument dips and his posture is relaxed.
The lady playing on the left is plucking a Sarod, a three stringed instrument. I include it here because she was performing the Bhajans of Mirabai, a 16th century devotional poetess and saint, who roamed Rajasthan singing songs in devotion to Krishna. I wrote an essay on Mirabai and it was complete serendipity that I could see this musician play one day after class (at the University of Delhi).
