Padma Bhushan Sudha Ragunathan’s concert on 25th February at MLR Convention Centre kept us enthralled from the first varnam. About a couple of hours into the concert, she gave a short speech appreciating our effort in restoring the lake and promising whatever help she could render to us and to the environment. This of course made the audience applaud but her next statement won us over completely. The day before the concert, she’d contacted a friend, Gayathri Gurumurthy who writes under the pen name of “Saraswathi” and got her to write a song celebrating lakes! Being a composer as well, Smt Ragunathan set it to music and sang it specially for us at this concert! What better reward can we possibly get?
Lake Song
We got the script from her and Usha Rajagopalan translated it for the benefit of all. Her words and the song resonate in our ears but we do wish we’d recorded this lake song!
An Ode to Lakes
Clad in cerulean silk and
Giving life to the universe,
Mother of water, of lakes.
We’re here to guard you.
Equally for us all to flourish,
Crossing peaks and valleys
You have come, Mother,
To nourish the soil of this earth.
Stretching your golden hands
For birds and beasts to nestle,
To find shelter in your lap,
You’re a haven for the world.
Defiling your body, we humans
Became inhuman and yet,
Our depravities you bore
Lending yourself up for our lineage
To undo the abuse and wrongs
We friends now hold hands.
We pledge to preserve you,
Give new life to you, Mother.
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