Nirdesh Subedi
I find it magical when a poet sits down to write a poem; how suddenly waves of emotion move their hands and something profound arises out of nowhere. When Mahakabi Laxmi Prasad Devkota was writing “Lunatic,” William Wordsworth was writing “My Heart Leaps Up,” and Emily Dickinson was writing “Tell all the truth but tell it slant”: I wonder where their hearts were sailing.
When a bansuri player performs live, it feels as though they are not playing a wooden instrument but their own heart. Looking closely into their eyes gives a view of their heart; it is flying in the sky of melodies. These artists and poets are messengers calling us back to our soul, back to our heaven, back to our home. When five different artists play their instruments together, it feels like a single soul is playing the whole symphony. Art merges our hearts into one.
Just a few days ago, I attended a cultural musical event called “Songs of Soil.” There were performances based on different communities of Nepal. During the show, my heart was saying, today I felt the soul of Nepal. I felt the heart of each community of Nepal through those songs—their innocence, emotions, warmth, joy, happiness, and pains. I felt a deep sense of unity and resonance. Those songs still vibrate in my memories.
Art reflects our hearts. Our hearts have many layers, colors, and depths. As we immerse ourselves in art, we realize the unknown and unexplored beauty of our hearts. Each heart has its own wisdom, songs, language, and seeking. The heart tells us, “A child is the father of man.” It says the real evolution is growing the depths of love in our hearts. It felt like coming out of a cold night into a warm sunrise when I followed the whispers of my heart.
Language is too weak to bear the weight of our oceanic hearts; we need different forms of art. Each color, note, musical instrument, and expression of art gives wings to our hearts to experience the nectar of freedom. Art makes us realize how everything is quite sacred. It makes us notice the magic hidden and vibrating in our daily lives. Be it in the touch of a breeze on our skin, the warmth of a cup of tea, sunrises, sunsets, flowers, stars, smiles, the gaze of an innocent friend, birds, animals, the playfulness of children, the language of tears, and many more. We become more sensitive and alive to experiences.
