Ganesh Del Vescovo at Rikhiapeeth
A remarkable experience at the Ashram of Paramahamsa Satyananda in Jharkhand – India in 1997
by Swami Uttarkashi

The episode that I am going to recount represents an important milestone in the long musical history of the guitarist-composer Ganesh Del Vescovo. It happened in Autumn-Winter 1997 in the ashram of Swami Satyananda Saraswati, in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
A huge crowd filled the hall. Everyone was seated on the floor and Swami Satyananda was sitting on a platform at the end of the hall together with Swami Niranjan. We, the Biswas family, had been able to get near to Paramahamsaji and we were sitting at his feet awaiting the satsang which he was scheduled to give. On the other hand Ganesh, who was travelling with us for the celebration of the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna and to see his spiritual master, had remained outside, crouching in a hidden corner near the quiet Christ Kutir to have a nice nap together with his guitar, which he used as a pillow. The trip to Rikhia had been very long and the jet lag had worn him out. But there was one unexpected element which consisted in the voice of authority of his Guru who thundered out through the microphones of the yoga hall, "Where is Ganesh? Where is he with his guitar? I want him here sitting in front of me. Right away, with his guitar!" Anusandhana, who was sitting next to me in the first row suddenly jumped to his feet and had to make a great effort to cross the crowd, which was so anxious to hear what the guru had to say.

The atmosphere was dense with the expectation of something ineffable which was actually already there: the gentle, strong, dominant presence of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Then Anusandhana arrived like quick silver, bringing with him an embarrassed Ganesh, red in the face, swollen with sleepiness, his eyes full of incredulousness and perhaps even with just that little bit of annoyance that comes when one is awakened from a much needed comfortable afternoon nap. I knew that look in the eye very well and I thought, "What a way to begin!"

The kirtans began - kirtans are the rhythmic repetition of mantras sung to a simple melody or mantra, accompanied by deep beating of drums and the sparking sound of tingling bells - and Paramahamsaji said to a still disoriented Ganesh to play something with the kirtans. But what to play? Certainly not the usual harmonic chords which often are not in tune with the music of Indian origin. Then there emerged from the guitar of Ganesh a new sound, something light and different, perfectly tuned which, together with the kirtan, made the atmosphere rich and full with the magic of a deeper inward awareness. This is the force of music, of kirtan and of the raga: to be easily able to open people up towards themselves and towards their own sweet inner qualities. The mind and the heart turn towards themselves without any effort.

When the kirtan was over Swami Satyananda turned to the audience, "You see, this is the way it must be. He is playing exactly the raga of each of these kirtans. He has found them by ear. It is unbelievable that a Westerner who has not formally studied Indian music should be able to do this. I am near to him so I can hear wonderful things which you cannot hear, embellishments, ornamentations and magical harmonies which you cannot hear in the crowd. Listen to him. This is the way the guitar should be played during kirtan."

The experience of accompanying the kirtans lasted for the entire yajna (the ceremony which we were participating in). Ganesh sat next to his guru and played every time he was asked to do so. I did not have many occasions to see him in private during this overwhelming event but, at a certain point, Swami Niranjan called me and told me to ask Ganesh to compose a piece dedicated to Sita, a beautiful female form of universal energy. This is how, in the torrid heat of the end of the Indian Autumn season the beautiful piece for guitar solo called "For Sita" was born. But things did not end here. Some of the most astonishing studies emerged such as the ones called "on percussions", "on the Ganesh pizzicato" and then all the Sandhyas, (four pieces plus "Divali") not to forget "Jasidhih Express" which was improvised on the train ride during the voyage between Rikhia (Deoghar-Jasidhih) and Delhi for some sleepless children and their happy and incredulous parents.

When I asked Ganesh about his impressions of this very important experience, he was not able to tell me much. Everything had happened inside him and outside he just ran around playing everything he was asked to play.

"I don't really know what feelings and sensations I had. I only know that I was very, very busy." And musically? some novelties, some kind of inventions? "More than anything else I had to stay awake and on my toes! Especially regarding the tuning of the instrument! I really had to be very careful and alert. Everything was improvised. I remember one very special sensation which I had while I was making a particular combination of sounds with the kirtanist Tripura. The rest of the time I was always tuning the instrument, searching for the correct tuning for each piece! Everything seemed normal, even the fact of being in such close contact with my guru. Swami Satyananda would say something to me from time to time but I couldn't understand because he spoke in English or in Hindi..." But they say that the passage of the energy of shakti between Guru and disciple often does not come about through words!

This total immersion in music next to his spiritual master, "without the time to think about it" ended with two beautiful concerts; one as the finale of the ceremony in front of many thousands people and the other one in Munger in the presence of Swami Niranjan and about eight hundred students of yoga that has stayed on to continue the experience of learning and of opening up to new dimensions of life.

   Swami Uttarkashi - Florence, March 2009