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‘Hum pardesh panchi baba, ani desara naahi’. This saying penned by Kabir is apt for its singer Dr Krishnakant Shukla who gave up his job as assistant professor in astronomy in America and returned to Varanasi to live his dream by singing Kabir bhajans. A doctor with PhD in solid state physics from the state university of New York, a lecturer honoured with American Award of Excellence in Teaching, a brilliant career as an assistant professor of astronomy; 13 years in America, and yet all this could not keep him away from his love and passion – Kashi Nagri, his fIrst love, and music, his passion. The two combined serve as his breath for survival.
What attracts Dr Shukla to this oldest living city in the world are the traditions where the 5000-year-old culture is as vibrant even today. Priests still sit at ‘ghats’ with umbrellas made of straws. I am sure that had it been any other place in the world, fiberglass would have replaced straw. Take the case of ancient cities like Rome, Beijing, Istanbul, Athens and Jerusalem. Today’s lifestyle there is totally different from what it used to be a few hundred years ago. Here, we continue to live in small lanes, eat ‘malai-rabri’ and sumptuous ‘jalebis’, drink ‘lassi’ and relish Banarasi ‘paan’, he adds with gusto. He feels emotionally bonded to Kashi and its lifeline the Ganga. Belonging to a traditional family of Varanasi, Dr Shukla got an opportu-nity to learn about Hinduism and its various forms. Banarasi at heart, he could never treat planets viewed through a telescope as dead structures a la his colleagues. Indian astrology treats planets as living personalities and hence every time I view a planet, I would chant mantras paying obeisance to it. Saturn with its rings looks absolutely amazing like a yogi in meditation. Seems that these planets have changed my destiny drastically from a lecturer to a musician! he recalls. Music is in my blood and I have picked up threads at Ali Akbar College of Music in California. Singing makes me come alive. In fact, the idea for my thesis for PhD sprung up in my brain while I was singing. Later, I came across a study on the deep relation between music and sciences. It was observed that the fIring pattern of neurons in the brain is similar when indulging in music or in mathematical calculations! Both create a beautiful harmony; he exclaims excitedly.

By Aarti Aggarwal for TIMES NEWS NETWORK