A bhaktha

He was singing at the Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Samadhi. With a broad smear of vibhoothi on his forehead he sat with his son beside him lending vocal support. He sang the first charanam of Thygaraja composition Sangeetha-Gnanamu-bhakth- vina and passed to explain the meaning of the composition; with expressive gestures of hand and head, he conveyed that mere knowledge of Sangeetha without bhakthi or devotion to God does not take one on the path of righteousness. He was a picture of humility and sincerity and with his white beard and locks he looked like a sage lifted from the time of Mahabharatha.

I had seen him on Youtube, standing at the Guruvayuru Ayyappa swami temple, with his bare chest and in a posture of total surrender before the Lord. He would sing at the Sri Rama Navami festival at Bangalore to a packed audience without taking a single penny as remuneration. He is Jesudas, a person born into a Christian family but a Hindu in all aspects, a true bhaktha.