G.S. Sachdev In Memoriam (1935-2018)
Other Minds notes with sadness the passing of master classical Indian musician G.S. Sachdev on June 24, 2018, from complications of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma at his home in San Rafael, California. Sachdev was the leading exponent of the bansuri, a long transverse bass flute made of bamboo that, in his hands, was capable of the deepest emotional expression, focusing the minds of his listeners into a state of profound peaceful meditation preceding an ecstatic rhythmic conclusion. A memorial service for Sachdev is planned for Saturday, August 18th, 11am-1pm, at Bolinas Beach in Bolinas, California. Further information: https://gssachdev.wordpress.
One of the San Francisco Bay Area’s central musical performers and teachers, G.S. Sachdev, the internationally acclaimed classical Indian flutist, has died. Known for his transcendent, meditative, and deeply spiritual traversals of traditional ragas performed on the bass flute of bamboo known as the bansuri, Sachdev was a prominent and reassuring fixture on the music scene since his arrival from India in 1970. His family reports that he succumbed to non-Hodgkins lymphoma on June 24 at his home in San Rafael.
In 1989 he told the publication Hinduism Today, “The older I get, the more satisfaction this music gives me. It’s because it takes me deeper and deeper and that’s where I want to be.” Asked if he’d experienced samadhi (intense meditational concentration—union with the divine) while playing this devotional music, Sachdev answered, “Yes. While playing, I have become not there. I feel the flute is shrinking, becoming smaller and smaller until it’s not there. I’m on the stage . . . I am, and I also am not. I’m just gone. Those moments make life worth living and the music worth doing.”
For the complete memorial page click here.
