abstract art and hindustani classical music : all in context of goosebumps each swara in itself is a definite frequency of sound which has variable length and variable texture based on the voice. colours are an artists notes. each reflecting only a certain frequency of light. many many of them. which can be arranged in spectral order like the sounds. black and lack of black almost become the saptakas. same colour but million tones. the length - width of patch, transparency / opacity - form the texture of the visual note. because music is consumed one note at a time - taal / theka holds the tension - it is keeper of the time. taal in painting could be the instrument of application, and the process because taal builds tension in music exactly like the way the method of application builds tension in the painting and produces textures. because paintings are not experienced over time - seen at once, taal becomes the tension in the painting - time morphs itself into space. what is the canvas? its the taanpura. taking it further - raag is a palette. a choice of three four five six swaras that are identified as raaga. why those five : because the selection gives a multitude to the raaga. while the freedom still lies in the amount of sa one uses versus ga , raaga is an indicative palette. when one paints the colour chosen have a harmony. choice of colours defines the mood of the work and its connections. the colours will dissolves in each other in diff proportions - yet the palette is a part of that journey. lets come to bandish. bandish is a pattern of words in the raaga bound by the theka taal or matras. bandish is composition bandish brings forth the real swarup of raaga. it has a prticular arrangement of swaras giving a certain time and space to each while contrasting the same with choicest of other swaras so as to bring out the beauty/truth/soul within each swara. a painting has arrangement of colours the only purpose of which is to bring out true nature and beauty of these colours together. in painting the bandish is shape and composition. shape first and composition later. shape is nothing but coming together of two colours. foreground and background. sometimes the background shrinks and becomes the line. but even a line is where two colours meet. if we were to look at visual art in light of hindustani classical music the two feel very similar. while bandish gives it a shape - it doesnt give it a meaning. no words gv the music a meaning. it stays abstract and has its own meaning, which one can receive when one hears it. art too doesnt need a subject. in fact appearance of subjects makes it less art - taking it away from the sensory experience of colours in its sheer beauty and freedom. when we hear hindustani classical music, every swara buildingup an experience that connects us inside - makes us hear the anahat naad. similarly a truly beautiful work of art takes our eyes off itself and make us see a the light inside of us. anahat naad or the swa prakash is existent inside not created by anyone. it is the energy we call life. the resonance with this energy makes us experience goosebumps. Look at Rothkos chapel works. those are raagas composed from one or two swaras. extremely simple - almost an impossible simplicity. no wonder they make u hear a sound you cant define. no wonder they show you light that looks like the God. Look at gaitondes works or nasreens work - the appeal is musical. these are beautiful raagas - not just compositions. the light one sees in them is the light of life.