27/10/2024
This was written by my dear friend, Salil Lal Ahmed. Thank you, dear Salil.
AN EYE FOR MUSIC
# Biju Raju
There are two types of musicians - the ones we know and the ones we don’t know. There are many example of the known ones - on TV, film YouTube radio etc. But for unknown you dig in you school college circles, basement gigs, church choir, temple festivals, fringe music concerts etc. Qualitatively the known ones if they have talent produce high quality music - the ones that we loop, dance and feel our emotions with. They have the best of technology and equipment. The unknown ones bowl you over with raw talent. They are in this perpetual state of music pursuing a particular riff and perfecting a tone. Their music is purer because they play for the joy of music.
Biju Raju is in the second category. His musical overture is diverse - influenced by the best of music from the 80’s and 90’s - Dire Straits, Sting , 13AD, Carnatic, Junoon AR Rahman and popular music from that era. A Vitreous Retinal surgeon during the day, he is a musician day and night. This cover of Joe Satriani’s WHY is testimony to his immense talent and passion. Biju handles this technically and musically challenging piece with such control that it would be hard to distinguish it from the original. It is pure delight to watch Biju play- his entire body is in rhythm and with the perfectly assembled video it is the ultimate live experience that you can get on your handheld. He has detailed his process in the note below.
For Biju music is instinctive and comes naturally from the core of being. In a recent school get together he along with George Joseph and George Johnson went on playing till we had run out of requests. The joy that Biju exudes while playing is infectious. Biju is a multi-instrumentalist Guitar bass/lead/rhythm, Jazz, Veena, Mridungam and what not. He shoots, edits and audio mixes sleek videos like these in his home studio. It is remarkable the way he has used the possibilities of light in the making of WHY- akin to a professional music video. He has another set of videos documenting his Vitreous Retinal surgeries using mobile phones fixed with DIY lens packs that makes the inside of the eye look like a beautiful sunrise. Coupled with his thriving practice in Ophthalmology he could easily be the polymath of our times.
So what makes Biju known only in his circle of friends and Joe Satriani a world wide rock legend. It is definitely not talent. After all in absolute terms it might only be a a small difference. In Biju’s case his interest in the wonders of the eye and helping people see is equally strong as his instinct for music. There are many musicians in his generation who has made it big in the commercial circuit. He probably didn’t see music as a career. Music could have been more elemental to to his being to let it be dictated by the market. That is why pioneering art has to be subsidized - by the state or another job or personal suffering. It is time that we pamper, produce and encourage the invisible artists around us.
Check out Biju’s YouTube channel for his complete body of work.
Hi! I am Dr Biju Raju, a Vitreoretinal Surgeon practicing in Kochi, India. I am a multi intrumentalist and can play few musical instruments at an intermediate level of expertise. Through my YouTube channel, I wish to share my videos - on all good aspects of music, life and clinical experiences. Than...
