Battlestar Galactica: Gayatri Mantra

You can read about the ancient Vedic hymn called the Gayatri Mantra at Wikipedia. Here is a performance produced by Ravi Shankar in his Chants of India:

Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ

tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ

bhárgo devásya dhīmahi

dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt

May we attain that excellent glory of Surya the god:

So may he stimulate our prayers.

If you listen closely, you can also hear this mantra in the opening music for Battlestar Galactica. This video has the opening music from the BSG movie "The Plan," and you can hear the chant very clearly here:

Here is the theme music from the television series; listen, and you will hear the mantra here too!

Music: Shankar Tucker. Nee Nenaindal

Here is Shankar Tucker with the sisters Vidya and Vandana performing Nee Nenaindal. Check the comments at the YouTube page for an English translation of the lyrics, which address the goddess Lakshmi, Mahalakshmi — The Great Lakshmi:

Nee nenaindal agadadu undo
Nirajadala nayani mahalaksmi 

Once You have determined
That it be so
Is there anything in the Universe
That cannot happen thence,
O lotus-eyed Goddess Mahalakshmi?

Music: Shankar Tucker. Ja Ja Re

Here's Nirali Kartik (of Maati Baani) performing a remix of a classical song with Shankar Tucker on clarinet and Amit Mishra on tabla. You can find out more at the YouTube page:

Music: Shankar Tucker. Guru Brahma.

Here's Shankar Tucker in a jam session inspired by a traditional Sanskrit shloka. You can find out more about the musicians at the YouTube page, and you can learn about the Guru Stotram too!

Music: Shankar Tucker. O Re Piya / Rolling in the Deep.

Here's another Shankar Tucker mash-up, this time it's Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's "O Re Piya" and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Find out more at the YouTube page:

Here's Rahat Fateh Ali Khan:

And here's Adele:

Music: Shankar Tucker. Ashai Mugam.

Here's another video with Shankar Tucker and Vidya, along with Vidya's sister Vandana. Despite Shankar's note at the YouTube page, there are some very rude comments about Tamil pronunciation. YouTube comments can be a seriously scary place... but the music is lovely!

Music: Shankar Tucker. Nadia.

This is Shankar Tucker's take on "Nadia," originally by Nitin Sawhney, and you might know it from the Jeff Beck version. Shankar's version features vocals by Jaunita John. You can find out more at the YouTube page:

Here is the Jeff Beck version:

Music: Shankar Tucker. Kinara.

This lovely song by Shankar Tucker with Mugdha Hasabnis and Amit Mishra tells about the love of Radha and Krishna; you can find out more at the YouTube page — here is an excerpt from the English translation of the lyrics:

The sea and the shore are like lord Krishna and Radha;
How can Krishna live without Radha?
If Krishna is there, Radha will be there.
Their love shines like a star.

Music: Shankar Tucker. Jaane Kaise

Shankar Tucker is usually playing a clarinet, but here he is performing Jaane Kaise a cappella with Shashwat Singh:

Music: Shankar Tucker. Rang Lo

Here's a video from Shankar Tucker that is inspired by Holi. You can find out more about the song at the YouTube page (along with lyrics), and you can find out more about Holi at Wikipedia.

Music: Shankar Tucker. Chaiyya Chaiyya Mash-Up

Here's a video from Shankar Tucker and Vidya with Sam Tsui and Kurt Schneider that went viral: over one million views! It's a mash-up of Chaiyya Chaiyya and Michael Jackson's Don't Stop. You can find out more at the YouTube page:

And here's the original Chaiyya Chaiyya as used by Spike Lee for Inside Man:

And here's Michael Jackson:

Music: Shankar Tucker. Hum Loag.

Here's a lovely video from Shankar Tunker in which he sings in Hindi... along with 200 other people from Mumbai! He plays his clarinet too of course; find out more at the YouTube page for this video and at Shankar Tucker's YouTube channel.

Music. Maati Baani. Funky Pawa

Here is what Nirali and Kartik say about this lovely song:

These are traditional Gujarati lyrics sung to invoke the Divine Mother in peoples houses and hearts. It's mainly sung in the festival of Navratri, where the people dance and sing the hymns to invite the Goddess. You must have, by now, figured out how much we are fascinated by everything folk! What charms us about the villages and the people there of is the free - spiritedness and honesty, the openness and warmth, the colours and textures and — Yes! — their ability to rise above the problems of their daily lives and still to be able to sing a song or two! 

You can read more at the YouTube page for this video.

Music: Maati Baani. Tore Matware Naina

Here is a video of Maati Baani with the French singer Joy Shanti, and you can find out more about the song at the YouTube page:

We were inspired to do this song while at Amritapuri, Amma's Ashram in Kerala. When we heard JoyShanti, a Jazz/Blues vocalist from France, we were simply amazed by her energy and requested her to do a song with us! We recorded and shot her on the location on Azheekkal beach amidst all the strange looks from the people! While back in Mumbai, we recorded all the other musicians including us. The flautist Naushadbhai, a flute seller and Bashirbhai on Pinjara( a cotton carder, its not a musical instrument! )were walking down the lane outside our studio. Struck by their unusual sound, we recorded their parts for the song! The lyrics in Braj language were adapted from the works of great poet Shri " Laghulaal" from Kutchh. The French lyrics are by JoyShanti.