Autorickshaw live in concert at 'South Asia Calling', Harbourfront, Toronto, performing the song Maya, composed and arranged by Suba Sankaran.

Maya is a four-movement, Indo-jazz fusion work written specifically for Autorickshaw (voice, percussion, tabla, bass) and string quartet, and was commissioned by the West End Cultural Centre. The four movements are entitled Illusion, Enchantment, Fantasy and Maya.

This musical work is inspired by the Hindu goddess Maya. The literal meaning of the word Maya is “illusion.” Maya is the principal deity who creates, perpetuates and governs the fantasy and dream of duality in the Universe. In essence, it is the veiling power of illusion that creates ignorance in the individual consciousness.

This video was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Autorickshaw: autorickshaw.ca
Suba Sankaran-voice subasankaran.com
Ed Hanley-tabla ed-hanley.com
Patrick Graham-percussion patrickgrahampercussion.com
Dylan Bell-bass (guest) dylanbell.ca

Strings:
Aleksandar Gajic-violin myspace.com/aleksandargajic
Parmela Attariwala-violin parmela.com
Karen Moffatt-viola
Andrew Downing-cello andrewdowning.com

Cameras: Matt Phillips csc mattphillips.ca & Carmen Dodaro
Sound: Chris Perkins
Monitors : Gord Zubrecki
Lights: Ian Bailie
Audio mastering and video editing: Ed Hanley
Still photos: Paul Cahill

Lyrics:

Maya
Daughter of illusion,
Spirit of dreams,
Life’s own sweet delusion,
You are “that which is not”, it seems

Maya
Conjurer of artifice,
Tell me what is truth,
When the more you know, the less you know,
It all stays the same, so what’s the use?

||: Kings and beggars, Saints and Sinners,
Those who weep shall also smile
Wherever there is life, death is a shadow and
There’s life on the green mile :||

Maya
We are creatures of habit,
Blinded by what’s in plain sight,
Imprisoned by our souls,
Looking through the darkness into the false light,

Maya
Divine soul,
Behind your veil lies the truth,
Creation is illusion is knowledge is matter,
And behind all that lies you.

||: Lovers and dreamers, fighters and schemers,
In possession or in pursuit,
Hopes and fears, joy and tears,
Our perception of reality is untrue :||

This is life,
This is the nature of you,
Maya.

Technical:
Video was shot in HDV, 16:9, on 2 Sony HVR-Z1Us and was edited in Final Cut Express, and the audio (a stereo board mix) was tweaked in Logic Studio (reverb, EQ, compression), then sync'd to the video.