'I love music!'..'I am lifeless without music!'.. I heard that a lot around.. Every time I saw people so passionate about music, I contemplated, digging deep under to know what I liked? I could never come up with the right answer and babble till date anything that comes up first to my mind. This is the most asked question and I topple over it in every general conversation every now and then..
Frankly, for years as an infant, I listened only to the Bollywood music(courtesy my parents). In late 1980s and early 1990s, while the kids in my neighborhood and school would come and rave about the latest Backstreet boys track they saw on MTV or [V] channels that had back taken India by storm, exposure for me and my siblings was still limited to DoorDarshan (DD)-the only broadcasting channel before cable television had come along. Dad thought that MTV and [V] shows were dangerously playing at the realms of our Indian culture and any exposure to this westernized world would fill his kids with an untimely streak of curiosity and turn us into some immature experimentalists. With DD's focus on regional and local programs in daytime, my grandparents were dedicated to the mythological dramas like Mahabharata and Ramayana during the evening prime-time, while my mom enjoyed shows like 'Hum log', 'Zabaan sambhal ke' and 'Dekh bhai dekh'. We were encouraged to watch series like 'Malgudi Days', 'Bharat ek khoj' and news programs. Our luck favored us once in a while by keeping elders busy while we got our most prayed and awaited chance of watching Hindi film song programs like 'Ek se badhkar ek', 'Chitrahaar', etc.. Sundays were beautiful! Dad knew the trick. He would raise the volume of television early mornings to stir us out of sleep and in motion in couple of minutes. Hypnotized, we would be in the television room in no time like a fish which swims eagerly to attack the flakes of food when dropped in the water. We would resist a blink of an eye and turn immune to any noise around. Not to wonder, 'Rangoli' literally had that effect on us. It was a film song program and the only one that my strict parents didn't see any harm to keep us away from. As one song would end, we would inch our necks a li'l forward longing to see which one would be next. The show started with old songs and ascended to the songs from latest movies released. After all, any update on these things helped me survive through any lunch time conversations with my school peers.
So, for years as a kid, impositions to divulge in music of a limited variety led to the sheer incompetence to get involved in any conversation regarding this field. Then for years from childhood to teenage, I had a beautiful hostel life where I indulged in diversity of sports struggling in sweat and blood to make my career out of one or the other. All those years, while I was busy developing a personality to be a Jill of all trades, I cared the least about TV or Radio- the two mediums that play a great part in developing your interest in music. In High school, as I changed my school, it was the first time I realized that any ignorance now was like strangling oneself slowly and willfully. This matter needed immediate attention. I persuaded my parents into finally getting cable TV installed, started buying Cd's and audio cassettes of few artists I knew. Vengaboys, Spice girls, J.Lo, U2 and blue were the ones I started with when my peers were already talking about Chemical Brothers and George Michael. I had a long way to catch up.
In my first year of college, I listened to Metallica! Guess what?..I gave up! With all due respect to these artists, I could never understand why torture oneself to an extreme when we have a wide spectrum of soothing music around by some really great artists. Did you know that its a proven fact that Bach's classical music and Beethoven's symphonies are very conducive and can really help people concentrate well in any task at hand that needs attention to detail? For that matter, Mozart's music has a beat structure similar to the body rhythm which makes it the greatest relaxing aid of all times. Moreover, the listener benefits with a spatio-temporal raising intelligence. But now, what about rock, to be specific- hard rock? Well, I cannot guarantee with a statistical data but am sure most of you remain clueless in your first go with whatever those rock stars hysterically scream and shout on the top of their voices and actually you cram by heart the lyrics later from some random website. On top of that, you attend one show and have a sour throat and a stiff neck to take care of for the next three days! All I could gather on observing my flock of friends during those old college days was: the sheer madness and an ugly peer pressure to prove oneself as cool and upbeat as others can make one act like a P-S-Y-C-H-O to the very 'O'. Still, there were some great singers like Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams who all I secretly enjoyed still claiming to the world that I hated rock. What the hell, I was quite unsure of the terminologies and incompetent to dissect which one is what. All through I told myself and everyone around that I had no special interest in music which is true till date. True because I would not dig holes sitting in an odd music library or burn the night away not caring about the dark circles that would grow under my eyes looking for the number or the track that I heard and instantly liked. Don't be too surprised, I have people around me who are that crazy!
It was in early 2000s, when couple of my friends took it up as a secret mission to improve my database and to fill up my mental directory with enough songs from their collection to make me filter and choose at a better level. I gradually but finally started acknowledging great guitar in songs with meaningless lyrics, or a great song with bad artist. All the more, I became cognizant that its not a race with others... Its a personal journey and a self expedition where the promptness and speed are to be chosen luxuriously at one's own discretion.
Now that I look at what all I have written and what more I wish to write, it all had come to my mind as I cravenly typed in the Youtube search column for the song that I love. Its always a pleasure to listen to this number by any artist (attached below is the one by Norah Jones), in any movie (look for this one in Sleepless in Seattle, 50 First dates and many more..), in any album with whatever performance. I listen to this composition and it inextricably inter-wines into the melody of my heartbeats. I recommend that you listen to this song in voice of Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole as well (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ltAGuuru7Q), and know for yourself how it transcends his overabundant exteriors and into the horizons of an artistic phenomena that can make one think beautifully about the world around and beyond. Now that's what I call the power of music!
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