Something of Myself
Friday, August 06, 2004
Bring on the Music
I have been wondering about what music does to me. I am sure it does many things to many people out there. To me it does magic.
Whatever the occasion, whatever the mood - play a bit of music and you'll put a step into my walk. Take for example today morning...I wasn't in the best of spirits. I played some songs I had downloaded - and they just set me going. OK, I know I am repeating myself but you get the idea.
When I was six years old my mother forced me to learn music. Every sunday I had this music teacher turning up at 9 o'clock sharp, dragging me out of the bed and telling me to repeat various different ragas after him. It was horrible. I didn't appreciate it then. I use to lie to him - sometimes I had a sprained ankle, sometimes I had a stomach bug and at other times my friend used to have an accident. It took me a good twelve years before I came to realise what he was doing to me - where he was taking me...And the day it dawned on me, I felt like I came one step closer to God. I used to curse ma for putting me through the exams and the riyaz (the theory bit was horrible). I mean come on man, when you are twelve years old and you have a sixty year old bafoon asking you to state the number of beats in a certain taal, you don't find it admirable or worthy.
I have understood ma's wisdom now. She kept on telling me all these years, "Pele, when you grow up, you will understand the beauty of music, you will understand how precious it is." Yes ma, you win this time, hands down. Thank you for making me do this. It has brought me closer to so many people - people whom I didn't even know. I have a struck a chord with them because we felt the same tingling feeling in our hearts, because we laughed together, because some songs made us cry. And to me songs are also a beautiful way of remembering people in your lives who made an impression on you. Songs are ineluctably linked with memories.
Today I have like 6GB worth of songs - each and every one of them is close to my heart. And its not just the music but also the lyrics, the range, the soul-searching, the outpour of emotion, the power of the voice, the timelessness of the song itself takes me to a different world altogether. In fact music is one of THE things that still makes me feel that my trip back home is worth every bit of it. Our culture. Hemanta. Kishore. Lata. Mukesh. Debabrata. Suchitra Mitra. These are legends. If only I had an iota of their devotion, an ounce of their discipline....then I wouldn't be writing this today. I would have been on the stage.
But Jo Blogg did not take to the stage and Mrs. Blogg will not live happily ever after...However, music will remain.
Music will keep us alive.
I have been wondering about what music does to me. I am sure it does many things to many people out there. To me it does magic.
Whatever the occasion, whatever the mood - play a bit of music and you'll put a step into my walk. Take for example today morning...I wasn't in the best of spirits. I played some songs I had downloaded - and they just set me going. OK, I know I am repeating myself but you get the idea.
When I was six years old my mother forced me to learn music. Every sunday I had this music teacher turning up at 9 o'clock sharp, dragging me out of the bed and telling me to repeat various different ragas after him. It was horrible. I didn't appreciate it then. I use to lie to him - sometimes I had a sprained ankle, sometimes I had a stomach bug and at other times my friend used to have an accident. It took me a good twelve years before I came to realise what he was doing to me - where he was taking me...And the day it dawned on me, I felt like I came one step closer to God. I used to curse ma for putting me through the exams and the riyaz (the theory bit was horrible). I mean come on man, when you are twelve years old and you have a sixty year old bafoon asking you to state the number of beats in a certain taal, you don't find it admirable or worthy.
I have understood ma's wisdom now. She kept on telling me all these years, "Pele, when you grow up, you will understand the beauty of music, you will understand how precious it is." Yes ma, you win this time, hands down. Thank you for making me do this. It has brought me closer to so many people - people whom I didn't even know. I have a struck a chord with them because we felt the same tingling feeling in our hearts, because we laughed together, because some songs made us cry. And to me songs are also a beautiful way of remembering people in your lives who made an impression on you. Songs are ineluctably linked with memories.
Today I have like 6GB worth of songs - each and every one of them is close to my heart. And its not just the music but also the lyrics, the range, the soul-searching, the outpour of emotion, the power of the voice, the timelessness of the song itself takes me to a different world altogether. In fact music is one of THE things that still makes me feel that my trip back home is worth every bit of it. Our culture. Hemanta. Kishore. Lata. Mukesh. Debabrata. Suchitra Mitra. These are legends. If only I had an iota of their devotion, an ounce of their discipline....then I wouldn't be writing this today. I would have been on the stage.
But Jo Blogg did not take to the stage and Mrs. Blogg will not live happily ever after...However, music will remain.
Music will keep us alive.
3 Comments:
Hmmmm, the wisdon in your ma's words. It is great , i beleive any kind of passion or hobby keeps the person going.For you it is music and you are right, one does strike a chord and gets closer to ALL MIGHTY GOD.That is why the pleasure of music can be felt and that feeling is too great to be expressed in words.
will be offline a while. will miss reading ur blog :(
Anonymous - you sound too familiar...Karishma? If so, phir tu aapna naam kyun nahi likhti?? Rukk ja beti, jayegi kahan tu?
Ricercar - I'll miss your comments. Good luck with everything. :)
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