Sunday, August 14, 2005

Music in life - memories and musings

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"

said a someone.
that i think is certain but i always wonder about the kind of music
preferences we have and the way we listen to it and react to it.

I have no knowledge of classical music and am mostly into ghazals ,hindi film music of all times
(where im a real Connoisseur) and the general english pop(where im not really very well versed).

Since in school i loved old hindi songs and hummed them and the first memory i have is that when my dad caught me
in fifth class humming "babuji dheere chalna....." and i was so glum.
Chitahaar was the regular discussed topic in school bus and really when the power was gone for chitrahaar it was upsetting enough to cry but those were days before cable television.now we laugh real time about it.
ive always loved radio and vividh bharathi esp simply because it gives you range of music across time unlike the repeat broadcast on other places.

Then there was mtv and it was good to listen to english songs too ......funny what mtv india has become now
we indians sure know how to indianise if we want to.
MTV 5 yrs ago played english songs with a smattering of hindi
now we have the same hindi trailers going on and on with cyrus the only respite.

but now with time constraints and a busy life the way we listen to music has changed its always in the background .
people listen while working ,driving ,cooking etc but
does some one with a normal job still get the time to sit and play some music and absorb it ,feel it i wonder.
The other thing i always feel is when im emotional i prefer the hindi music....
the english songs however good seem a bit detached.......so when im out anywhere or at office i prefer the english music
but at home i always love lata rafi kishore and jagjit singh voice is a great stress releiver since
college days(i had to buy a second piece of my arth/saath saath cassette i listened to it so much those days ).
one point i notice is generally music in our own language be it hindi or our mother tongue(if your are comfortable in it which unfortunately is not true for many people today) is more touching.
May its got to do with the lyrical melody.i always feel i have a penchant for that---- lyrics woven in melodyrather than just the beat and rhythm.

the most strange thing for me is classical music is said to be relaxing but whenever i listen to any instrumental i feel restless its kind of an unexplainable feeling for me------ as though i want to weave words into it.
it does not suit me but you give a song based on classical raag and i adore it.

its not as if i do not like loud songs in fact to my own surprise i do(the worst part used to be that
govinda's songs i hate are way too catchy) --- but its always in crowds,or when i do not like to think ,
or im too happy or want to block out things from mind - i play all those loud songs with beats ,rhythm and what not.
but what about those who listen to them always....like my sis has a commom refrain whenever
i play music ...is there not enough tragedy in life why play those sad songs and so she wants the
remixes, pop and fast tracks.

The other thing is there are some people who like listening to music on headphones and there
are some who like it playing around them not on a headphone.we sisters loved it when they played it nonstop
at the puja pandals where we stayed during our childhood.we still like it when some lovely melody drifts
from the window suiting our mood rather than specifically we searching and playing that song.
I do hate the stupid songs that keep barging from the neighbours house as much.
its so much nice when you are thinking of something or walking along and ur fav number is heard
and u feel something like a good omen and days when you wake up with a certain song on your lips and thewhole day you never quite get rid of it.then somehow i have my moments when i like silence not even music but quite some people like it nonstop.

but all said and done music never ceases to amaze me. suddenly i listen to a song and
the whole mood changes(the only instantaneous solution found
coz to read my other antidote takes time and effort)
when i am worried worried and feel crazy and suddenly i listen to
"rahi manwa dukh ki chinta kyun satati hai
dukh to apna saathi hai
sukh hai ek saheli jo aati hai jaati hai " its like im releived.

I really feel bad about people who do not care for
music of any kind ---- i mean any kind pop rap classical(its true i know some)
and i feel pity that they have been denied by heaven such a sublime gift.

with potter still in my mind i quote
Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here!

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