A Day for Music

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness”.

Maya Angelou, ‘Gather Together in My Name’

I am sure many of you can relate to what Maya Angelou felt. For me, music is my best friend. It calms me down; it is an expression of love, of passions I cannot name. It is pure magic which can make me smile through my pain, dance through my joy. On World Music Day, which I feel is inappropriate again, let me tell you what music means to me.

My earliest memories – and the fondest – are those of my dad playing the violin, my aunt singing and my cousins humming away as they finished the household chores. So I guess, loving music was a way of life.

As was the custom in our house, I was forced to sit for music lessons the moment I could speak. But, once I got to ‘Varaveena’ – the first song you learn if you are learning Carnatic music, I was ready to give up. By the time I turned 10, I had decided I was not cut out for singing lessons. I ate ice-creams the day before the teacher came and coughed a lot to miss the lessons. What more could I do?

My mom, who would not take ‘no’ for an answer, soon found other ways to keep me interested. “If you can’t sing”, she would say, “you could still learn/play an instrument.” And by the time I was in high school and college, mom had brainwashed me to begin Veena classes which again after ‘Varaveena’ I happily bunked. Needless to say, once my mom came to know this, she disowned me. Which I welcomed happily, for I was a long way away from Carnatic Classical music by then.

Much as I appreciated Carnatic music, my mind had been corrupted by western music. Bach, Beethoven, Wagner – I kept evolving. Then came Abba, Boney M, Michael Jackson, and a lot more before I discovered hard rock and metal. Metal was a revelation. It rocked me, ripped me apart. It was the music of the rebel in me. It was madness unleashed. I loved it and I still do. And then came Floyd and The Doors. Did I sober down? I am not sure. I feel I’m still evolving.

I listen to ghazals and metal with equal passion. Now, I can listen to Carnatic music and hard rock and appreciate it both. I cannot sing, but I appreciate music. It is in my breath, in my being.

And as you contemplate which genre you like, let me listen to my all time favourite ‘The ‘Doors’ lead singer Jim Morrison sing:
‘When the music is your special friend
Dance on fire as it intends
Music is your only friend
Until the end’

Source:http://in.yfittopostblog.com/