Why would I choose music as a theme for my New Media CIA and also as the underlying theme for my blog when I first made this blog nearly an year ago? Well, to answer that question I would have to take you back to my 5th grade, nearly a decade old story. I did my 5th grade in a small town which was located nearly 170 kilometers away from Muscat City, a tiny place located in a merciless desert. Though most of Oman's deserts are rocky, this particular desert is among those that are quite dangerous due to its sandstorms and weather conditions. It was to such a place that my father was posted, in order to establish underground pipe systems, for a year.
After school, at around 2 pm I am back in my bedroom after a long tiring hot day. It was a common site to see many of my friends bleeding from their noses due to the heat and such instances made me realize how lucky I was not to be one among them. This statement should re-confirm and better explain the phrase i used before " long tiring hot day ". There wasn't much to watch on TV except for maybe 4 or 5 channels which were of least interest to me. Why would anyone bother to improve the satellite reception in this God-forsaken land? It was during this time that I began growing close to music. All I had in my room was a Casio keyboard and an old Panasonic Cassette Player (for those who don't remember what cassettes are- they are rectangular objects with tiny shiny stuff wound inside which help to record and replay music). accompanying this was a cassette of the Bollywood movie "Kaho Na Pyaar Hai". 2 months of vacations all by myself, and i would spend the entire day trying to learn how to play the different songs of the movie on the keys. Every month when Papa took me to Carrefour Mall in Muscat city to buy the provisions for a month (since there was no decent shop to buy your household and groceries in that desert), I would go on a rampage in the music shop located on the ground floor of the mall and walk out with absolutely 'nothing' in my hands. There you go, no matter how many times i listened to the same songs again, i never felt bored. I realized that irrespective of the massive amount of time i spent on music, i was never tired of it. And so today, I had decided to make Music as my theme...
I was always fascinated by the structure of the violin and always subdued by its melodious tone. Its beautifully carved side curves and the deep 'f' holes and the fret-less neck always made me joyous. I had never seen a violin till i was in my 8th grade. It was the day when my dad had taken me to my first violin class. I was so excited and as I held the violin in my hands, I did not look at it, instead shut my eyes and prayed that it be a new beginning in my life. for reasons unknown to my consciousness I believed that my violin and I had some invisible bond that I can never put into words. To me the violin was not just a wooden object but a being that could understand my feelings and vibrate her strings in sync with my thoughts. Well, it may sound crazy, but if Indians can vote every 5 years for some political party to rule them in spite of repeated errors, I see nothing crazy in me talking to my violins as if they were breathing.
My dad gifted me my first violin as a surprise one night after he came back from work, and you wouldn't believe this but i sat an entire hour simply starring at the violin and not daring to touch it till I had taken her beauty completely. Even today, I am able to rediscover her beauty, though it has been 8 years since i got her. Her beauty never fades. My only regret about my violin was that I could play her only once before a crowd with my mother in it. I had always wished that I could play the violin several times before a crowd where my mother would be, but life moves on, and my violin would be there with me, every step i take forward.
I was 8 years old when I had an urge to try my hand at musical instruments. Since keyboard was the trend those days ( and not guitar as it is today) I persuaded my mom to persuade my dad (the usual familial and familiar chain of persuasion) to let me join keyboard classes. My father was alright with me going for the classes until I began persuading my mom to persuade my dad to buy me a keyboard of my own. Well. this time it did not work. My dad was adamant on not buying me a keyboard. And why?... The keyboard was bigger than me. was i to wait till i outgrew the keyboard?
However it so happened that one evening my father came back from work. I was sitting in my room reading Oliver Twist and before I could turn another page, my dad roared out my name. He usually did so when I had done something to displease him and so I walked to the bedroom where he was standing. He looked at me seriously and asked me what was under the bed. How would I know what was under the bed? Did I dump something under the bed? Anyways, expecting the worst, with a thumping heart, I crouched to see what was it under the bed. It was a huge box, nearly bigger than me. I stretched my arm and tried to slide it towards me and it came so easily. And then I realized - IT WAS A BRAND NEW KEYBOARD!!....A Casio CTK 130. I cried out to my mom. She looked so happy and kept smiling at me radiantly Thinking about it now, I wonder if she was happy seeing the keyboard that I asked her for, or was she happy to see me so happy. Well, Ill never know that. Anyways, I wouldn't forget my mom and dad watching me uncover the keyboard and dad helping me to install it. My mother kept giving me instructions not to dirty the keyboard and to look after it well and everything. Ever since that day, my keyboard had been an excellent companion to me.
