Farewell is it?

People are saying that there are hardly few more weeks to go before we are done with our under-grads in this college. Its funny, but this statement is disturbing me nonetheless. I believe that this is not something to be sad about (since most people talk about it like its the end of the world). This is life! We are never in one place for our whole life, are we? People who have been living in different cities throughout their lives would understand what I am trying to say. 

According to me, we are all nomads (correct me if otherwise). We can never belong to one particular region, unless we are fortunate to be there from our birth to our death. When I was doing my schooling, I had shifted six times, six different cities. My mom and I, helped to pack and unpack more than 9 houses and in my 3 years of hostel life, I have shifted twice already. Please do not misunderstand that I cannot stick myself to one particular place, for I am a very adaptable person. However, it is the situations that force me to change my locations; my dad's job and so on. And so is it for life. 

You are never fixed to one particular place. Lets see...

What if your town was facing the crisis of being submerged under the rising ocean, or the volcano was about to destroy the whole land; or your entire hometown is being attacked by some random group of people and staying there would be a threat to your family? Would you still continue to live in the same place? Of course not! It may be hard to leave behind all that you acquired during your stay there, but situations make you do things you wished you never had to do. 

And the same theory holds good when it comes to matters of life and death. You are never truly from this Earth. One day we need to leave this life we live and return to our heavenly abode. If so be the case with human beings, why should the last few weeks of college bother someone? Relax... this is life :) 

A Day To Remember

I was in my 11^th grade when I was called to perform together with my school orchestra for the World Diabetics Day at the Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) campus, a brilliant place near the beach side. I thought this was going to be an amazing opportunity for me to perform outside school and so I joined with a lot of enthusiasm. Well, only after I reached there did we realize that it was more of a DJ party arena than a place to play few Indian classical pieces. I was shocked seeing the kind of crowd that dint look too happy when the DJ was turned off for our performance. Worst of all, there were no microphones. Apparently they had thought that Indian instruments could make really loud sounds which wouldn’t need amplifiers (since in Oman bagpipes are used extensively which need no amplifiers). We began playing. I couldn’t hear what the keys were playing, nor could the tablaist sync his beat with the chorus. The mandolin and the sitar were trying hard to catch up to the rhythm and the entire thing, at least to me, was like a cacophony of blabbering cows.  But I did notice a Korean Couple who could catch the beat and rhythm in our seemingly bizarre music and they looked like they enjoyed it. After the program, they came up to me to tell me that they really enjoyed the music and that they had not seen most of these instruments ever before. And for the next couple of minutes my friends and I were busy explaining to them about each of the instruments that we had and they listened with keen interest.

However, I returned home late that night with a bottle of ice cold pepsi and a Big Mac from McDonalds and collapsed in my room and thought about my day. I realized that there were two kinds of people in this world of music. The first group is an adamant one, who would not budge for whatever novel matter is prevalent around them. They do not appreciate or respect other cultures and their music along with it. The second group consists of people who are always willing to acquire as much knowledge as they can about anything and everything about music and musical instruments and they are always blessed to enjoy every bit of music around them, even if it meant the ‘cacophony of blabbering cows’.

Music Today

The present state of music, according to me is one that elicits discomfort to a music lover like me. What we have these days is only an imitation of  popular culture and not of purposeful talent. Everyone believes that the youth is the future of this world. Well things are not very different when it comes to music. Most of the movies made today try to focus on the large proportion of the youth. At least in this country we live in, things are youth oriented or beginning to be so. And these days, music means movies. Therefore, what is reflected in movies today is what seems to be the youth of this country. This holds good for the music they produce too. Yes, i am talking about the kind of music they produce in movies these days which is seemingly 'the new generation genre'. Nonsense! is what i would call that. Agreed, movies are made for a large audience. but what makes the music producers believe that 'rock' is the only genre of music that the youth prefer today. A majority of people I know, despise such movie songs. I am not well versed in bollywood, however, i can talk for the Malayalam movies produced (yeah, thats right, I am from Kerala). One of the latest additions to this list of hilarious songs, according to me is from the Movie 'Ustad Hotel'.

Set initially in Dubai and then in Kerala, the movies tells a simple and wonderful story of an uneducated grandfather and his well educated and ambitious grandson, both linked by their common love for food. I loved this movie and I would happily rated it as one of the best movies I had watched in recent past, had that 'rock song' not been added. The music and tune of the song is addictive and beautiful, but the lyrics of the song just don't make sense.

Have songs in our country gone to these extreme levels where nonsense verse actually becomes songs that are played every where you go?... I was actually in a disbelief and wouldn't accept that this was a song of a real movie. rather i thought this was just some funny lyrics composed to make people laugh. Perhaps such songs would be re-sung at occasions but they would never compete with the all time favorites 'QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK' songs like 'papa Kahte hain bada naam' and the like.

Well, let me make this clear. The youth of this country and even this world are not just obsessed with 'rock'. There exists other genres of music like folk songs, country side songs that we still enjoy. I would personally enjoy John Denver's Country Roads than listen to Lamb of God screaming their throats out.

Why Music!

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...

Violin

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.

My First Instrument

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. 

The Way

He made His way through the manger,
He made His way through the cross,
When a Savior was born to them,
Away from Jerusalem,
In the city of Bethlehem.

He made His way through the manger,

He made His way through the cross,
When the people were mesmerized,
As the water turned to wine,
And the demons entered the swine.

He made His way through the manger,
He made His way through the cross,
When the soldiers surrounded the king,
And Iscariot did such a thing-
For the 30 silver coins, a kiss became the sin.

But His death was only the beginning,

Of beauty in suffering.
Like the glory of a single sun ray,
His people continued on The Way.

He made His way through the manger,
He made The Way through the cross,
When Peter declared him Christ,
The man who denied him thrice,
Made another three thousand rise.

He made His way through the manger,

He made The Way through the cross,
Nothing was in vain,
Even when Stephen was slain,
There was an inspiration being inflamed.

He made His way through the manger,

He made The Way through the cross,
When Saul forced them to sway,
And made the Christians his prey,
Was chosen to lead The Way.

Know that the King will come again,

And the heavens will forever reign.
But fire waits those who forsake,
And the rest will rise above human race.

For He is the truth and the life.

He is my way – the only way.

My Lady

When she kisses my neck,

My blood pounds in my veins,

My senses awake,

Yet my mind relaxes.

She has a power over me,

She has a grasp over my life.

I submit to her perfection,

Nothing can replace her majesty.

Yet she is meek as a servant,

When she sleeps all by herself,

Awaiting my fingers,

To run along her locks.

Her sweet silence is my slumber,

Her every utterance is my breath,

When my soul meets her heart,

I hear the symphony of my life.

A beauty so profound,

Her curves so perfect,

O queen of my heart,

Salvation of my soul.

Thou art the lady,

who makes my world whole.

The night was dark and silent and i sat alone in the upstairs room of my house. the lights were switched off and my face was glowing in the blue haze emitted by the laptop screen in front of me.

The laptop was connected to the internet, I was virtually connected to the entire world. I could watch every video I ever wanted to watch or I could chat online with the never ending flow of friends who make themselves available at such late hours since they are free at no other time of the glorious day.

But there I dint want to do any of that. something was missing in my heart, something was not in place, something was bothering me. I closed my eyes and i could visualize the perfect curves carved out of wood of my violin, i could feel the warmth of the wood on my body. I realized what was missing in my life at that moment. As I sat in this room after having celebrated Christmas just the previous day, I thought about my violins, back in the desolated hostel room, miles away from me.

'A beauty so profound

Her curves so perfect.'

As i did not have any pen or pencil at my disposal at that moment, i marked those verses in my mind and switched off my laptop.

Few weeks later, as I sat in my Literature class, and sleep began creeping into my (innocent) eyes, i decided to complete 'My Lady' on the back of my notebook under the pretext that I was 'actually' taking down notes on the subject. .