Reminders ….. of people, places, books, events, influences and food
Our music collection
When we got married in 1995, both of us had our share of about fifteen – twenty cassettes, the normal music collection that anybody in their twenties owns. From there started a journey, which not only enriched our collection but also made a music connoisseur out of me. Being interested in music, and not earning those hefty paychecks that youngsters today boast of, we set a tradition where we would mark each of our birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines and festive presents with the gift of music.
So, sometimes it would be the soulful Lata, sometimes it would be naughty Asha, other times it would be Kishore Kumar who could be serious and hilariously funny at the same time. And sometimes we would jump into the deep, deep realms of classical music – we were Jasraj buffs at that time, having recently heard a scintillating live concert of his. So sometimes it would be Jasraj’s Marwa filling up our evenings with that soulful yearning which only that raga has the ability to evoke, other times it would be Omkarnath Thakur’s Darbari, which in reality is a very serious raga, but this maestro has turned it into an unforgettable experience incorporating more of the boisterous element. It was also during this time that I was introduced to the great Kumar Gandharva, deemed to be a gharana all by himself by music critics and the like. His soulful rendition of the Nand raga, Rajan Ab To Aa, transforms it into a timeless masterpiece. His nirguni bhajans have that quality of giving the listener an otherworldly experience. My husband is a self-learnt flute player. Naturally, we had Hariprasad Chaurasia among other instrumentalists like Shiv Kumar Sharma and Amjad Ali too.
And then there was A.R.Rehman, who had just carved a niche for himself with hits like Bombay and Rangeela. Well, our devotion to music was not just limited to classical music, we appreciated contemporary music too. So, our shelf got graced with his hits too.
And then our life’s journey took us to the other end of the earth – to the U.S. Naturally the only familiarity in an unfamiliar land was going to be our music. So, we decided to really stock up on our collection. We splurged for the first time in our lives and bought literally loads and loads of cassettes and cd’s to take with us. An entire bag got filled up with them.
Scene: California and a year later, Colorado: California was a virtual India. Among our new – found friends were some interested in ghazals. Thus our music collection was now enhanced on our subsequent trips to India, by the likes of Mehdi Hasan and Jagjit Singh. Some of our other friends were into Western classical music. So, it was now the turn of the ubiquitous Mozart, Bach and Beethoven to transport us into a never before experienced realm of music. It was not easy to obtain or listen to live Indian classical music over there, so we focused on Western Classical instead. We even ventured into the realm of the toe-tapping Celtic music.
What we discovered during this time is that truly, music does transcend all barriers of time and place. It may sound clichéd, but that’s the conclusion we reached. Whatever emotion we may have been experiencing in our lives, be it the daily grind of routine, the stress and joy of raising two kids in a foreign environment, pangs of homesickness, celebrating our festivals in the company of friends, or whatever, music was and remains today the only constant factor.
After about six years in the U.S., we made a conscious decision to return home to India. The most compelling reason behind this decision was definitely to better acquaint our two kids with their family, but another reason was to give them the gift of appreciating and acquiring our traditions, culture and equally importantly, our music. The transition from there to here has not been easy at all, especially for my husband, who was used to working in a world-class environment in a huge storage-software company. Music was and remains his only solace – his “de-stressing” activity in the entire day.
Our taste in music may have changed over the years, but the calming effect that music has, remains unparalleled. Now our collection boasts of great artists like Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Mallikarjun Mansur, old recordings of Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal, Hirabai Badodekar, among others and newer artists like Malini Rajurkar, Parveen Sultana, and others. And thanks to our children, our collection also boasts of the latest Bollywood hits. We try to attend as many live classical music concerts as possible.
We make it a point to start our day with music; it helps us deal more effectively with whatever we may have to face in the course of the day. The only drawback of listening to all this music is that I have become a better listener than singer/performer. The standard set by each and every one of these maestros is exceedingly high, be it Lata or Asha or classical music artists of either the Indian or Western variety. So when I open our mouth to sing, if I am unable to hit that note, that exact note, I tend to give up and just listen to those who can!
And with heartfelt pride I can confidently say that in my life today, that person is my husband and the music he can make on his flute…..it all started as a de-stressing activity…..it has now blossomed into something so much bigger, more vibrant, and more all-encompassing! What he creates in the early hours of morning sets the pace for the rest of the day. It is like another journey that just the two of us are undertaking, simultaneously, along with the humdrum routine life that we lead – that adds the zing, the spice to our otherwise monotonous existence….wherein he is the only performer and I his only audience!!!
About our collection….practically every one of our cassettes and cd’s has a story or memory associated with it. It would make another story altogether to narrate each one of them. Perhaps some other day…
———————————————-
This was something I had written way back somewhere in the 2005 time-frame. While I remain a music afficionado, today the way I listen to music sure has changed. This is just a throwback to the old times – of how it used to be before the advent of ipods and the like. Circumstances have changed since I wrote this piece – after living in Pune, India for 9 years we moved to the UK for 17 months. We have moved back to the Bay area now. With the kind of job and time constraints that he has, my husband gets to play his flute only on weekends, not every morning – but nonetheless, it still permeates a sense of calm to settle everyone down after a long and hectic week. In moving here, we had to physically leave behind most of our collection with our family (though we copied all our favorites on the cloud – now it goes wherever we go) I hope our music gives them the same happiness and transcends them to the same special place that only music has the power to take us to!
The Commodious Cook 