The Sound of Music …. Part 1

Part 1:

The hills are alive with the sound of music.

What is life if not a song of various notes, some high, some low but all put together it’s a beautiful melody. We all enjoy music in our own way. Some like loud, blaring music, vibrating their ear drums violently, while some of us enjoy the beats of soft music to soothe our nerves. Then there are the classic enthusiasts whose heart beats in sync with the Carnatic ragas and some whose feet sway with the notes of Jazz. In our own way, we all enjoy music (sometimes unknowingly). Many a times, we enter a restaurant or a café and we try to decide if we would like to spend our evening there. What one sees in plain sight is the menu (the cost!), the ambience, the lighting, the décor, the temperature and the courteousness of the staff. But what our sub conscious detects is the rhythm of the place, the melody it has to offer and if it is in sync with ours, we like it.

I am no exception when it comes to being enchanted by music. At a very young age, I was captured and bound with its spell. One of the first movies I watched as a kid is one of the most beautiful musicals ever made. Do re me has always been more like an anthem than just a song. I have my parents to thank for all the music I was exposed to as a child. One of the first thing my dad bought from his first salary was a record player. He has an amazing collection of Long Play records ranging from Lata-Rafi, Kishore da, bhajans and gazals to the classics of ABBA, Beatles, Boney M, Brotherhood of man and so many others. No matter the medium I use to listen to songs, nothing can beat the sound of that player.

Over the years, I have explored various genres of music and listened to many artists. It was in 2008, when I attended my first live musical concert. One of my all time favourite artist KK, was performing in NITK at Suratkal, around 45 Km from my college campus. The super excited me gathered a group of friends to go for the concert. We didn’t have the ease of online booking of shows then and hence relied on getting tickets at the venue. After an hour of bus journey and another hour to struggle to get the tickets, there we were, amongst the sea of engineering students, ready for the show. All those years of listening to his songs over the speakers and headphones led to the moment when I finally heard him live. When he sang the song ‘tadap tadap ke’, the whole stadium went quiet, the cheering stopped. I felt goosebumps rise on my arms and there was a sensation of peace and calmness that spread in my soul. The music, the melody and the expressions in KK’s voice, took me and the thousands others present there to another world. But I couldn’t stay back for the whole night as the last bus left the campus way before the show ended. That day I was introduced to live music, listening and watching my favourite artist perform. That’s something you can easily get addicted to and can’t stay away from for too long.

A year later, I heard that KK has been invited yet again for the cultural fest at NITK. This time I was adamant to attend the whole concert at all costs. I wasn’t so successful in gathering friends to accompany me this time. As a matter of fact, I had no company. That was the day I went out of my comfort zone and did something new, for my love…. the love of music. I took my first solo trip, to Suratkal, bought myself a pass for the event and made my way to the front rows, right in front of the stage. Then came KK, once again with his melodious voice. The beauty of his songs is that he puts in his heart in each one of them. Those 3 hours of music were worth all the sweat I poured in the humid and hot month of May, getting crushed in the crowd and not to forget the physical pain I had. Well, I was scheduled for an arthroscopy for my knee pain the following week. I managed to befriend some students, who accommodated me in their hostel room for the night and I took the first bus at dawn to attend college the next day. The whole experience was liberating for me. It got me discover a new side of myself I never knew existed.

Music can have such a strong hold on a person. Today while I was operating (well, I am an ENT surgeon now), I was a little nervous as I was doing a case I haven’t done much. Then from an OT attender’s phone came the magic voice of KK. Maybe it was the familiarity of his voice, or just pure awesomeness that calmed me down and here I am adding this to the blog.

In the next two of years, I attended couple of concerts in my college grounds, KMC greens. The Merchant brother duo, Salim- Sulaiman in 2011 and Kailash Khair in 2012 became some of the most memorable musical nights of my internship. Next year, MIT’s college fest invited (Yo Yo) Honey Singh while he was at the peak of his career. It seemed too much of an effort to rush 60Km away after a long day of work (that too as a resident) but when your sister hosts the show, there is more than enough motivation. That was the first concert I went for the host and not for the singer (point to be noted).

 

A couple of years later, I had one of the best valentine’s day when the date night included live music from Lucky Ali. Though he looked old and very different from his music videos, his voice was evergreen. Singing his songs along him was a wonderful experience.

 

 

That same summer, MIT Manipal invited Farhan Akhtar for their fest. It was very difficult to get the passes as the students kept it as a closed event. But well, my passion and stubbornness to attend the event, got me with 3 passes in hand on the afternoon of the show.  There I was once again rushing after my OPD, to see one of my favourite actor perform live. It was pure energy (maybe drug induced!) and amazing performance that made the trip worth the effort. It was a visual treat to the eyes as well 🙂

One of the first pop artist of our country to introduce ‘Hinglish’ songs, Neeraj Shridhar aka Bombay Vikings gained popularity in early 2000s. As teenagers me and my sister were his huge fans and had mix tapes with his songs. I remember one summer when he released his album ‘Hawa mein udati jaaye’, we bought the CD from a store at Chandigarh and were so excited to get home and listen to it. I wouldn’t be lying when I say that we heard the album so much that we still know the songs verbatim. So when I heard in 2015, that he is coming for a concert to Manipal, I knew I am going to be there at any cost (unfortunately without my sister 😦 ). Along with a bunch of friends, I drove to Manipal after work (Yes, I had a car by then). I was so proud of the fact that I knew lyrics to almost 90% of his songs. Somewhere in between his singing, he called for the girl in orange to come up on the stage to join him. I am so glad that my friend realized that it was me (the little over enthusiastic me) that he was calling. I rushed up and danced with him while he sang a popular number from his Bollywood album. What a night! What a feeling! I was the celebrity (atleast in my head) for the whole week following that evening. It felt like all those years of enjoying his songs, brought me to the moment where I saw him perform live and I shared the stage with him. It was truly an amazing evening.

Every time I attend a musical concert, I miss my parents the most as they are the ones who introduced me to music. So when in December 2016, I saw an advertisement in the newspaper about an upcoming concert by Armaan Malik at Chennai, I knew I had to go for it with mom and dad. By now booking tickets online was a piece of cake and we could even choose desired seats! The only glitch being my knee pain (once again). I was finally going through treatment for chronic knee pain and had been injected steroid in the joint two days and adviced complete bed rest. Unable to walk pain free wasn’t enough of a reason to keep me from missing the opportunity of attending a musical evening with parents. After a 2.5 hours long drive to Chennai, we arrived at the hall of Madras Medical College. It was indeed a special evening for Armaan as well, as it was his first concert. To see such a young artist sing with so much ease and with romance pouring in his voice was worth all the efforts and pain I tolerated to get there. And then it happened, he sang the song ‘Besabriyaan’ from his upcoming movie based on the story of M.S Dhoni. He had us all wonder with marvel looking at this teenager sing so well. That night, I passed on the ‘keeda’ of attending live concerts to my dad (this happened to be the first of his life!).

Over the years, the duo of Shaan and KK has always been my favorite. Having reached the career peaks around the same time, the two of them have had a few songs together. I personally feel it’s a beautiful combination. So when I saw that Saarang 2017 (cultural fest of IIT, Chennai), have invited Shaan for the closing night, I knew where I wanted to be that evening. Unfortunately, I was shifting to Delhi a week before the event for my first job. I still booked the event for my parents, hoping to enjoy the evening through them. When my work didn’t turn out to be what I was looking for and I ended up coming back home, one of the first thoughts that came in my mind was that now I can go to hear Shaan sing live! (ya I realize my priorities might be a bit jumbled sometimes). Come January 8^th, the three of us were seated in the front row, excited to have the new year begin on a melodious note. I had always been a fan of his singing, but after that night, I became a fan of Shaan per se. He really does smile the whole time, he smiles while he sings and while he talks. The positivity from him was felt in the air and it was highly contagious.

By now we had a small routine before the concerts we attended. We would listen to the artist’s songs during the 2 hour long drive to Chennai and be spell bound by the magic of music on our way back. We explore new genres, new artist, new music now and then and let it sway us to its rhythm. During a lot of emotional turmoil that year, the best therapy I could get, was offered by a simple ‘play’ button on my phone. Music takes us all to a different world, it helps us connect to ourselves better. It’s a magic drug which gives us a high. Maybe it was this connection and love for music, that brought me to this city where most of the artists I admire reside and often perform.

2017 opened a new chapter in my life where I connected with music at a different level altogether. Stay tuned to part 2 for my experiences with music in Mumbai 🙂 . Do share how you connect with music and the artists you enjoy the most.