Simply Being | Simple Being

No subject – Carpe Diem!

It is interesting to note how the heart resonates to a new song every day. Last week, it was gyrating wildly to Dus Bahaane and Deedar de and today it is smiling sadly at the wistfulness and longing filled in Woh Lamhe. One moment you are listening to the song and the next one, you are in it. You are the guy on the dance floor, smart and graceful and attractive in such a rakish manner. Then you are the gorgeous woman dancing and beckoning to the guys around. And then you are the guy, young and earnest. Wondering (in that characterstically dramatic way that only the age group 15-22 can wonder about!) how and why things seem so despondent, hope seems to be lost and you feel like you are THE chosen one. Chosen by the Universe to feel that special pain, that secret heartache, why even Floyd sings songs for you! You feel like a misfit but it feels kinda nice…:-)

With absolutely nothing in common with any of these characters, we still feel their pain, their confusion and their sadness. Yet it is only the music that connects us with these people. We really don’t need anything more to feel their emotions, do we? Many years back, I had shed tears on hearing a song belted out by Michael Jackson. I felt a sadness that I could not articulate but it seemed to tear my heart apart. It was quite inexplicable but I still remember it as one of those *cute* incidents that dotted my growing years. I attended my first Floyd concert in Bangalore and yes, every song the group sang was for me, me, me alone. They seemed to know what it felt like to stick out like a sore thumb, to feel misplaced in ambition, to feel wasted. Little did I know that every person around had experienced those feelings while listening to Floyd. Thankfully, when I hear their music today, I am able to enjoy it without going through that characterstic pain. And the music still feels wonderful!

Listening to music is emotional listening. Many people try to rationalize why you feel the way you do around certain songs. It is that note which makes you feel light and gay, this one that feels heavy and sombre, no magic here. I don’t know nor do I care. Music is to be experienced with your eyes closed and heart open, not dissected and laid out bare.

*After a long time, the fingers fly on the keyboard and then I think, “Why bother with a subject or anything? Let me plain write as long as I can!”*