I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 8th – 14th December 2013.
Day 4 of the Write Tribe Festival of Words prompt--MUSIC
I am so grateful to Write Tribe for including this topic in the word challenge. Music for me is equal to breathing. Without music life has no meaning in my dictionary.
In the 70s the only source of music was a radio. We had a National Panasonic radio and we (my sister and I) protected it more than our life. Everyday after school we would finish our lunch listening to the famous program” Manchahe geet” on Vividh Bharati. Come Wednesday and the whole family were ears waiting eagerly for Amin Sayani to start “ Binaca Geetmala” on Ceylon Radio.
The best part of growing up in Goa is the wedding season. I mean the Christian weddings where music and dance are double damaka. We were hooked on western music. I remember grooving to the music of Elvis Priestley, Beegees, ABBA, Boney-M and of course Bangles and Pointer Sisters.
I had a crush on John Denver: P. His country songs always mesmerized me and still do. His song “Country roads take me home” was my anthem.
Another musician whose songs were a must at these weddings was Neil Sedaka. His song ” Oh Carol, darling I love you so”. This song still brings a smile on my face.
Most of my memories of western music are related to these weddings. ‘Love me as I love you”, “Brown girl in the rain”” I have a dream a song to sing” “ Staying Alive “ “ Hotel California” there are so many of them which still revokes happy memories. Oh! How can I forget WHAM and “Last Christmas”!!!!
Studying in a missionary school also had its benefits. I remember how we were introduced to Jim Reeves during the Friday Mass and especially during Christmas.
My journey with hindi songs started from home. Baba, Maa and almost everybody in the house were music aficionados. Come summer and all the cousins would sit in the balcony and participate in Antakshari. Now also whenever I visit Goa, my nieces make it a must to gather us all and start an Antakshari round.
Here I would like to narrate a funny anecdote. One summer I was spending with my aunt (mom’s cousin sister) and her husband in a place called Colvale in Mapusa taluka. This was the early 80s, the advent of disco and Nazia Hasan, Zoheb and Biddu taking the youth with a storm with their music. After Mithun’s “Disco Dancer” the next movie which left a huge impact was “ Star” starring Kumar Gaurav and Rati Agnihotri.
My uncle had a huge collection of cassettes showcasing ghazals, disco music and the melodies of Lata, Mukesh, Kishore and Rafi. During that time he was working in Saudi. So, I rummaged through all his cassettes and pulled out the disco cassette. I put on the music and increased the volume and started dancing imitating Mithun’s steps :P .I was a good dancer then not now :P . My aunt’s mother (that is my mom’s paternal aunt) was also staying with my aunt. She was somewhere in her 60s . She hated loud music. You can imagine my surprise that day, when I noticed that she too was tapping her feet to the disco music: P and joined me in mastering a few steps: P
Music has the power to revive anybody, age, sex, caste and creed no bar!
Ghazals are my passion and Mehdi Hasan saab, Farida Khanum, Jagjit Singh ji and Ghulam Ali saab brings solace to the soul. Lata, Kishore, Mukesh and Rafi runs through the blood. Among the present generation I adore A.R. RAHMAN. I was elated when he won the Oscar. Here is something I wrote as a tribute to this great musician.
The sirens arouse from their slumber
Shaken, lilting resonance of distant bells
Awaken along a billion hearts
By the peals of the musical lyre.
The swaying trees joined in the chorus
Showing their elation along with the nation
The universe merged into one motion
Leaving its footprints on the human conscience.
The lord of music conquered all
Admired and swooned, hearts won
In all humility bowed the humanity
Embracing a brother in mutual felicity
The echoes trumpeted in distant lands
Gathering crescendo in lyrical charms
Heart and soul meandered in sync
Following the Indian Mozart's resonance.
Day 4 of the Write Tribe Festival of Words prompt--MUSIC
’Music
is an elixir to recuperate the soul from the doses of life’s miseries”
I am so grateful to Write Tribe for including this topic in the word challenge. Music for me is equal to breathing. Without music life has no meaning in my dictionary.
In the 70s the only source of music was a radio. We had a National Panasonic radio and we (my sister and I) protected it more than our life. Everyday after school we would finish our lunch listening to the famous program” Manchahe geet” on Vividh Bharati. Come Wednesday and the whole family were ears waiting eagerly for Amin Sayani to start “ Binaca Geetmala” on Ceylon Radio.
The best part of growing up in Goa is the wedding season. I mean the Christian weddings where music and dance are double damaka. We were hooked on western music. I remember grooving to the music of Elvis Priestley, Beegees, ABBA, Boney-M and of course Bangles and Pointer Sisters.
I had a crush on John Denver: P. His country songs always mesmerized me and still do. His song “Country roads take me home” was my anthem.
Another musician whose songs were a must at these weddings was Neil Sedaka. His song ” Oh Carol, darling I love you so”. This song still brings a smile on my face.
Most of my memories of western music are related to these weddings. ‘Love me as I love you”, “Brown girl in the rain”” I have a dream a song to sing” “ Staying Alive “ “ Hotel California” there are so many of them which still revokes happy memories. Oh! How can I forget WHAM and “Last Christmas”!!!!
Studying in a missionary school also had its benefits. I remember how we were introduced to Jim Reeves during the Friday Mass and especially during Christmas.
My journey with hindi songs started from home. Baba, Maa and almost everybody in the house were music aficionados. Come summer and all the cousins would sit in the balcony and participate in Antakshari. Now also whenever I visit Goa, my nieces make it a must to gather us all and start an Antakshari round.
Here I would like to narrate a funny anecdote. One summer I was spending with my aunt (mom’s cousin sister) and her husband in a place called Colvale in Mapusa taluka. This was the early 80s, the advent of disco and Nazia Hasan, Zoheb and Biddu taking the youth with a storm with their music. After Mithun’s “Disco Dancer” the next movie which left a huge impact was “ Star” starring Kumar Gaurav and Rati Agnihotri.
My uncle had a huge collection of cassettes showcasing ghazals, disco music and the melodies of Lata, Mukesh, Kishore and Rafi. During that time he was working in Saudi. So, I rummaged through all his cassettes and pulled out the disco cassette. I put on the music and increased the volume and started dancing imitating Mithun’s steps :P .I was a good dancer then not now :P . My aunt’s mother (that is my mom’s paternal aunt) was also staying with my aunt. She was somewhere in her 60s . She hated loud music. You can imagine my surprise that day, when I noticed that she too was tapping her feet to the disco music: P and joined me in mastering a few steps: P
Music has the power to revive anybody, age, sex, caste and creed no bar!
Ghazals are my passion and Mehdi Hasan saab, Farida Khanum, Jagjit Singh ji and Ghulam Ali saab brings solace to the soul. Lata, Kishore, Mukesh and Rafi runs through the blood. Among the present generation I adore A.R. RAHMAN. I was elated when he won the Oscar. Here is something I wrote as a tribute to this great musician.
The sirens arouse from their slumber
Shaken, lilting resonance of distant bells
Awaken along a billion hearts
By the peals of the musical lyre.
The swaying trees joined in the chorus
Showing their elation along with the nation
The universe merged into one motion
Leaving its footprints on the human conscience.
The lord of music conquered all
Admired and swooned, hearts won
In all humility bowed the humanity
Embracing a brother in mutual felicity
The echoes trumpeted in distant lands
Gathering crescendo in lyrical charms
Heart and soul meandered in sync
Following the Indian Mozart's resonance.
Nice collection of songs there Sunita- And Country roads, all time fave!
ReplyDeleteDon't we love those old days.Some songs are for keeps :)
DeleteEnjoyed your musical journey! Music truly has the power to transform us!
ReplyDeleteIt does Shilpa :)
DeleteBeautifully written and love all the music u mentioned. The thing about songs played on radio is so true and this what made music unique at that point in relation to now where we download everything at the finger tips.
ReplyDeleteToo much of exposure to technology has taken away that exotic feeling Vishal. :)
Deletesimply loved these choices.. i mean really loved. I adore all of them - John Denver to Wham!
ReplyDeleteback then, radios and audio casettes were really our only option.. radios more commonly than the latter. And songs like these were timeless... you could listen to it even now because they had melodies!!
Their timelessness still soothe the soul Roshan. :)
DeleteWe grew up around the same time. :) Country roads was such a favourite. Beegies, Beatles, ABBA, Hotel California...Gosh! You brought back such lovely memories. :)
ReplyDeleteMusic has a way with our memories Ritu. That is why we are so attached to the minutest details related to it :)
DeleteYour post brought back a flood of memories like the sonorous voice of Amin Sayani of Binaca Geet Mala, ABBA, Boney M and Roza song. enjoyed a lot.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kalpana. These memories still revives the soul :)
DeleteLovely tribute! and Antakshari rounds. wow!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I know have learned of some new artists that I hadn't hear of before. Thank you for your gifts.
ReplyDeleteYou took me down the memory lane ... such lovely days were those....
ReplyDeleteyour post is just like fresh morning breeze
That was inneed a musical journey. Loved it! :)
ReplyDeleteYour post brought back many memories - binaca geetmala, oh carol, country roads. Those were fun days. And I agree, music is equal to breathing. Nice post.
ReplyDelete