Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Musically Handicapped

My head bobs lightly to the strings of "O sanam" sung in the chocolate voice of Lucky Ali.This guy's voice is so chocolaty , listening to him for too long can get you cavities in your teeth.But this is a blissful time.Past midnight.A hot cup of coffee.No one planning to beat me up.A chocolate bar lying on my table.And my name managed to crop up in the Times Of India supplement a couple of days ago .And even though the playlist has started with "who let the dogs out" after kicking out "O Sanam" , life is fine right now.
The media player on my computer must be ready to file an over exploitation petition by now.I study , and it plays.I sleep , and it plays.I am in the bathroom , and it plays.I go the class , and it plays.If media player had fingers , all ten of them must be pointing towards the cross on the right hand top corner of its face by now.

But to be honest , if lack of knowledge of music is a handicap , I am paralysed with both my arms and both my legs missing.You need to understand my upbringing.No cable connection at home , till June 2004.My parents, who are both doctors , are the type of people who would wonder if K.L.Saigal, which sounds a familiar name , is the name of one of their patients.And if asked on a bad day , they may even identify Elvis as being the president of cuba.In short , they are as interested in music , as a fish would be in "how to swim" lessons.In shorter terms , they are not interested in music.
So all I had even remotely related to music was 6 audio cassettes of Jagjeet singh ( Dad's music "collection") , chitrahaar and Rangoli and some other Countdown shows on doordarshan , and a radio -cum-cassette player which , with its perfectly rectangular face and the plastic handle on its top , looked like a little suitcase.Of course , dad used to sing in the Bathroom , that too only on Sundays , but lets not count that.
So i grew up with minimal exposure to music.The early years were fine.Little kids anyways sing only "Jack and Jill" and something like 'Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses" , If I remember right.But by the time I stepped into the teens , Cable TV had entered most Indians home , with our home being a silent exception.And my classmates had begun to watch MTV and such things.Suddenly , humming to the tune of "Sardee Khansee na Malaria hua , Lovaria hua " from "Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman" was no longer "cool".When I was in class 11th , a girl in my class asked me if I listened to Bryan Adams.I told her I listen to mom only.During our school farewell , a bunch of boys got terribly excited.They formed a little huddle and shouted "Alice.Alice.Who the f**k is Alice ?"And i looked at the guy standing next to me and said "Do you know her ?".It was learnt later , that these were the lyrics of some "angreji" song.
Now in my engineering college , I got a computer.The old radio-cum-casette player was given a proper burial and the gleaming new HP pavilion was unveiled to me in a dramatic fashion.The two speakers standing on either side of the screen seemed to blaring to me "La la ...of your ignorance this is the end , listen to moojik my friend..la ra ra".

It sure ushered in a little music revolution in my life.But I was like getting on a bicycle when most others were driving a car .So now when others are flying around in planes , I am driving the car.I am still very much "Desi" in my musical habits.Lucky Ali.Silk Route.Junoon.Bollywood songs.Remixes.Not Anu Malik ( "Do me a favourrrrr, lets plaaay Holeeee" , now that was too much for me too).So I am not really a part of the so called "cool" gang which understand that Pink Floyd is not a shade of pink but a music band.I still have to focus real hard to get the lyrics of an english song right.I have made quite a few attempts to like english music.But trying to make out what the guy is saying amidst all the falling utensils leaves me pretty exhausted by the time it ends.So while music is meant to relax me , trying to decipher english music makes me feel like I am writing the IIT JEE chemistry paper in a pair of jeans 4 inches too tight for my waist , and all this while a stove is burning beneath me.
So I keep reverting back to Hindi Music.While the room to my left blares 'Shaggy' and the room to my right drools 'Aerosmith' , its a ingorant and confused Hrithik Roshan asking questions about love and then crooning "Na tum jaano na hum" from the movie "Kaho Na Pyar Hai" in my part of the world.And its all right this way.But if someome asks me "Hey , how do you find Linkin Park ? " ( Its another music band ... I think) , you may just hear me saying "Cant say ..never been to this park ..where is it ?".And I am still confused if its Led Zeppelin or Zed Leppelin.

47 comments:

Sayesha said...

//"Do me a favourrrrr, lets plaaay Holeeee"

You know I wanted to bash up Anu Malik when I heard this?? :)

Sudipta Chatterjee said...

Abhinav, lemme assure you, you are not alone in this world... Main Hoon Naa :) BTW I liked that description of "trying to make out what the guy is saying amidst all the falling utensils". BTW, at our home we still don't have Cable TV :)

Anonymous said...

taammak2....just last time ok...

Anonymous said...

I had promised to say this after every post...so here goes - Brilliant Post, man!!

TT wrote something similar some time back and I did too (http://seainside.blogdrive.com/archive/7.html),
so that shows that there are a lot more 'uncool' young people than any of us would have thought of. I did have cable TV at home as a teenager but no MTV (or Channel V)...so it was Superhit Muqabla and Philips Top Ten and other countdown shows for me too.

Anonymous said...

ha ha!

true that lots of ppl listen to angrezi music to be "kewl" . btw, they hardly play any desi music at the discs right?

linkin park is ok! i mean atleast the musics catchy. metallica is horrible! its just dhaam dhaam dhoom dhoom.

pink flyod is more for the ppl who get *high* . those mummbled melodies seem to sound better when you are high.

Tipsy Topsy said...

U don't like the music of Aks?Murder?Main Hoon Na? Paap? Filhal?

All anu malik music sir.

Anonymous said...

hey....that was a good post. i have been reading your blog for some days now. you write well:)

Anonymous said...

Read ur last 3 posts just now...abhi,ur writing style is quite amazing.
I don't have cable TV at home even now :-))

PS: Is there any facility like everytime u post , i get a mail.If at all if there is something like that,please include me in that list.My mail id is nagireddyg@gmail.com
I love reading ur posts :-))


-Nagi

Anonymous said...

As a kid i used to watch a lot of Mtv but .. ahem .. never used to concentrate much on the music.. ahem
...Hey in ur engineering years have u been to any rock show .. if not u should definately go for one ... it is the craziest thing i have ever seen .. what with people moshing the life out of each other .. and some band shouting itself hoarse and torturing their instruments ...Definately worth the experience even if u dont like rock music

Priya said...

hehe.. i used to think pink floyd was a person,.. latr realisation dawned upon me .. came to know it was a band!! damn now everone knows abt my pitiful knowledge of music!! umm.. wat the hell i have abhinav for company :p
..p..

sona said...

hey abhinav

kool to find u r not alone..read all comments..many are with u...:)
me...haa bhi or nahin bhi..like hindi classic movie songs..listen to few bands ( easy listening music n slow rock), btw attented all rock shows in college..fine once in a yr( i cant take more than one..)but enjoy them..:):)
tc

amit said...

yaar apna bhi yahi hisaab hai

angrezi gaane zyada samajh nahin aate. apna to 'desi' gano se hi kaam chalta hai.

An Unknown Citizen said...

"Music to some is noise to others."
Well, this was what we were taught in the physics class, way back in school.
Some ppl are die hard fans of hard rock and metal but to ppl like u and me it is nothing but Noise. Why do u need to listen to rock, plenty of such noises can be heard in any major thoroughfare in any city.
By the way, the example of falling utensils was brilliant.
As usual an excellent post friend.

Anonymous said...

kya re desi ande..tu akhbaar mien kis case mein aa gaya.koi ladki cheed di thi kya??

Anonymous said...

@ free soul :Naam adaa likhna.From Yahaan.One melodious song with some beautiful lyrics.

@Sayesha : And the strange twang in his voice makes him all the more irritating.Do mee a favourrrrr , maaro Anu ko Goleeeeee.

@sudipta : Still dont ? You can actually win some scholarship or something from some Indian culture preservation society.

@u know who : I wont mind more.

@abash : :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))...phew.

@arnav : Oh no compulsion buddy.I cant anyways shoot you online.Superhit Muqabla.Remember Baba Sehgal ?Aaja meri gaadi mein baith jaa.

@anonymous : True.One of my dopey friends here told me that pink floyd goes down best with the bottle.Hic Hic.

@Anu Malik Fan aka TT : One flat tyre is enough to bring down the car.Do me a favorrrrrr , lets playyy holeeee.Anuuuu is the bestttt , TT boleeee. :p

@madhura : Thank you for reading .And Thank you for liking it.And thank you for commenting about it.Between , you sure its madhura , not madhuri ?

@Nagi : I guess there is some kinda thing on these lines , but I dont use it.But I can drop you a mail personally .Reasonable charges.Online payment.:)

@Harsh : Been to a couple.It was almost like the interiors of a DTC bus with half of delhi in it.

@ahaan : Thanx bhai.improvement is my middle name.

@Priya : pssst , you dont say such thing in public buddy.A couple of more statements like that , and half of the world's music bands would commit suicide.

@Sona : College rock shows were like the entire kitchen cabinet falling yaar.You liked that ?:p

@amit : abe ab IIM A mein hai tu , upgrade yourself.:p

@Debprotim : Exactly.They should hand out aspirin with Rock music CDs to guys like us.

@Bunnu : Kya re tu bhee.Mujh sharmeele ko ladkiyan chedtiyan hai.

Anonymous said...

doordarshan.. have u ever watched "ANKHEN" thursdays 10-11. if u havent.. u should make it a point to watch it. u`ll forget all about friends and desperate housewives. its way too funny without meaning to be. the actors emote as well as a monkey in a zoo. its my primetime fave.

Lady Z said...

Same here,man,same here! Abhi bhi when my pals hum 'Zombie',am at my wit's end ;)

Leon said...

The part you say about hearing the lyrics through all the falling utensils is so true... :D

There are some more melodious/rythmic songs where the music doesn't drown the words out and those are fine with me..

But they still don't come close to good Hindi and Tamil music... ;-)

Given the huge number of yahoo users in India, it is a pity launchcast doesn't support hindi songs...

Abhi said...

@Divya : wooooooooooooooooooo...I sure did divya.it was oscar material.Carlos.Kangaroo.And their endless laughing sessions at the dark table.:p

@Zarine : I tell them I have to make a call and excuse myself.

@Leon : thats the precise issue.I just cant make out the words in all that loud music.

Anonymous said...

it's simply superb!
u r really a "videshi" deshi among the "deshi" videshis.ur simplicity n sense of humour r unparalleled.1st time i came across such a modest personality full of self-confidence n high self-esteem.being an iim aspirant n iit-student i look forward to having a nice time chattin' with u.
keep goin'......

Anonymous said...

Gosh!!! you just echoed my feelings in precise words. I too have the same problem with English songs. Amid all the heavy 'metal' (its just a guess that this is what there muzic arrangement is called), twisted accent finding out what the guy is trying to say actually, is too much of a hardwork.
"Itna hi kaam karna ho to Machine learning ka assignment na kar lun, gaana kaahe sunoo?"

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