Notes from a Melomaniac - Happy World Music Day - 21st June

 

“If music be the food of love, play on…” Shakespeare’s renowned Twelfth Night begins with these words uttered by the protagonist Orsino, who is lost in love with Olivia. This sentence is etched in my head since school days, such is the power of language and music, itself.

So, a day without music? Nah, I don’t know what it feels like! Does one forget to breathe after all? All music lovers have their own private connection with music – through their playlists from different times. Each song has a story, a memory associated, some good, some sad, or some, that are just filled with a random emotion, some for the rain, some for a bright sunny morning, some that just put you to a peaceful sleep, some that give you a musical hug, or some that give you a hearty cry, letting you vent it all out, without any human intervention. These are the private moments with music that you build, and maintain over a period of time.

Thanks to my cousin (my big brother), who first introduced me to this haven, by helping me carry music along. He gifted this precious Sony Walkman, through which I could listen to music on the go, especially during train journeys. Those were the days when AR Rahman’s songs were a rage, and the Walkman became an addiction, a must-have travel package, without which I didn’t know what a train journey was. The sound of the train touching the fish-plates used to be synonymous with that of ARR’s music – one such album is Dil Se.

Having grown up listening to ARR first, I then dug backwards – Ilayaraja and MSV, with the help of my mom’s craziness associated with music. Carnatic is a different genre altogether, and it’s like an acquired taste with foods. My playlists expanded in no time, quite rapidly with all types. As much as I love Carnatic and Western Music, I have this extraordinary madness for Raja Sir's music. The list is just endless, can you assess the depth of the ocean? Such is the depth of music as well, it’s unfathomable, and is an endless treasure, never failing to keep you sane. It's like music for each mood you are in. Carrying music with me stuck to me as a trait, thanks to my brother for sowing these seeds early enough.

The therapeutic values of music are already proven well enough, so much so that with my own experience during my very recent pregnancy, I engaged myself with this self-stress-busting activity of singing and listening to music, which kept me sane enough throughout the period. After all, the benefits of listening to the music you love, even impacts fetal health in a positive way, I can vouch for this, as am seeing a live example of it in my child, post-delivery. If ever you thought how would infants understand music, just a couple weeks ago, I happened to listen to music being played in the Neonatology Intensive Care Unit at the hospital where I had the delivery – this is a place where they keep infants/newborns under observation and treatment for various reasons. When asked to the duty nurse about the music that was being played in this unit, she said with a smiling face that they were instructed by the doctor for music to be played, as it promotes pleasantness, leading to better sleep in infants.

Music helps build so many human connections, by building bridges directly into the minds of people, where even words fail to do their job. Sharing a thought vs. Sharing a song makes a difference of sea and earth, it immediately stitches any scars or fortifies existing connections! The excitement of sharing a liking for similar music knows no bounds.

Without further ado, wishing you all a Happy Music Day. Engage in some form of music or the other, sing your heart out and bask in the mirth of music!

Leaving you all with a collage of my favorite music related quotes.