Another Brick In The Wall.

Today was a real revelation in 'My Life' you may say. I was preparing a CD for my Brazilian Mother with all types of Indian music as her Christmas gift. Youtube, Youtube to Mp3 convertor, me and a fast download speed started working in harmony (pun intended) to get that CD done. What followed was magic.

I started my Youtube search with Ajay-Atul. Found some of the best music which also depicts Indian culture quite well. No surprises, quite expected. I don't know what caught me but suddenly I turned to Indian Classical music. That's when I was absolutely astonished. We have the most peaceful music Ever. My first search took me to Anoushka Shankar playing the sitar. That's when I knew that my CD was going to be a great gift. Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Taufiq Qureshi, Amjad Ali Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Pt.Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma....... I did not stop! Listen, download. Listen, download. That's all I was doing. I was in some other world while doing it. Then, I turned to some fusion. Shakti, Prem Joshua, Baba, Advaita brought me back to earth with some real fusion. Where was all this before? Why wasn't I listening to this tuff before? I don't understand anything about 'Sur and Taal and Raagas and all those details'. But they often say, Music is a language which everybody understands. That is true.
I got my preferences of Indian Classical music as well. My favourite raaga is Hansadhwani, without a doubt. Also, I prefer instrumental music rather than vocals. (Maybe because I don't understand a thing about sur) I won't listen to Indian Classical all day. I know that. I am not a fan of Classical music as such. If given a choice between Indian Classical and Coldplay, I WILL choose Coldplay. But, If given a choice between Indian Classical and Heavy Metal, I will choose the former. Just because it is more peaceful than anything I have ever heard (and Brasilian life is all about peace). It tells stories about nature, about this wonderful world we live in, about the people we have around, about life, love and peace. All of this without words.
It's not only about the Classical range but also the culture our country has! Lavani, Gondhal, Dhol-Taasha are some of the 'genres' I have added in the CD. Just Maharashtrian. I am not very sure about adding Punjabi, Gujrathi, Rajasthani or even South Indian stuff. Ganpatichi Aarti commences the CD while Jana Gana Mana ends it.
Just as I thought that this was the end of my Musical day, there was more to follow. Just 2 days to Christmas. The church beckoned. There was a performance by the church orchestra. Might have been a 30-35 piece Orchestra. A 23 year old conductor began the proceedings. Violin, Cello, Double Bass, Trumpet, Tuba, Saxophone,  Drums, Piano, Xylophone, Harp... They had all the ingredients to put up a great show and put up a great show they did. This was the first time I ever heard a live harp and it was one of the best things my ears have perceived. By the way, the theme was the birth of Jesus Christ and the show was called, 'Who is the boy?'  The evening was a great one. I could not help myslef from smiling at the musical excellence I had witnessed. All's well that end's well. And hell yeah, All is well !

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.  -Bob Marley.

 That sums up all I have written. :)