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Soothing... - Part II

When I began with 'Soothing...', I planned to write in it all the kinds of music that I am very fond of, personally. But, the English music part was just so long that I thought, that the Hindi would probably find its place in 'Soothing... - Part II'. And, so here it is... This post was awaited by many people who are regular followers of my blog. So, this one is my ode to the music which I had been originally introduced to, and have been listening to since the last fifteen years (I began exploring English music by myself in the last two years), Indian Music.

India has had a vast musical history. From the discovery of the octaves, to the creation of the 'Sa Re Ga Ma'... It's endless. But, one whom we can't afford to forget here is, Tansen, one of the Navratnas of Akbar's court. He was the only laureate in the court who was specialised in music. This in itself explains that India has had a craving for music since its inception as a country.

Aaah! Where do I begin from? Simple. The most legendary music director of all times, R D Burman. What a person! It's said, music is in hands of some people. But, I believe music was a part of his soul! His compositions had melody, harmony, sense, and even reality.

The next one who comes to mind is none other than Jagjit Singh, the undisputed King of Ghazals (a genre of music known only to the Indian ears). His songs were simple, yet, profound. They always did carry a message. And, the message never went unheard too. It was always absorbed giving him the best of respects.

Mohammad Rafi, another singer, spread music to nook and corners of India in minutes just like a fairy wound her stick. Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, the two sisters took female playback singing to new levels which were hitherto unknown to the people. Then, Pankaj Udhas and Manhar Udhas touched the chords of our lives by creating and spreading sensational music.
Kishore Kumar. Our Kishor Da! What a musician! He enthralled his personalities and that was just perfectly the way any singe should! Just, Wow! His music just seduces me to keep listening to it again and again.

Then came the era of music like never before, new upcoming singers. Reality television, foreign talent import, talent shows, brought India to face many new singing sensations who shook the audience with their voice, power, ability and mesmerizing personalities. Pakistani singers like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Adnan Sami, Atif Aslam, etc. found that their real place lies here, in the Indian music industry. They, were welcomed with open hands by their Indian counterparts and this led to a revolution in the world of music like no other had ever been.

Speaking of revolutions, how can we forget talent shows which gave birth to talents like Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan and brought them to the main course of popularly served music than just the stupid starters. Two of which, went on to become judges of reality television shows aiming to explore the singing potential in the nation. The discoveries like Abhijeet Sawant, Amit Sana, Debojit, Toshi, etc. are surely proving a boon, not just for the music industry, but also, for the lovers of music.

The others who proved their worth themselves and earnt a name for themselves in this sought-after industry include Kailash Kher, Mohit Chauhan, Benny Dayal, Atif Aslam, Adnan Sami, Shaan, etc.

How can I forget this man, Allah Rakha Rahman, or simply, our very own, A. R. Rahman, the maestro music director and composer, whom now the world recognizes as a person who ran to the Oscars with the torch, lit by thousands of musicians India has nurtured, and returned with a lady which was even more glittering than the torch. Because now, the world was ready to believe that India had finally arrived into the international musical circuit. But, this was after more than 18 years of music was composed by him and just recently in 2009. Before that, he was just another music director from Bollywood, for the world.

Anu Malik is yet another marvelous music director and composer. He is called as a cynic by some and complacent by the rest, as his behaviour in a relaity show was portrayed to be, but, in reality, he is one of the musical gems India  has ever got, because his work speaks more than the words those spreading gossip do.

The emerging talents like Sourabhee, Anmol Malik, Aditya Narayan are those on whose shoulders, the responsibility to keep Indian music on a high forever, lies.

And here, the lyricists need to be given their worth of credit. Lyricists like Javed Akhtar, Gulzar, Prasoon Joshi, etc. play with words in a way that even a mere sentence sounds as melodious as the song of a cuckoo.

I believe that old Hindi Film music was a sparkling period and that's why the top two radio stations in Mumbai (not sure about the whole country) have specialised shows dedicated to this music in their evening prime times.

But, whatever may be the case, I just feel one simple, stupid thing. Indian music has had great talents. Agreed. Indian music has touched new heights. Agreed too. But, what's the problem then with the Indian bands? There are many bands through out the country like Om, Fuzon, Indian Ocean, etc. whose music is of a quality which can compete with the best bands of the world. If their music isn't the problem, then, what is it? According to the clouds my eyes can see through, the problem is that we Indians are so interested to see our superstars (Gods for most of their audience) in a particular song that we relate the song to the superstar and take away the credit from the singer, composer, lyricist who actually work harder in making the song! Who would like to work in a world where their work isn't credited with? This is the reason such bands might have a painful disbanding just because there aren't enough people listening to the music and the record labels aren't interested to experiment and (may be) reduce their profits, even by a margin.

Whatever be the case, I love the music I hear throughout my day. Either Hindi or English or numerous songs of both... Music's just the way to enjoy life...

Comments

  1. nice blog dear............
    you r really a true music lover...........

    ReplyDelete

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