Music and Me Part 1

There is usually that one topic that, when you start writing about, will not be able to complete because the very topic gets you carried away. Or you have too much to say, that you might fear you’re at loss of words. For example, you ask a passionate dancer to talk about his dance. You know, one might feel tongue tied, getting virtually entrapped in the memories of the same in the process of penning it down.

For me, that dreaded topic would be Music. So why am I writing this one? Just simply, to talk about my music. No strong intensions to impress you or what so ever. So yea, Music and me. You get the drift?

Read further then.

To kind of make it simpler for me and also you, I would classify this article into four parts:

Chapter 1 : A. R. Rahman

Chapter 2: Carnatic music

Chapter 3: Western/ English music. Transcending backwards. (Oxymoron yea?)

Chapter 4: Ilayaraja

Chapter 1:

I am a 90s kid. A.R.Rahman was the talk of the town then, in the Tamil music scene. Yielding one hit after the other, it was A.R.Rahman , I can quite confidently say, grew up listening to. (Confidently, because my memories of childhood is quite vague). I remember my first goose bumps moment happened with the solo saxophone piece by Kadri Gopalnath. On weekends, dad would play this A.R.Rahman's Collection CD. The first album on it was the movie Duet. SPB’s singing and the saxophone was an integral component. Marghazi Poove struck a chord with the lyrics. And I can say that these songs formed the initial impressions of music on my mind for I grew up watching these movies- the Prabu Deva ones, the Mani Ratnam ones, the Shankar ones.

Of course there were a lot of other movies I saw with Ilayaraja music, but I’ll get to them in chapter 4. So yea, getting back to A.R.Rahman, he did make some great creations. Actually, still is.

Chapter 2:

I started learning Carnatic music when I was in 1^st standard. So yea, Carnatic music became an integral part of my growing up.

When I started learning keerthanais, the favourite ones would invariably play in my mind.

A beautiful form of music. Something I realized later when I came quite away from it. But the love for it has been rekindled in the recent months.