Sounds I like to hear (Part 1)

                          

        It wouldn't be wrong to say that my thoughts and my moods can be substantially controlled by regulating the sounds around me.Call it a weakness if you like,but I am excessively influenced by sounds, a song like 'Allah ke bande hasde' can plunge me into a whirlpool of profound thoughts much the same way  a 'Munni Badnaam hui'(just how can someone even think of such a deplorable tune,let alone the nonsense lyrics !!) can give me a splitting headache. Therefore,it is quite normal that I should like to consciously tweak my surroundings so as to occlude the irritants and ensure a healthy 'sound' environment :D

        Heres a list of sounds I like(not listed according to order of preference,just in the order in which they popped up in my head)

I love it:

1. when a guitarist changes a chord.The buzzing sound made when those skilled fingers sail past,brushing the strings to make a smooth transition from a chord to another...enigmatic...
2. when Anoushka Shankar announces the name and details of the raga before she starts her performance,and ofcourse her sitar playing too...pure magic
3. when Pt. ShivKumar Sharma plays Raag Bahar on his santoor.
4. when the Recorded Female Voice heralds the end of my hour long local train journey "Pudhil station...Dombivli...Agla Station...Dombivli...Next Station...Dombivli" :D
5. when Kavita Krishnamurthy sings "Pyaar hua chupke se" (or for that matter any song she sings)
6. when Jim Morrison sings "Carry me caravan,take me away..."(Spanish Caravan) or "C'mon baby,light my fire" as Ray Manzarek scales rythmic heights on his keyboard with those unique chord progressions of his...
7. when Ustad Amjad Ali Khan plays his hallowed Sarod...pure magic again...
8. when my playlist has a dozen Pink Floyd songs lined up...
9. when AR Rahman croons "Ek sooraj nikla tha,kuch paara pighla tha" or "Vande Mataram" in his uniquely pleasant voice...
10. when I listen to Michael Jackson sing "I'm starting with the man in the mirror.I'm asking him to make a change..." evoking a poignant sense of humility and an urge to be a better human-being... Also when I listen to 'This is it'(from MJ's final album) which makes me realise that life is indeed short...try and grab the moments of joy and enjoyment that life throws at you.
11. when I listen to the 'Swat Kats' or 'Pokemon' or 'GI Joe' theme songs...that heady nostalgic feeling...
12. when my guitar teacher tries his hands on the latest film song and pulls it off with unbelievable panache in the very first go...
13. when Shreya Ghoshal sings any song in that oh-so-sweet voice...
14. when 'Miley Sur mera tumhara' or 'Baje sargam har taraf se,goonje bankar desh raag' is aired on Doordarshan...
15. when three Eric Clapton songs "Wonderful tonight" and "Layla" and "Change the world" feature one after the other on VH1. 
16. The crunching sound that my friendly neighborhood Chatwala makes when he breaks the 'puri's to be filled and then dunked into the 'pani'...
17. when the default tone plays as Windows starts on my computer...
18. when a typical crackling sound is audible as I walk past a transformer with my ears open.
19. when the sound of my 'Scoped Mosin Nagant' Sniper Rifle rents the air of the 'Call of Duty' virtual world as I fire(or atleast try to fire ;) ) a headshot.
20. when my cellphone rings out loud with the 'Summer of 69' ringtone.
21. when Amy Lee(Evanescence) sings 'Hello'...

This list is definitely incomplete...I shall be adding more items... :)

Of gratuitous ablutions...

                             

                  The sky was ominously overcast, foreboding very heavy rains. The clock struck 4 and i left home for my guitar class looking forward to an hour of musical ecstasy...I had taken my umbrella of course and had pulled my jeans up a good 5 inches(How i hate mud on them!!),but when you live in a Mumbai suburb, all such attempts to forestall the onslaught of rainwater, mud and grime miserably fail. Yesterday was no different. The streets, it seemed had turned into a marathon hurdles race with pedestrians struggling to jump past the mammoth potholes filled to the brim with rain water. The Municipal authorities had managed to dupe gullible citizens yet another year...And then it came...lashing rains, as if it wasn't going to stop ever, flailing even the most towering coconut tree viciously as if it was dying to show who the real boss was("Boss kaun tha maloom hai kya?Boss kaun hai maaloom hai kya?(Jhankar beats :D )).Caught between speeding cars on one side and numerous baby pools on the other, I almost slipped as I made an arduous effort to avoid being run down. I saw scores of people standing jobless below derelict roofs turned into makeshift shelters and in the refuge of nearby shops, how inane of them to not carry an umbrella in such difficult times I thought. Also could be seen, those who chose not to cower below the already crowded shelters, even though they didn't have an umbrella to cover their heads. They obviously had some pressing matter at hand, not bothering about the rains. Also without umbrellas were those who couldn't afford to stay in a proper house...Rain is a leveller, I thought, beleaguering the prince and the pauper with equal ruthlessness. Rain also creates 'divide', much like Marx and Engels had insightfully observed..."The haves(umbrella)" and "The haves-not(umbrella)"... :-| A speed demon going past suddenly halted my train of thought, sloshing murky water over me, as I made a clumsy effort to avoid getting drenched. A fleeting sadistic idea made me want to pull the driver out and make him stand where I had been standing while I drove past him 'Need For Speed' style, soaking him in muddy water !!

                How I hate such macerated situations , I thought despite being a true blue Cancerian, a water element.(well not a true blue Cancerian, but quite substantially so).Aren't Water elements supposed to enjoy rains??(But then, generalising is not always the right thing to do).Even on an 'Age of Empires' 'Death match', I prefer a land map to say something like 'Oceans' or 'Archipelago'(some Age of Empires fans while commiserate with me as training hundreds of elite galleons and fast fire ships can be quite a pain, more so if you are taking heavy fire on land(provided they don't consider AOE2 to be too antiquated for their tastes :D))(Pardon me for this digressing comment, but I just love playing AOE2).What surprises me to no end is how most of my friends can't stop raving about the 'superbly pleasant' weather. I largely agree with them when I get to sit with a cup of coffee in the refuge of my home staring at the serenity from my window and listening to the dulcet pitter-patter as the earthy fragrance of wet soil titillates my olfactory senses.

                Monsoon has been glorified in Indian art and culture, more importantly, in Indian classical music, and is deeply rooted in the Indian psyche and ethos. It has been a veritable source of inspiration for all arts. Raga Miyan ki Malhar can enrapture even the most despondent soul.Remember "Bole re papihara" from the vintage movie "Guddi"?...(such timeless songs will endure for eternity,such absolute works of genius).Or perhaps "Badal ghumad badh aaye"(Kavita Krishnamurthy) from the more recent "Saaz" ?...Both these gems have risen from "Miyan ki malhar" ...It is believed that Indian classical music is so potent that Miyan ki Malhar when sung by a learned master could actually summon rainclouds (much like 'Storm',I surmise :D How petty of me compare Classical music with X-men !! :( ...pardon me again)well, it appears I have digressed again...Indian classical music is so all-pervading and overwhelming...I intend to pen down my ideas about Indian music in another post...To sum it up, I love the rains when I am seated comfortably on my couch listening to music, also when I go out and it drizzles lightly, but when I have to go out up against lashing rains, I don't exactly love the rains...