Friday 23 December 2011

Blah- la la la la.....A long post.

I spend a large part of my day reading blogs of people I don't know . I always go through these "about me" sections on other social networking sites as well and I see these lists of singers and I feel like an uneducated and uncivilized moron. But a moron who had fun nevertheless. I do not like instrumental music, it puts me to sleep. I do not listen to Western classical music. I do not listen to Eastern classical music.Okay sometimes I do. Very rarely. I like some compositions of some artists but no i certainly do not claim to know "anything" about it.

I do not listen to those classic rock songs, my friends used to flood my inbox with songs waiting for an excited feedback. They were disappointed. I could hardly get through the entire songs. The hard rock ones I don't even understand. One of my friend sent me alternative rock , coldplay, I liked reading the songs. Yes you read it correct , I wrote "reading". I am actually worse than the auto wallah who listens to nasal Reshamiya all day. Why? Because at least he has a definite choice. I don't. I like a bit of this , and a bit of that, and might be a bit of that too.

So what do I listen to? And how did I end up like this? That is what this post is about. (If you are yawning then well go to sleep, I feel like talking about this now, so I will.).

We had this tape/radio thing, small thing, imported thing where I listened to Preeti Sagar belting out one Nursery Rhyme after another, in her wonderful sweet voice. Then one of my relatives gifted me a cassette of Sukumar Ray's poems , a funny voice introduced me to "hukho mukho hyangla" "ram gorur er chana" and the rest. Then came the Bollywood typhoon. Super Hit Muquabla and those songs. (I don't relate to people who have grown up watching Cartoon Network all day, we did not have cable TV, we had dd1, dd2 .That's it.) My first Hindi cassette was Hum Aapke Hain Kaun? and I mugged up all the lyrics. Many others followed.

In the mean time Mr. Tagore also entered my life through songs to which I danced at the parar pujor functions, paying great attention to my dance movements and seldom understanding a syllable of the song. Come on ..Not every Rabindrasangeet is a "purano shei diner kotha" or "phool e phool e".  In fact my mother had this desire that I will learn how to sing. She gt this harmonium and sent me to my neighbour to acquire some singing skills. I learnt "shara jibon dilo alo shurjo groho chaand" and I thought "what a stupid song! about sun moon and stars, everyone knows alo dey etc etc" Yes I was a cocky child (benre paka jake bole, no sick jokes please). Needlessto say that the lessons did not last long. I can't sing, I should not sing. But I still sing, whatever I want  .
Till today I firmly believe that Rabindrasangeet should not be introduced to one before one has the capability of understanding the words. But then may be I was just a lousy child. Thankfully I am slightly better now. Mr. Tagore makes sense to me now, more than he ever did. But I do not get this Shreya Ghoshal-Shaan and Babul Supriyo- performing-Tagore-songs sort of functions. No thanks. Mita Huq , Hemanta, Chinmoy , even Swagatalakhhi will do for me. I had this cassette , Swagatalakhhi's,in which I heard "kotobaaro bhebechinu" for the first time, I was nursing a broken heart at that time and listened to it for days.

For days on end that Aunty taught me "sa re ga ma pa" and then I said I need "words" and a proper "song", so that clever lady told me "okay, learn this two line song- no-mo  no-mo bi-na pa-ni, no-mo ba-ni na-ra-yo-ni" it was sung in the sa re ga ma tune only. Yah try it , you'll know what I'm talking about. I was duped. Anyway I am not a crooning birdie. More the screaming kind.

But it is only in the last few years that I have really started to "listen" to that dear old man's  songs. There's another reason  why for a long time I was repelled by his songs. My father loves these "functions", he took me to this yearly "mela" (fair) where people performed these songs , I grumbled about the cold, the mosquito bites, the crowds, he remained unfazed and for an eternity I associated rabindrasangeet with weird people closing their eyes and singing and mosquitoes biting me.I have recovered. Thankfully.

Back to rock bands (yes right after Robi thakur, so what? it's my blog nah?) , I have come across people going gaga over Floyd, that Park, Central..no..Millenium...no...Linkin. Yes. Nah thik jome ni sorry. Boddo chyachaye. I like reading them.That Cobain person, with some Spirit that smelled. Sorry I do not understand that brand of lyrics. I prefer complete sentences, conventional sentences. Too postmodern for me Mr. Dylan is a sweet person who makes sense. I like him. Mr. Billy Joel also works well. I haven't heard much though.

When I was in the fifth standard I watched MTV Most Wanted, Shehnaz hosted that show, a nyaka girl with a cute nose ring . So a whole lot of BSB, Westlife, Shania Twain , MLTR Vengaboys and other such stuff to which I nodded my sleepy head for a few years. I used to hum "I'm a Barbie girl" (GOD! a part of me is making faces right now) .Westlife still works for me. "Seasons in the sun" . Yes oh yes , it works for me.

I am bad. But my "badness" has its limits. have not heard that Bieber person. Gaga. I don't know how to react. I am often just gaping and wondering "what" is happening?

The endless "magnet" sessions had their own magnetic attraction in school. Bollywood never left me. I and a pal of mine had our own "la-la" game, one would imitate the tune of a song, by replacing the words with la-la and the other had to guess the song.

Oh OH OH did I talk about the singing classes at school? Five Hundred miles, Jamaican farewell, Julie Andrews (LOVE LOVE LOVE HER) polly wolly doodle, filled my life. Mrs. R, would dictate songs , we would write them down in our copies with stupid spelling errors. The best part? We learnt a song, it went like this-

"Why doesn't my goose ,
squack as loud as thy goose?
When i paid for my goose,
twice as much as thine."

So the class was divided into two groups. One began "Why doesn't my goose?" After the first line the second group began "Why doesn't my goose?".The two groups sang simultaneously, one line behind each other, creating a royal cacophony, the memory of which is making me laugh a decade later. Phew.

Anyway so naturally with this amazing history, I easily get annoyed by people who try to force their Floyds and Parks and Chopins and Coldplays down my throat. Whenever people go gaga about anything I lose my interest  instantly. A reflex action. I am yet to read Harry Potter. I am yet to read Twilight (don't even know what is that, wolf, man, thesis on anemia..vague ideas I have).I don't need no education. I don;t need no thought control. Shoo! Shoo!

I have this bag full of old cassettes. They had their own charm, those long brown threads, that would get all coiled up in the tape recorder, and I would patiently straighten it out with pencils. Limewire, and youtube has killed all that. Who hasn't laughed while hearing a poignant song rendered hilariously funny by the "fast forward" button? I have. You haven't. Good. Go to hell.

They say a playlist reflects one's personality.  Baishe srabon, Bari barsi, Amar mukti, Path harabo Abhiman, Billy Joel, Chandrabindoo's bhin deshi tara, Agni, Maa Rewa by Indian Ocean Hotel california,Saawan ka mahina, mehbooba o Mehbooba, Ole Ole ole by ricky martin (was he endorsing ponds?) . Friends title track, Jungle book title track...these are a part of mine. Now, go figure! Oh I also had Dhinka Chika.Now I don't. Grew tired of it.

I have to sleep. This is such a boring post. Did you read it? Really? I am bored of writing. Tired actually. But I'll publish it. May be some poor soul rotting away in an office, just like me, will spend 5 minutes reading this, forgetting about annoying colleagues and prison like office.

Why did I write this rather long and boring post? I was singing on the roads . "We wish you a merry christmas" and some other hymns. My friend was annoyed. But I was happy. Okay Good Night. It's cold.Mr.Tejpal and my blanket are beckoning me. Another drab day awaits.

Bye.






10 comments:

DISGRUNTLED GENIUS said...

We wish you a Merry Christmas.

And a happy 27th too.

Moo.

Sunil Balani said...

I enjoyed reading what you call blah blah blah.....Some names specially Billy Joel I identified with .....I thought you too like Bob Dylan and I was surprised to find him missing from list.
well , Despite all the warnings and mention of people trying to force their choice on you I would recommend one singer with one song as preview ...hope you will like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXagflV9hiI

Sunil Balani said...

I enjoyed reading what you call blah blah blah.....Some names specially Billy Joel I identified with .....I thought you too like Bob Dylan and I was surprised to find him missing from list.
well , Despite all the warnings and mention of people trying to force their choice on you I would recommend one singer with one song as preview ...hope you will like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXagflV9hiI

Sunil Balani said...

sorry i missed mr. Dylan in first read..

Creative Cushion said...

What a great beginning to the holiday season! Well, Your playlist simply suggests versatility, and yes, just a tiny bit of insanity too!! And I seriously can't stand Shaan-Babul-Shreya et al at Rabindrasangeet. Sasha, Kamalini from our generation are good. Lastly, I love reading the songs that I can't bear to listen to :P

Moo Moo said...

@DG dhanyavad but this Christmas looks bleak, down with fever :P

@Sunil... Mr.Dylan can't be missed na? :) will check out that link surely.

@Simantini Oi je bollam na ami anari..ei dyakh kader naam bolli , chinio na...link pathash toh..shosha na peyaj na ki...shune dekhbo :) Seriously. And on that shreya Ghosal note..have you heard that nightmarish Pagla haoaa from Bong Connection?

Creative Cushion said...

Shreya-r gola ta amar boddo patla lage, kemon jeno kaancher churi bajale jemon rinrine awaj hoy, serokom. Or golay cinema-r gan bhalo lagleo, rabndrasangeet etc moteo poshay na. "Mere dholna" na khub sundor geyechilo, tobe arektu bhari awaj er keu gaile besh bhalo lagto.

Honeybee said...

Write more of your Blah-blah posts. They're delicious! Sheer relief at most mundane occasions :)

Honeybee said...

Just remembered, Ms.R (she was a Miss) had a predecessor who used to make us dance in circles. And another Mrs.R taught us biblical action songs at Chapel :D

Moo Moo said...

@honeybee blah-blah'ing comes naturally to me :) and biblical action songs??? okay I have to ask you about that in person!