Music…. For my ears and my soul

Music…. What does this word reminds you of? To me it’s not just an integral part of life but its life. Imagine life without music. It means a deep silence without music of nature because nature is the first musician. Chorus of birds, the concert of crickets in the silence of night, the sound of ocean waves crashing on rocks, rain drops on the roof top, drum booming sounds of thunder and the cymbal crashing sounds of lightening, all represents music of nature.

Though the nature has the greatest collection of music, the man made music cannot be ignored as a soothing touch, the expression of a lover, sorrow of broken heart, lullaby of a mother, love of siblings and patriotism. In fact there is not any emotion left uncovered by the great musicians, lyricists and singers around the world. I always wonder that how are these people able to gauge human emotions so beautifully. Many a times when we listen to a song, it feels it’s meant for us. Doesn’t that happen to us all? These beautifully written lyrics, refreshing music and captivating voices keep me spell bound and force me to repeat them on and on. I am a great fan of hindi music and enjoy numbers like “aaja sanam madhur chandni mein” from old hindi movies to Ghazals of Jagjit Singh and Chitra “Agar hum kahen aur who muskura de” to the latest numbers from Love Aaj kal, Kaminey and others. Music has been and will remain my best friend in all the happy and sad moments of my life. Thanks to all those wonderful lyricists, composers, musicians and singers.

Friendship….. the sunshine of life

This post is inspired by a message from a friend sent on Friendship day. The message stated the history of the Friendship day as “In 1935, American Government had killed a person on 1st Saturday of august, the next day his friend committed suicide. In his memory, American Government had declared 1st Sunday as the Friendship day.” In an attempt to know more about the reason behind this much celebrated day, I discovered that in 1935, with the devastating effects of the First World War still showing and increasing hostilities, mistrust and hatred between countries providing the perfect conditions for another imminent battle, there was a greater need for friendship and camaraderie not only among nations but also among individuals. So the US congress decided to dedicate a day in the honor of friends. The idea got caught up very fast and in no time become an international festival.

In tune with the spirit of the occasion, people dedicate Friendship Day festival to their friends. But off late, Friendship Day has been commercialized to a great extent in India. Days before the festival, gift marketers run an extensive campaign to lure the people to buy cards and gifts for their friends. Restaurateurs too try to entice people by offering special discounts or holding bashes. The youngsters have been strongly impacted by this commercialization and the ever increasing peer pressure has underlined the importance of celebration of this day.

But amidst all this commercialization and peer pressure to celebrate Friendship, have we lost the very essence of friendship? Is it about exchange of cards, gifts and friendship band or is it about exchange of thoughts? Is it the number of friends that matter or having just a single friend who understands you and stand by you in thick and thin of life.

Thinking about friendship, the first example that comes to my mind is the friendship between Krishna & Sudama. The friendship that did not demand anything but believed in giving. The friendship that did not require words to express but thoughtful actions.

I feel that true friends are actually the rare treasures that very few people posses, so if you have one, make sure that you make your friend realize that how special he / she is and why wait for a Friendship day for that. It should be celebrated every single day, every single hour, every single moment. So I wish happy friendship to all.