Bhavnaon ko samjho!

I just realized how hard it is for one to truly express what their friends mean to them. Nonetheless, I will try. Btw, what follows is NOT a poem. It's just a collection of super random comparisons. Also, if you ever have to judge my writing skills, DO NOT do it on the basis of this one! :D Ok, here we go.

When life is a turbulent stream, you are my ocean of tranquility.

When life is a bunch of cacti, you are my garden of roses.

When life is a ruthless little bitch, you are a blessing sent from heaven.

When life is a headache, you are my aspirin.

When life is Himmesh Reshammiya, you are my Asha Bhosle.

When life is "hunger", you are my packet of Maggi.

When life is boredom, you are my "How I met your Mother".

When life is a bad hair day, you are the most amazing wig.

When life is a tooti hui chappal, you are my adorable mochi.

When life is a tasteless salad, you are the thousand island dressing.

When life is a massive stair case, you are the fastest elevator.

When life is an undesired drought, you are my incessant rainfall.

When life is a super tense moment, you are my Dairy Milk Bar!

I don't know what the hell I'm saying out here but the bottomline after all this trash is that you make all those tough moments so much easier to live through. You bring zing into the uneventful phases of my life. You solve all my problems and make me smile when it (smiling) is the last thing on my mind. You make every moment worth living for me. YOU COMPLETE ME!

And the fact that you've actually read through all of this bull crap just goes on to show how much you love me. Thanks for being there whenever I thought I needed you, and even when I didn't :P Thanks for all the girl talks (only the girls re), all the free food, all the counselling, all the gyaan on life... Thanks for acknowledging my presence even when I majorly embarrassed you (Shadu and Ally. LOL) Thanks for like EVERYTHING! Thanks for just being there... Gosh, I've really momentarily lost the ability to express myself but damn, you know what I wanna say. I don't need to actually tell it out loud for you to know and that's why you're my friend. I don't know if I'm the best friend ever, but you surely are! *Bear hugs*

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY!

Sleep deprived... Forever!

If there is one thing that takes up as much or more time in my life as my Music, it has to be SLUMBER! I could well classify it as my alternate passion, if it wouldn't be too quirky to do so. Just give it a thought. I am one of those people, who can sleep, sleep, sleep some more and then just catch up on some remaining sleep. It is NEVER the wrong time for me to say, "I am sleep deprived", and NEVER the right time for me to say "Ah, enough of sleep. Can't sleep any more." I mean, I know of people who love sleeping, but I take it to a whole new level. I never fail to amaze my self with my "slumber stamina" to be precise. But then what to do, the satisfaction that 9, 10, 11, or how many ever hours of sleep gives me is so incomparable! It is like I am in some faraway la la land... Perfect escape in this weather. Rainy, gloomy, boring and dull all the time. On a breezy, rainy day, a cozy blanket and my comfy bed are my best friends :) Well, they are so most of the times but just more so on the kind of day mentioned above.

Every morning, I make myself get up some-freaking-how, but it is so much easier to just slump back into the dreamy world. I pity my alarm clock's snooze option. There's every chance that it is the world's most overworked gadget. Every morning is a disastrous attempt at reaching college in time. My Mom really astonishes me with her body clock. Alarm or no alarm, she is up before five every morning. Looks like the love for prim and proper surroundings is not the only positive I failed to inherit :P If there are people out there, who completely relate to what I'm trying to convey, they'll also know how hard it is for things to not be the way they are. I mean, it's not like I haven't tried or anything. I have even tried putting Himesh Reshammiya's tracks as the alarm tone. Damn! How I love to sleep.

I am quite unclear about why I love to sleep so much. My laziness of course is the direct logical connotation here. Let's just face it, I'm one of those people who love to run away from work and love to procrastinate, unless of course, we're talking Music. So laziness, yes, definitely. But beyond that, there could be a reason more complex, and I swear whatever I am going to say is not necessarily in my defense or just for the heck of it, there could be solid reasoning involved here. What if I love to sleep because my sleep transports me to a place much more desirable? Like, a world full of Music, free of corruption, a world where everyone can just be their own selves and not give a damn to what the 'messiahs' of social conduct have to say, a world where I have already accomplished my long list of dreams I am striving hard to achieve. What if even when I am in my senses, I want to sub-consciously ward off to that Utopian paradise? Think about it. I could be telling more than just my story here.

Sure enough, a day full of work leads to an instant, dreamless sleep but that is not routine you know. On other days, there could be different reasons for one to take to the best almost instantaneously. For me, it is almost like, if I am done with my Riyaz, there is nothing else that needs to be done and I doze off. I am the champ at finding excuses to sleep! Probably it is about prioritizing one's life. There are a million things out there that I could give importance to, like cooking for my family sometimes, taking a lesson in a foreign language etc but sleep is just so much more important. Wow! Back to square one, aren't we? But I am inspired to change somehow. Won't stop trying, never will. Hopefully, tomorrow I might have a tale to tell about how I made it to the 7:30 am lecture. Jesus, that's almost unimaginable! So while I am at it, pray for me people and while you're at it... ah, forget it, I am so bored, I think I need to sleep :D zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A melodious life... :)

Most of us are perennially busy in expressing displeasure over everything that life DOES NOT have to offer, and for all I know, I am no exception. Today, however, for a very pleasant change, I was counting my blessings, and boy, there were too many! But the biggest of them all would have to be me being a musician. First of all, how many people out there are blessed enough to have their hobby and their profession intersect completely? I mean, just think about it, you are doing the one thing that you love doing all the time, and you get good money for it. Ha, Thanks God, I genuinely think I love you. And this time, I mean it! That apart, another massive plus that comes with being a singer is that there is little scope for loneliness and negativity in one's life. Every time I feel momentarily low, I resort to my music, my singing and tada, I'm all smiles within no time.

In the past, I have had a lot of friends realizing their liking for each other courtesy some romantic rendition by me going on faintly in the background. Makes me feel proud and happy! And did I forget to tell you that at the randomest (no, that's not a word :P) of hours, some pals call me up and say, "Hey Bhav, I'm just feeling all stuck up right now and I need you to sing for me. RIGHT NOW!". I can't help but smile, and sing of course. Life, for me is like a river, that flows in the shape of a smile :) It is a priceless feeling when you know that your music is making life worth living for someone out there. During Indian Idol, all of us finalists visited a home for the unprivileged. Naturally, being crooners, we did our thing for the little kids by singing out lines from their favorite Bollywood numbers. It was really not a big deal for us, but the smiles it brought on their faces were just so heart-warming. It was those smiles that made us realize that God was truly gracious while gifting us with our music.

I can't help but recollect a page from my yearbook post tenth grade. My English teacher, Mrs. Nair, had filled in a sheet saying, "Dear Bhavya, Music is the greatest and the best instrument to provide peace and harmony to mankind. You are God's chosen one to provide this peace and harmony to many a people out there." Thanks Ma'am! Today, I agree with you more than ever. Cheers to the melody called life!

Classically Light :)

They keep saying, "The GenNext has close to no interest in Indian Classical Music. How will the rich Indian musical heritage survive? What will it take to inculcate the love for such Music among the young guns?" Surely a cause of major concern, but somehow, it has never bothered me too much. Mainly because from its very inception, classical Music was never meant for the masses. Even in the eras gone by, the soulful classical renditions belonged to elitist spaces like the ruling king's court etc. The common folk, on the other hand, always resorted to folk music for leisure and entertainment. The Thumris, Taans and Aalaps, were, therefore, never catered to the masses' sensibilities. As rightly put by a young Indian Classical Musician, Classical Music is like Sushi... one simply cannot expect the whole wide world out there to like it, one needs to develop a taste for it. But once the aforesaid taste is developed, there is nothing that can stop one from loving it more and more everyday.

My talent as a singer was fortunately recognized at a very early stage. Consequently, my parents got me trained under the best classical musicians wherever we were. Nobody forced the love for this branch of music upon me. It was that awesome feeling, when you suddenly discover what you're born for, the very purpose of your life. At the tender age of 7, I knew that this was what I wanted my life to consist of. What do they call it? Epiphany, I guess :) The little me grew up, went on learning good music under different teachers, and everything was steering in the right direction. When I moved to Mumbai along with my family, I got widely exposed to light music. At first, I only knew a handful of Hindi film songs (sung by my Goddess Asha Bhosle), which were enough for me to win a couple of competitions. After that, various stage show organizers picked me up and I began performing old Hindi film numbers professionally. One thing led to another and light music also became an important part of my life. Not like I didn't enjoy it. I certainly did, immensely that too, just that nothing compares to the beauty of classical music. Life kept happening, and at the age of 16, I participated in the much talked about Indian Idol (season 4). I went on to reach the top 6 and was lucky enough to be remembered as one of the best contestants in that season.

Now that naturally meant a lot of large-scale stage shows post Idol. And yes, that very much happened. Those moments of glory were magnanimous in every sense, and still are. Luxury stays, mammoth like stages, thousands of people in the audience, never before seen glamor and all of that. But somewhere, there is this little glitch that remains. The love and respect for one's music is lesser on such platforms. People enjoy, have a gala time, make a lot of noise, and go back home elated, which is a very very good thing. But in a classical mehfil, there is soberness. Every artistic harkat is appreciated, just as every mistake is anything but spared. In the 'glam brigade', it matters little if you're going off-pitch every once in a while. As long as you're able to make the people groove incessantly, other things don't count. Today, as I was doing my Riyaaz with Guruji, Pt. Prabhakar Karekar, I realized, that nothing can grant me the kind of peace and contentment that an hour, or more, of my favourite Raag does. But why am I still so hooked to the light Music scenario. One, I do enjoy it, despite having said all that I have, I thoroughly enjoy myself on all such outings. Two, the bigger reason, the money it gets you. Oh yes, never before Idol could I imagine handsome payments for rendering as little as 4-5 songs in a show. It is insane, especially for a young soul like me. The excitement is just too much to control, moreso in the initial phases.

So today, I got thinking. If only classical music offered that kind of money, life would be even more amazing. I am just one of those people who want to be very rich, very fast. I don't know if so many ambitions come with being a Scorpion, but that's just the way I am. Not like I have compromised upon classical music, which is, the very point of this post. I still do my Riyaaz religiously every single day. It becomes hard to strike a balance sometimes. Sometimes, the monetary benefits in the light music field also lure one into believing that maybe sticking so tight to classical music is not the best idea. But in the next instance, I know that those are just passing thoughts that I am not supposed to pay much attention to. My life is full of both the forms of Music and I love them both a lot. There is too much practice involved in one, and too much competition in the other. One is for the classes, and one, for the masses. As a singer, I only feel too happy to work on my versatility and be able to cater to both the sections of society. Some day, I wish I could be an icon in the field of Indian Music by being a 'popular classical musician'. That would definitely be an arena not too well explored. I always wondered, what different I could do with my music so that I would have an edge over the others around me. Maybe, I have found the answer today. Everyday from now will be a lot of hard work and perseverance. Oh and by the way, for once in life, the grass is green on both sides of the fence ;)

Cheers

I can, you can, and so can the rest of the world...

One of my professors addressed the class very effectively today about how everyone can write. There is no person in this world who cannot write. At the very basic level, it is about noticing the small little 'somethings' that occur every single day in our lives. The quirkiness of a fruit-seller, the eccentricity of that weird neighbor, the witty humor of the guy next door... there is a story in everything. A story in every song you listen to, a story in every dream that you dream, a story in the food you eat, a story in every story that you hear. Might I admit, I was duly inspired. And so, as per the aforesaid professor's proposition, I am, starting today, going to make a conscious effort to write everyday (or at least much more frequently than I already do) about the small stories that constitute every day of ours.

This is really not my territory I feel but there are advantages of being bad at things. You can't get any worse you know, there is only scope for improvement. So the passage of time shall lead to the ageing of an apparently good habit, which in turn shall ward some rust off my mind and lead to an open, fresher space called my world, alternately speaking, this very blog. How I fare eventually is not my cause of concern. For all we know, I might just pause the process if the desired output is not to be seen. What matters, however, is that I am giving it a try at least. Attempting to do something today simply means 'no regrets' in the future. If someone relates to me and cultivates the habit themselves, nothing like it. Wow, I am already feeling good about myself. Alright, so starting today, there will be a whole new world of Music, beauty and life that will be explored and consequently blogged about. I am all smiles... I am proud of being me :)