MELODY AS A CATALYST (18-Apr-2020)

‘Chalte Chalte’ is a pyaara geet (sweet song) from the 70s sung by the versatile singer Kishore da in his inimitable style. This melodious tune stays with you for the entire day – they’re called earworms.  A melodious song unleashed at an inappropriate time is like a mistimed elegant cover-drive in cricket that lands in the fielder’s safe hands…

The year was 1977; on this day my septuagenarian grandma in-charge of the kitchen handed me a tray with 4 cups of piping hot coffee to be served to family members in the living room.  Tray in my hand and the coffee aroma wafting through I started to hum this tune!  My grandma from inside shouted ‘I warned you to be careful; did anything spill on you and did it burn your skin?  Or did you drop the cups on any family member?’- she was relentless!  For you readers, my grandma did not speak or understand Hindi language, she was unaware of this popular Hindi song, and ‘chalte’ in local Kannada language means ‘spilled!’

‘Yeh Jawanee Hain Diwanee’ is another of his popular mid-70s song where the chorus goes “gili gili akkha.” Then it was a lovely pick-up song with a rhythmic beat, some stand-out yodelling from this charismatic singer, in a setting of sublime romance.  To resonate with us Bengalureans some parts of the song were shot in our green belt botanical marvel Lalbagh.

Cut to the year 2005.  In a nearby shopping complex vicinity, I tugged along my two daughters - 8-year old on my right and the 5-year to my left.  When I negotiated a clean stretch with no traffic, started to cross the road and hum along this song.  I heard my younger girl’s voice singing the chorus line with a twist “gili gili thangi!”  She is the one with a keen ear to discern musical notes and had picked up the lilting tune with a twist of her own on the chorus line.  In Kannada, akkha is the older sister and thangi is the younger one; not willing to be left out the younger one had stamped her class on this classic!

Another legendary singer Mukesh has given us many a hit; morose songs stand prominently in his repertoire.  Enamoured by his voice, I see beauty in his sad songs….my favourite one ‘Main Tou Ek Khwaab Hoon (I am only a dream)’ is what I picked up ….

When I got married which was almost 26 years ago, my stupid antics acted as a stimulus to my wife’s peals of laughter that egged me along.  Covertly I put my best foot forward to impress her.  Her singing talent was in abundance, and at best I was only a bathroom singer.  I could see her worried look and frown lines as I stepped out of the bathroom singing this song. I could sense her discomfort when the enigma was finally broken; the second line of the song went “is khwaab se tu pyaar na kar (do not fall in love with the dream)!”  Better late than never, it dawned on me as a case of, once again popularized today in cricket, as a brain-fade moment bit by the marriage bug!

Variety they say is the spice of life, but it is Melody that acts as a catalyst in all situations!