If Music Be the Food of Life, Play On

"If Music Be the Food of Life, Play On" - a various famous saying that oft gets repeated during airplay on radio stations across the world. Yes to me this line has made a lot of sense right from childhood, where my dad and mom used to utter musical notes to put me off to sleep or to keep me amused and wean me away from crying. Or when I used to put a stop to mom's cooking because all her utensils were in use, as they took various positions on my elaborate drumkit. Or when I went to church early only to hear the choir singing and not out of respect for punctuality or solemnity. When I got my first 2in1 that my uncle gave me with some of his cassettes, it was one of my favorite gifts as a teenager. Or when I had one of my biggest fights with mom to lend me 18 bucks to buy an audio cassette of certain famous hindi flicks of the late 80s, which she finally yeilded to, after much emotional black mail and guilt tripping. There was a time when my biggest spend while earning was on buying audio cassettes and hiding them lest mom would see. She would eventually get to know, because she maintained the cassette drawer. When I used to tune in regularly to Saturday Date on All India Radio and record the songs and sing along. And then credit cards happened to me and I had more spending power, switched to CDs bought a new sound system and rocked the house, when I was alone that is. Buy CDs for everyone at home, so everyone was happy and no one raised an alarm on my spending. I had my food of life and I played on, till I stumbled on a Karaoke bar in uptown Mumbai, called Merlins. All the aspirations of being a singing sensation suddenly seemed a reality. I found a new me, and newer voices as well. Life couldn't have been better. I toured the other karaoke haunts showcasing my new found talent. One such trip had a personal impact. I met my wife, Keisha, and love happened. Music bonded us and kept us going. Suddenly All India Radio’s FM station was a regular feature, because I had the best of what I loved. Hearing to my to-be-wife RJing and playing music as well. We knew it was Up Where we Belonged – The classic Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes song became our love anthem and our wedding special that we sang together. Incidentally that was also the first song we sang while courting.

The symphony of life continues, and I don’t know what’s in store. Maybe this entire blog will be repeated with us playing different roles. One thing for sure the music will be the food of life and it will continue to play on till they sing Abide with me.

Maybe next is a stint in the court above. Maybe I’ll be there on the cover of the “Daily Heaven” along with the choirs of angels singing “The Messiah”. Just Maybe.