A couple of months ago, my dad and I were sitting on our sofa listening to music on our sound system. My dad told me to sit in the middle of the couch so I could hear the acoustics better. Eagerly, I moved, and sure enough, he was right. My grandma walked by, giving us a baffled look, and shook her head at us while the music had already transported me into my own world.
As someone who’s inseparable from music, it is hard not to treat life as a romantic movie sometimes. More often than not, I find myself creating the perfect playlist for every possible situation and relying on music to deal with both the highs and lows of life. I’m that person who’d rather suggest a song eerily specific to whatever it is that you’re feeling in place of a practical solution. Need help with an issue? Listen to this song that perfectly relates to your problem instead of finding a solution. What do you mean by Mohit Chauhan’s lines,
“Haal Tera Na Humsa Hai,
Iss Khushi Mein Kyun Gham sa Hai”
in the song, Tune Jo Na Kaha, translating to “Your condition is not like mine. Why am I sad in this happiness?” doesn’t solve everything?
You’ll often catch me humming a tune into the voice recorder app on my phone, convinced that I’m about to write the next big hit. I’m the type to add melodies to my poems and put a musical spin on absolutely anything with the slightest musical potential. Admittedly, I might come off as a bit dramatic and eccentric – just a tad, I promise!
I think I get this quirk from my dad. One vivid childhood memory involves playing “Match The Note” with him. He’d play a note on the guitar, and I’d have to replicate it on the piano. Music was introduced to me before I can even remember, and my supposedly superior music taste (if I may say so myself!) owes a lot to my parents. I spent most of my childhood asking my parents, “What’s that song?” and then adding it to a cluttered playlist on my ancient iPod touch. My musical journey ranges from A.R. Rahman and Shankar Mahadevan to Coldplay and the Beatles, all thanks to my parents. I even occasionally throw in some French and Spanish songs that my dad discovers.
To this day, going home from university means to me lounging on the living room couch and enjoying music on our top-notch sound system with my family. We spend hours on end identifying details of songs, introducing each other to our favourites. Music has always been a massive part of our lives, to the point where planning a road trip involves curating a combined playlist – like a manual Spotify blend, if you will. The playlist often gets more attention than packing for the journey itself. We make sure the AUX cable for the car was packed before essentials like laptop chargers because, really, what’s the point of having your charger if you can’t vibe to Clinton Cerejo’s “Manhattan” while imagining you’re exploring New York for the first time, even if you’re just headed to Coorg?