Musical Glee !

I am glad the bus driver was

erratic,

rude 

and inconsistent in his daily pick up at 7.30 a.m
and
the auto drivers highly unreliable in showing up! 

The result was that I was forced to drive Soumya to school...all through the last few years of her school.

As we navigated through the potholed lanes of New Link Road, Andheri... through the early morning traffic, we  discovered a common love for music...

her type
my type
our type :)
We forged a new relationship which transcended time....and 'generation-gap' biases.

As soon as the key was put in the ignition and the radio turned up, we were  transported  to an indescribable space...

God Bless RJ Malishka and her shendi,  Ashok Advani and his smoother than wine voice , the bubbly Keisha , Bruno Mars, Lata Mangeshkar , RD Burman, Amit Trivedi , Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran and Jason Mraz  who hummed and crooned , yoodled or yelped depending upon the mellifluousness of the voice...or the orchestration of the instruments and words!

the beats reverberated in our small space and enveloped us in their warmth.

We were two kids who were cocooned in their private sound bubble and sing-a-long ( much to the amusement of the other motorists, I am sure  :) till we reached the school gates!

Who would have thought that I would enjoy the beats of BAD ROMANCE and Katie Perry or that Soumya would find RD Burman numbers, 'Hot' ?

"Today I dont wanna do anything
I just wanna lay in my bed!....drawled Bruno Mars

" Somethings changed within me, something is not the same...
I am through with playing by the rules of the game..." crooned Ibene...

"Hey Mom! This is Ibene ....She played Rachel's mother in Glee Season 1!".....
"Oh ! did she ?"
" Fantastic voice na!

"I want to break free ...We don't need no education....." 

I wish you were asked as students what do you want to study. 
Have you ever used calculus in life ? 
Why do you need to study that ?

Music became our common conversation triggers which seamlessly opened up other discussions, about school , teachers, boys, growing up pangs ,  dirt on Mumbai roads...

I did not need to sermonise or advise or guide her as a superior...just converse with her about the silliest of topics and the most profound of life queries...or the routine mom daughter arguments. ..Music always forming a seamless comforting space to weave these memories for me!

Today when Soumya is far far away from me, listening to music of her choice,  tucked in cosily in her hostel room...I do not have the same 7.30 routine...

Many days I am just about waking up that time as there is no morning rush...just an unstructured day, working from home.

I cannot but help feeling blessed for the Sound of Music in our lives and all those innumerable talented singers, song writers and musicians who deepened my bond with Soumya and with MUSIC.

Letting our hair down...

It's strange how busy all of us have become...

Were at Anupama and Vinayak's home for an old friends get-together!

Pizza and Old Monk on  the hostel terrace has over the years has metamorphosed to Single malt and ghar ka khana with diet restrictions.

As the evening progressed ,
with more than a couple of drinks downed,
realized that connecting is truly simple...
laughing over silly things,
exchanging notes about kids and maids,
discussing Sachin's retirement from cricket
the guys doing the corporate note-exchanges...

n then it was music time
with the familiar " Summer of 69 " and " Born in USA"
and all the tapori " Govinda numbers...
all in our besura hoarse unified voices or

some mellifluous ones :)

Driving back later that night I was realising how automated my life had become in recent times,
even letting the hair down had become templated and predictable.

But this one was was different....

no agenda
to please
show off or
pretend...

or socialise for the heck of it...

Even in the selfies which we clicked there was an irreverence and silliness
The pout did not need to look purrrfect

I realised how much I have been missing this unstructured agenda-less connections in recent times.

Who am I Vs. What am I?

Uploaded from
http://unsplash.com 

When a child is born he is pure love and truth, at one with the existence!

The child is created in love and is totally self expressive and truthful.

It expresses its needs by laughing , crying and being honest about his likes and dislikes.

He is clear of WHO HE IS and does not need any label, status symbol or degree to reconfirm or prove that. He just revels in the moment and is totally himself, with everyone around...no discrimination there.

As the child grows up to be an adult , he starts noticing the  “what’s” of life : Money , Status, Class,  Education, Power : he starts using these to identify self … ‘I am richer than my friend’, ‘I am from South Bombay and my father is a rich businessman,’ ‘My degree from Harvard shows that I am superior to others..’ etc. and this goes on and on as no acquisition is complete in filling the void of adequacy…

The journey becomes an exercise of proving how good he is, how much better off than friend/neighbor/siblings….External symbols, qualifications, holidays, material possessions become the props to define WHAT HE IS in life.

He begins cheating, lying, comparing , showing off , networking to become something that he is not...love and truth which defined his simple existence, get tossed out of the window!

The person who was content being himself feels lost if he does not have ‘x’ number of contacts in his linkedin profile , is not seen holidaying in an exotic location or if he does not get invited to the most “happening’ party in town. His worth is measured by whether he is a vice-president of a multinational company jetsetting across the globe or an ordinary middle-class citizen travelling by train.

If I reflect back on my life
I can clearly see how I have moved away from WHO I WAS to WHAT ALL DO I POSSESS ? I have defined myself with what I possess, how well is my husband doing in his career and can I project that well to my friends, how I am better off/worse off than many of my friends, how I need to buy another something expensive to make my friends envy me.

Many a moment has been spent in anguish and jealousy when I have made this comparison and joined this race.

Today I ask my self : Why do I need something outside of me to define me?

Stripped of all the trappings/symbols/possessions which define me : WHO AM I  but warmth and love and existence!