MY RAINBOW RACE

One blue sky above us
One ocean lapping all our shore
One earth so green and round
Who could ask for more
And because I love you
I'll give it one more try
To show my rainbow race
It's too soon to die.
Some folks want to be like an ostrich,
Bury their heads in the sand.
Some hope that plastic dreams
Can unclench all those greedy hands.
Some hope to take the easy way:
Poisons, bombs. They think we need 'em.
Don't you know you can't kill all the unbelievers?
There's no shortcut to freedom.
Go tell, go tell all the little children.
Tell all the mothers and fathers too.
Now's our last chance to learn to share
What's been given to me and you.

Words and Music by Pete Seeger (1967)

Getting a high

The company that I work for has a Writer’s Club of which I am a member, albeit not a very active one.  Recently they introduced PROJECT 46 under which for the 46 Tuesdays starting Valentines' day, writer members who have not written for the Writers' club will write about their passions, hobbies or anything that they want to write about.. no specific subject. The whole idea is to have the different writing styles, the different flavours of ALL the writers captured on our site.

Reproduced below my post for which I have taken tidbits from an earlier post on this blog
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I am a hyper kind of a person.
Someone once said of herself - “My mind is always in constant chatter with itself in which I think about a million things” and I was like – that is so me!!!!
Only Music, especially the flute has a calming effect on me.
It touches my soul like nothing else. From as far back as I can remember the Flute was always my favorite. It inspires me, stirs such emotions and even though this may sound like an oxymoron – it energizes while bringing about a greater peacefulness.

Long back I read somewhere that the Latin word for Breath is ‘spiritus’. And breath is a prerequisite of music. Is that a coincidence, an accident? I doubt it, for music invokes the spiritual in us.

I love music….maybe a result of all the Spic Macay programs I was made to attend in school.
But the answer to the oft asked question – ‘what kind of music do u like to listen to’, I don’t have a clear answer. Anything that sounds nice to me. It could be Indian or Western Classical, Folk from different parts of the world, Instrumental including movie songs, Old romantic Bollywood songs and even some new ones!!!

Forget being an expert, I’m not even an amateur at music. I’m simply a music lover...

I don’t really understand classical music the way the concert goers are expected to…but I still go. One friend asks – But would you really like to go to a Carnatic music concert?  I fail to explain to her –‘music has no language for me’.
In fact Music is the only language in which different cultures can have a conversation. Have you heard the Indian Instrument Tabla and Western instrument Harp talk to each other – mind blowing chemistry!  Flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Harpist Gwyneth Wentink left the audience totally mesmerized with their performance one evening in Bangalore.

Remember, one learns to listen to music as one learns to listen to oneself, not just with one's ears but with one's awareness.

According to Discovery news, listening to music releases dopamine, a feel-good chemical associated with addiction and good food.
And to quote Bob Marley “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”
So get a hit, experience a high, and get some music into your life.

Blowin' in the Wind

A friend and her daughter are making pen stands from old music cassettes – they call it REWIND...RETRO...RECYCLE... It brings back memories of Gurgaon, listening to the cassette over and over again.

My favorite then and still, I guess …Bob Dylan’s Blowin' in the Wind

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly

Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,

The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky?

Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have

Before he can hear people cry?

Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows

That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,

The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist

Before it's washed to the sea?

Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist

Before they're allowed to be free?

Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,

Pretending he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,

The answer is blowin' in the wind.

The Splendour of Masters

I am a hyper kind of a person. Someone once said of herself - “My mind is always in constant chatter with itself in which I think about a million things” and I was like – THAT IS SO ME!!!! Only Music, especially the flute has a calming effect on me. From as far back as I can remember the Flute was always my favorite. It inspires me, stirs such emotions and even though this may sound like an oxymoron – it energizes while bringing about a greater peacefulness.

Just the thought of listening to THE Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia energized me!!! The Splendour of Masters - a brilliant coming-together of varied genres from Indian and western classical to jazz with the maestros- Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Gwyneth Wentink on the Harp, George Brooks with the Saxaphone, Fazal Qureshi, Mukul Dongre, Subhankar Banerjee on the Tablas and finally Gino Banks on the Drums - what a mélange!!! Sounded very, very unusual and interesting.

Don’t ask me what ragas were played…I don’t have that kinda knowledge unfortunately. But we were treated to some mind-blowing chemistry between the Flute and Harp, Saxaphone and Drums, Flute and Saxaphone, Drums and Tabla and finally all of them together.

The Harpist - Gwyneth Wentink also explained the basic chords and strings of the Harp…not that it made any sense to me. But it was appreciated by many other in the audience – the musicians. She was excellent and reciprocated Pandit Ji with ease and what they managed to create that day was truly meditative. In the middle, a string broke in her harp, but she didn’t let that worry her too much and continued to play.

Geroge Brooke went Indian - sitting cross-legged, presenting a Western instrument in a Kurta!!! He on the saxophone and Gino Banks on drums then played some real peppy music, which left many tapping their feet.

A soul rendering solo – a lullaby from Brooks followed.

The grand finale with all of them playing together was a spell-binding experiment, playful at time, dark and brooding at others.

A Mesmerizing evening!

Is this love

I'm no fan of hard rock...can't even remember where and when I heard this song by Whitesnake - Is This Love...
When suddenly one fine morning I just found myself humming it.... weird...or???
Incidentally didn’t even remember the band's name...but of course Google came to the rescue…

Is this love that I’m feeling,
Is this the love that I’ve been searching for?
Is this love or am I dreaming,
This must be love,
cos its really got a hold on me,
A hold on me...