Up above the world so high

The hills seem to be alive...there is a unique kind of energy that pulsates through the winding turns and the endless depths that form the hills and the valleys. Atop the various "points", as you gaze at the vast expanse of mountain ranges in front of your eyes, you realize what you are in the middle of. God has been kind to enable you to share the same world as is inhabited by these marvels of His creation...He has given you an existence, which though incomparably small in front of what you see, still lets you appreciate the beauty of it all.

As you make your way through the small villages in the midst of this natural wonder, you can't help smiling at your own stupidity in thinking of them as sleepy and dull...far from it. The passion with which they carry on with their daily routine would put any fast-life urban-dweller to shame. Panting and huffing and puffing through the ascents, as you look at villagers making low weather of it, you berate yourself for the many gym sessions you have missed recently and get reminded of all those stamina enhancing suggestions your friend was making just the other week.

All of them would not have helped, you realize a little later as the most beautiful of sunsets seems so far away behind that trek to the top of the mountain. It offers the best view of the sunset that could have been but it is so far away, so high up with such a steep trail separating it from you. As you try to make up your mind as to whether you have the strength and the courage to make it thus far, you look at kids shepherding their flock nonchalantly towards the seemingly unassailable peak. Awe, surprise, irritation, shame, helplessness...giving up and resigning to the facts of life...

Could the speck of white you are looking at have been snow, the remnants of the special way with which even the Rain Gods seem to treat the hills? Will it snow anytime soon and will you get the chance to experience the flakes from heaven that make their way straight to the hearts of the mere mortals that we are? The strange sense of expectation fills your heart as you await the sheets of white to engulf each and every thing around you.

Till the time that happens however, you have got the greens for company. Tall pine trees mixed with the rare eucalyptus dot the open spaces in the valley. The hills, seen from a distance, seem to be protected from the forces of nature with the cover of green that they so proudly present to the onlooker. They stand tall, the mountains, literally as well as figuratively...both serene and disturbing at the same time.

As you get your fill and your heart starts getting covered with the sights around you, you simply take a step back and wonder about the ingenuity of His creation, the sheer brilliance of design with which nature presents itself, and the magnitude, the grandeur of the mountains that make you feel so small and yet so much a part of itself.

Here she comes...

A whiff of fresh air covers all my senses, her perfume lingering in the air as she walks past, leaving me spellbound and my eyes riveted, waiting for more. The speech gets slurred and the ears tingle with her rhythmic laughter. To touch her seems but, a distant dream and one that forms the promise of what heaven could be.

Life is a dream when she is around, a dream that I never want to wake up from. The sparkle in her eyes and the mischief that spills forth has the potential to lighten up the gloomiest of corners. As she smiles, the lines around her mouth curve in a unique pattern with the slight up-tilt of the face giving the appearance of a half-smirk. She plays around with her expressions, her bright, playful eyes and her disarming but up-to-no-good smile winning my heart all over again.

A slight shake of the head causes her tresses to come up ahead, covering most of her face. When she is not doing much with her facial movements (rarely that it happens), the hair sits quietly by the side but alert and seeming to have a life of its own, waiting to be revived and ready for action. A strong nose with a chin to match up to it tell me how determined she is, determined enough to take care of everything around, including a somewhat incorrigible me.

Her voice spells magic the moment it leaves her mouth, encapsulating the most intelligent of remarks and expressing the most gold-hearted of feelings. Conversations with her actually end up in disservice to the feelings behind her words as they so often get hidden behind the sheer melody of her voice and the poetry of her sentences. The sweetness-personified-child in her comes to the fore at times and at others, it is the girls-just-wanna-have-fun persona that is dominant; while there are times when the no-nonsense-mother in her takes over.

She has the strength to not just turn her own life around but make the world a better place for all those close to her...the character to move the most stubborn of obstacles away, the almost there-by-default determination to spread happiness around her, and the sensitivity to know what is going to make people around her happy. Whether at work or at home, she is the energy that gives and nourishes life, not ever to be slighted or underestimated, but to be celebrated and conserved at all times.

As she thus makes an appearance in my dreams, strolling gently with hair cruising along and the free flowing laughter providing the momentum to the sails of her life, I want to just keep floating. The heart keeps bobbing up and down, inside and out like the oars that her voice provides. The anchor has been pulled up and her free spirit is ready to soar and take me along with her. I am excited as despite the destination being unknown, the journey promises to be more rewarding that any other could ever be.

Ek shaam mastaani

When Manish called to ask me how big an RD fan I am, I didn't really know how to respond. Of course, I really love Panchamda's songs and listening to them makes my day almost on all occasions and acts as the best pick-me-up I have ever had the fortune of receiving. Having said that, I am not really up there when it comes to distinguishing between the Thumri and the Khamaj...or for that matter, between a C sharp and a C major. But then again, since when did listening to RD start requiring technical knowledge of music...I have always believed that he is one of those composers who knew the pulse of not just his contemporary audience but also of those to follow. RD Burman is a rare artist, one whose creations have actually become more popular now as compared to what they were, when they were actually conceptualized.

As all these things went through my mind and I told Manish that "of course I am a big fan", Manish started to open his cards. He asked me if I love RD's songs enough to make a day-trip to Pune (about 200 kms from Mumbai) to listen to a concert organized by a relatively small group called Humraahi (with no big names in either the music or the singing). The idea honestly, was not totally mouth-watering. But interesting it was, what with the journey to Pune passing through the Mumbai-Pune expressway, one of the best roads in the country and the occasion of RD's death anniversary expected to bring the best out of the musicians and singers who had come out to pay their tributes to the legend, big name or not. The Western Ghats dotting the expressway combined with the slight nip in the air during evenings promised a good long drive, if not anything else. Although I only had Manish for company (not the ideal company for long drives, no doubt) but he is fun and does not mind my occasionally prolonged silences or randomly weird outbursts.

Leaving office early was not too much of a problem since I have not really been pressed with work so much that there is no time to spare. There actually is, and I thought of making good use of it. Given Manish's info about the concert starting around 7:30 in the evening, we left Mumbai at around 3:30 and making our way across the Western Ghats turned out to be a breeze as expected. The City managed to touch 160 kmph (shaky in sports mode, but surprisingly stable in the normal automatic mode) and was actually being driven at or around 140 kmph for a reasonably long stretch. The drive was simply awesome and the winding roads with the awe-inspiring tunnels made both going and coming back alone worth the entire trip.

This was not the end of it though. There was much more to come which would make this trip the perfect start to the new year. For starters, a trip to Pune is but incomplete, if it does not include a trip to Kayani bakery, the place made famous on account of its Shrewsbury biscuits and Mawa cakes. To add to this, Manish knew a place where he used to have his breakfasts along with filter coffee during his Pune StanC days. Filter coffee is one of my weaknesses and soon enough, we were at Niranjan Cafe on FC Road, followed by Kayani on Bank Street. With the bakery sufficiently raided, we were on our way to Yashwantrao Chavan Natya grah in Kotrud, the venue for the concert.

There was hardly anyone at the venue with no face behind even the ticket counter. The parking was empty (even though they were charging a ridiculous 4 Rs for the parking) and there did not seem to be anyone around. A brief enquiry from the parking guy told us that the concert was slated to start at 9:30 and despite Manish's repeated claims that the concert was supposed to start around 7:30 and that he did not know the exact timings, I suspect differently. However, 9:30 it was and since Manish knew Amit, one of the organizers of the show and part of the Humrahi group, we immediately went backstage to meet up with him.

It is always a fascinating experience to watch artists preparing for a performance. Whether it is an orator or a singer practicing the throw of his voice, or a musician checking the monitor for the music he is making, the entire exercise is surreal for someone who is only fortunate enough to be part of the audience. As we stood by the side of the stage watching the artists key in their instruments, the show started forming its own picture in our minds. Given that this was an RD show, the entire orchestra was present...the violins, the keyboards, the guitars, the drums, the congo-bongo, the dholak, the saxophone, and even the sound barriers to separate the sound of one instrument from another.

We went outside to have some food before the show started, despite Amit having cautioned us to come back in time to collect our passes since the show was already houseful with the tickets sold off completely even before the day had dawned. We were back in time...well almost. It was 9:40 and the passes had to be given to someone else by then, the first song already performed and the compere already introducing the second. While we did get seats a little later, both of us preferred to stand and sway to the Pancham magic than be rooted in some chair and not even be able to tap the feet freely.

A word for the compere here...she was absolutely fantastic. With her perfect pronunciation and diction, whether she spoke in Hindi, Urdu, or English, Yogini Gandhi (an accomplished Odissi and Kathak dancer and the recipient of Nritya Ratna, as we later came to know) was brilliant...a far cry from what Manish had expected in terms of a compere speaking in Marathi and trying to offer one laugh too many.

The singers were all pretty accomplished as well. Having won quite a few awards in addition to some of the popular Indian television reality shows, they were good enough to engage the audience for the 3-odd hours of pure bliss that the concert was. Starting the proceedings with Musafir hoon yaaron, the line-up of songs was quite well chosen too. Right from the fun numbers like Caravan's Dayya re main kahaan aa phansi to the more sedate ones like Raina beeti jaaye from Amar Prem, invocations ranging from the peppiness of aaja aaja main hoon pyaar tera to the extreme loving heartiness of bada natkhat hai re, variety evident from the engaging Chaand mera dil sequence from Hum Kisi se Kum Nahin marking the interval to the last song of the night in Naam Gum Jaayega, the songs and their placement in the concert were just right and set the tempo perfectly.

The musicians had a field day playing to the galleries in what could be termed as one of the most difficult and yet most enjoyable routine they had had in recent times. By admission of the arranger himself in his introduction speech post interval (most of which I could not follow due to his making it all Marathi), playing RD is the most challenging and yet the most satisfying for a musician and as each one of the musicians heard him and acknowledged what he said with nods of their heads, I could see the passion that they had brought with them to the night...a night when they tried to pay tribute to one of their own, a master but yet someone who took their ilk along, who nurtured and mentored more musical geniuses than perhaps anyone else.

As Manish drove the car back and the folder containing the softer RD melodies started playing in the car stereo, we could be excused for not being able to imagine a better and more content life...at least in the near future!