These tiny things have become an extension of us – they are indispensable – the very quality of our lives depends on them.
For communication? Yes, of course…
For music? Increasingly so…
None of us can do without music…but not all of us can have music systems… and some of us cannot even have radios…but we can all have a cell phone. Today, cell phones come equipped with the FM, and a certain number of songs. Songs can also be downloaded. Never mind what kind of song, and certainly never mind the zamana of the song. Music is music, and music is needed for the heart to beat…
I go for my morning walk at 5.15. The strains of the Gayatri mantra, or bhajans fill the air. All the walkers are seriously and silently walking – so where is this music coming from? From the pocket of the man who is sweeping the road…the rickshaw man waiting for his cup of tea has his music on, some kind of dhoom-dhadaka music to wake up the gods…the people who wash the cars hum along with what is playing, the sound of music blending with the swishing of the water on the car…the card players on the lane near our home lustily sing ancient songs along with Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi…
Music for the soul…all our souls…