Five
years of silence! The world around me kept shouting, shrieking and
screaming. In the mad race to be heard, decency and dignity
gracefully withdrew; I too. If you find me back, thank the 15,000
odd visitors who viewed my blog, even when I wasn't updating it.
During
this period (COVID-19 included), I never felt fed up, forlorn or
forsaken. Keeping me confident and cheerful was music. Every genre,
irrespective of its land or language, engaged me. There was much to
explore; much more to learn and experience.
An
incident of over 25 years, comes to mind. I was at a trade show in
Delhi. Hearing a Ghazal on the public address system, I asked the
hostess in my company’s stall about that album. She turned to her
friend and quipped: ''Hey look.... Who's talking about Ghazals?''
The
sarcasm was evident, but not surprising. India being incredibly
diverse, such perceptions based on ignorance do exist. Few people
know, fewer even bother to know that as early as 600 AD, dance-song
forms like Ghazal and Maappila paattu (Qawwali), Oppana (Afna in
Arabic) and Kolkkali, inspired by Sufi poetry and music had begun to
emerge in Kerala.
Musicians
like H Mahmoob, M S Baburaj (Mohammad Sabir Baburaj) and Umbayee (P A
Ibrahim) contributed to the popularity of this musical stream. No
doubt, Hindi films with its wider reach, were at the forefront, but Malayalam films were not far behind. In those early days of songs like Teri mehfil
main kismat (Mughal-E-Azam), Na to karvan ki talash (Barsaat Ki Raat)
and Sharma ke agar yun pardanashi (Chaudhvin Ka Chand), M S Baburaj
composed a Qawwali for a Malayalam film, a trendsetter by any
standard.
Aren't we fortunate to be living in this world of soothing rhythm, melody and harmony?
"Music was my refuge.
I could crawl into the space between the notes, and curl back to loneliness."
- Mary Angelou -
