Angreji Mujic

I hardly need to emphasize how close-knit a family I belong to. This results in strange side-effects. One very prominent one happens to be my lack of interest in English music. I never needed it as a medium where teenagers usually find a vent for their emotions or peace or an identity (in saying they love what everyone else loves?!). I was never alone. I didn't have too many friends. I didn't have cable TV.

In a world governed by stereotypes, my ignorance in this sphere has often proved to be a handicap. I cannot blame other people. The extent of my ignorance can be quite appalling. For instance, till recently I thought that Pink Floyd was an individual and not a band..err..or is it vice versa? (just lost most of my blog readers. sigh)

I have made attempts at familiarizing myself with the different genres and the popular artists. I quite enjoy listening to Marc Anthony. I even bought a collection of Bryan Adams' songs. And this purchase led to a startling discovery. Rock music puts me to sleep.

Millions of people believe that the best days of their life were back in the Summer of '69 (even though they weren't born then! previous janmas?). And they jump and shout and scream the fact. However, listening to Bryan Adams singing this song and more importantly songs like Everything I do or let's make a night to remember has consistently led me to nights of blissful slumber. Nights I remember nothing about, thankfully!

Last night I couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning in my bed, I wondered at what I could possibly do which would help. I tried eating something thinking about the dinner I had eaten very little of. Logged on to the internet. But who has ever felt sleepy while surfing?! Fearing my parents catching me using the comp, I went back into bed. Listening to the radio on my walkman I hoped to hear some soothing hindi oldies. Unfortunately, all channels seemed to be catering to the truck driver listeners at that hour.

And then it happened. One channel was playing English music. The RJ , not a very professional one, was talking in a sweet calm voice. He obviously believed that nobody was listening to him. Sample this: "This song is dedicated to my fun friend who means a lot to me, with whom I have shared a lot of fun moments, who has cried on my shoulder more often than I have cried on hers, with whom I have fought a lot but who is a great friend" Well..something to this effect! And then he played a song. I have no clue who the singer was and I cannot recall the lyrics. All I know is that it had the most calming effect on me and I fell asleep soon after!!!

[Kind people have enquired about my mother's wellness and that of the gadgets in my house. The washing machine is working fine. However, the water level indicator (which tells us how much water is present in the tank on the ground floor and how much in the overhead tank) has conked off. While I was writing this post, she was shouting at the engineer on the phone asking him to send a more competent fellow. Please pray for us.]