Jo Bhi Main

Today I just wanted to talk about music.

I think music is so important yet I myself sort of lost it for a few years.

At one point I had music on all the time but when I started my grown up life- there suddenly was no time for it. A lot of my day went in office and on the commute one listened to the news and the spare time was spent with family and friends.

I think the biggest unnoticed loss we suffer when we work ( if you are the standard going to office worker) is the lack of free time where you think or listen to music or just be. I actually think my happiness and a lot of my personality came from that.

So now- having had this epiphany I have music on for maybe- 13 of the 16 awake hours a day- and in the words of Mickey D " I'm Lovin'it!"

I would encourage you to listen to at least 15 minutes of music a day- you'll see the difference it makes.

Also my appreciation for the talent out there is unbounded. Somehow if someone can play the guitar really well- it trumps a lot of skills.

Which is in a way unfair- but the world rewards different skills differently and C'est La Vie!

Talking about music I think the music industry  in Bollywood is a bit shortchanged.

There is so much hype about the movies themselves and the videos' associated with them that the lyrics and the actual musicality get lost sometimes. Sometimes one could have liked the music if the actors on screen weren’t so irritating.

I discovered this recently when I heard the music for two movies- without having seen them or any music videos as you are apt to when in India. "Rockstar" and "London Paris New York".  I loved a lot of the songs though I must admit the music of Rockstar is more enduring. What I discovered is that the songs I liked best were not the most famous songs of the movie and when I saw the movie- I barely noticed them. What's also interesting is that both movies average. L-P-NY a 5.5/10 and Rockstar a 6.5/10 If Rockstar had had a different actress who could actually act it probably would have been a good 7.5 or maybe even 8!!

So If I had based my opinion on the movie of the way they were marketed I would have lost some remarkable songs- the biggest example being my current favorite-" Jo Bhi Main" from Rockstar.

This song- in fact most of the songs in Rockstar have such poetry in them and this song in particular is so deep! Rockstar music has the perfect combination of a great poet/lyricist (Irshad Kamil), music director(THE AR Rahman- will talk about him another time) and voice (Mohit Chauhan- of the erstwhile Silk Route band- dooba dooba- no training for his voice- will talk about him later too J)- where unlike typical Bollywood movies the same singer sang the male voice songs.

Lyrics with translation( done my me- the ones online seemed to lose some of their meaning in an attempt to be literal- am not translating the ooo yay yay yay- its the same in both languages!!)

Jo bhi main, kehna chahoon
Barbaad karein, alfaz mere, alfaz mere

Whatever I want to say

Are ruined by my words (my words)

Kabhi mujhe lagey ke jaise,

saara hi yeh jahaan hai jadoo
Jo hai bhi aur nahin bhi hai yeh,

fiza ghata hawa bahaarein
Mujhe kare ishaare yeh
Kaise kahoon, kahani main inki

Sometimes I feel that

this whole world in Magic

that it is there and it is not there too

Seasons, clouds, wind, the blossoms

they make signs to me

How do I to tell their stories

Jo bhi main, kehna chahoon
Barbaad karein, alfaz mere, alfaz mere

 Maine yeh bhi socha hai aksar

Tu bhi main bhi sabhi hai sheeshe
Khudhi ko hum sabhi main dekhein
Nahin hoon main hoon main toh phir bhi
Sahi, galat, tumhara main
Mujhe paana, paana hai khud ko

Often I have thought about this too

You, I, everyone is a Mirror

We just see ourselves in others

I am not but still I am

Right, wrong, yours

Getting/Obtaining me is getting/obtaining yourself

Jo bhi main, kehna chahoon
Barbaad kare, alfaz mere, alfaz mere

So take the time to listen to some music today - if you can J