World Music Day
Today, June 21st is World Music Day. Music transcends beyond time, space, people and boundaries – it is the binding of culture amongst people and also offers an amazing music opportunity
While it is not certain how and where the evolution of music began, but this is estimated to be nearly 40,000 years ago that man realised the different notes and started stringing together (as seen by bone flutes from those times), although they may have been started even earlier. Man has many sources to imitate music – from animals and birds, from the sounds of the cosmos, nature – sounds of the sea waves or from rain water falling softly or thunderously creating beats which are different from one another. Whatever be the reason, music has become an integral part of our lives and the emotional quotient of humans is significantly altered when they are exposed to music and the fine arts
Having been a student and later a teacher of music – irrespective of the school, the base of classical music cannot be denied. However the presence of stalwarts such as Kishore Kumar (whose below image is one which is immortalised, as is his music and songs which I have heard since childhood playing full volume at a Durga Pandals) who was untrained and yet a maestro who apparently took just a single take for most of his songs which are yet imperfect when sung by modern day artistes even after multiple attempts. It is such heroic stories that make for the excitement of the music industry.
Having been trained classically (and having had my daughters trained in both Bharatanatyam and in Hindustani Classical Music), I owe it to Gurus who have been our teachers each time we have listed to them. Limitless are the artistes whose ‘kacheris’ and ‘jugalbandis’ have enthralled audiences worldwide. However close to my heart will always be those who have been an integral part of my musical journey and one which has made me work with individuals of all ages as well as Corporates.
My pranams to Vidushi Sanjukta Ghosh and Vasundhara di, who taught me and my charan sparsh of Pandit Shankar Ghosh whose wit and charm was magical in each interaction. They have not only taught music but also life’s lessons – on sacrifice, compromise and values. These very lessons are key and critical for Corporate Employees and Businessmen for upholding the essence of living both in their personal and professional workspace. I have learnt them and have shared them with my students.
Both Natarajan and I have been fortunate to know and be in close contact with Bikramda and Jayadi – both of who are musically accomplished artistes known across the globe.
I would not be doing justice if I do not mention about my childhood stars, The One And Only Lata Mangeshkar or of the effervescent Micheal Jackson whose performances have mesmerised millions across the world. They had a huge impact on my music and my life. There is no joy more than listening to old melodies of Lataji and seeing one of the earliest MTV videos of Micheal who has been THE Performer ever.
When one talks of Artists, we cannot forget the contribution to Music by the Late Gulshan Kumar of T-series, in itself one of the MSMEs whose story is mesmerising and of how he has made and built an organisation as well as retinue of artists through the medium of Music (a separate post on Gulshan Kumarji and T-Series follows).
AR Rahman sir is yet another such world figure whose contribution to music and Movies is now folklore. Another such artist whose story of life is yet again moving and makes one wonder how talented could someone be – I am talking of Sanjay Leela Bhansali whose movies and perfection in music are a treat.
Finally, there is music in all – and there is music wholly in some. My cousin Rohan is one of the finest musicians who continues to be in today’s Kolkata – a star guitarist and teacher for students in Kolkata, across India and across the Globe.
With a topic such as this, there are bound to be thousands of artists whose names cannot be mentioned because of lack of space or time, but collectively, they are the ones who have put together this intricate association of the human mind to differentiate between what it is to be Human. On this day, World Music Day 2024, we salute all those who have been making and sharing music with people across the world for 40000 years….
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(All images from the internet are the property of the respective owners and we acknowledge their contributions to making these artistes come to life through their efforts. We will pull off any image under copyright which the owners wish to disallow)