Sunday, August 21, 2011

संगीताचा कान कुठे मिळतो?

हि संगीता कुठे असते आणि ती तिचा एक कान मला देईल का?

3am on Balgandharva bridge. Cloudless cold December night in Pune. I had just lit my last smoke before heading home. It was as still a night as there can be. But the air moved, not by wind, but with the sound of something. We had to follow the sound, we just had to. That was Shiv Kumar Sharma playing at Sawai Gandharva. It is the first time I remember me actually listening to music. The concert went on till wee hours and I was perhaps the last person to leave that ground. I did not know what it was but I knew I was hooked. I was in college then, and madly in love. That helped, definitely.

I have loved it ever since, but the thing is, I really don't understand crap about it. I have been to hundreds of concerts and listened to thousands of recordings. I have pretended to appreciate the nuances of complicated renditions. भैरव चालू आहे असं confirm करून, कोमल रिषभ काय लागला होता आज किशोरी चा, अशी बळचकर मतं पण टाकली आहेत. दिवसाच्या वेळे प्रमाणे ते-ते राग ऐकून पहिले आहेत. अतिशय प्रामाणिकपणे कान देऊन स्वर ओळखायचे प्रयत्न केले आहेत. एव्हडच काय मी पेटी, violin, तबला, drums वगेरे class लावून शिकायचा ही प्रयत्न केलाय. कधीतरी कुठलातरी राग बरोबर ओळखतो आणि खूप भारी वाटतं. But most of the time I get it wrong.

When people are talking about chords and harmonics I feel like a illiterate who wishes his parents had educated him at the right age. Ofcourse, I don't blame them, most likely what is missing is commitment and persistence on my part. Atleast, I hope that is the case. Because the alternative is too bleak.

That is why I shudder when people say art is something you have to be born with. Because then, I don't stand a chance. :P

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