It was many years ago that I would fall asleep to the voice of James Taylor. Dad had a small Sony casette player that he used. When I got older I inherited the player, while dad upgraded himself. That’s when I started to have an opinion about what I like to listen to and what I didn’t.
I also started buying tapes for myself. It was so much fun. Especially when I would go to America for my annual holiday and I would hear all the new songs, buy the newest music and it bring it back. I was the envy of all my friends.
Somewhere along the line, I heard of a new thing called the ‘compact disc’. But they were so expensive! Being a music lover, dad of course got himself a player. That paved the way for me to get myself some CDs. I remember, my first CD was Wham’s Make it Big album. Over the next few years I accumulated all of 5 CDs. Man I was on a roll.
Now 15 years later, I have something close to 250 CDs… and a truly eclectic collection at that. What next…
I discovered MP3s and started collecting music on my computer. Now we are in the age of portable players that support this new form of compressed music. The age of the Ipod!
What a smart move by Apple. It has boosted their overall sales, besides making them a whopping profit from the Ipod. Your choice of memory capacity from 4 GB to 60 GB…
I waited a long time, thinking, hoping, wishing that the price of the pod would drop to an affordable level. You would think it would, like most electronics do. But no such luck!
So I succumbed, and finally bought myself an Ipod. A 40 GB with photo (I mean how can I survive without being able to carry all my pictures wherever I go). I don’t believe I took this step but suffice to say I am thrilled out of my senses.
Does this mean I will abandon all my CDs? Are you kidding me? I still listen to my tapes, why should my CDs be any different.
So now I have a huge collection of music no matter where I am. Next step? To collect the music that I lack… whether tape, CD or on the pod.
In the words of the bard, “If music be the food of love… play on…”
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Pehli pehli baarish...
This classifies as one of the best days of the year. It is the day of the first rain. Early this morning I woke with a start to the most exceptional sound ever. The sound of rain, not the drizzle kind, but the constant swooshing type!
I couldn’t help myself. I had to see this; I jumped out of bed and ran to the window. It was gorgeous… The light was still the gentle color of dawn… but instead of pinks and oranges… there was this bright grey. The skies had upturned a few buckets and it was coming down. The breeze was cool. Beautiful!
Instinct told me to run out and dance in the rain. And just when I was about to, my brains kicked in and I noticed the time. 6.30 am is no time to go prancing about in the rain or anywhere for that matter. So I did the next best thing and cuddled back into my blanket and watched the skies…
Dreaming of other first rains… of times spent…
Going to school on a bicycle, getting drenched by the time you got there. Leaving wet trails in hallowed academic halls, and praying that it would keep raining hard so we would let off early. Never coming home even if this did happen, being with friends was more fun.
A few years later bicycles gave way to other 2 wheelers, this time capable of maniacal speeds. Now if the rain was good and the spirit even better, no one made it to class… choosing instead an out of the way place to eat something, or just drive around without getting caught by any parents.
Reveling in the visual delight of college campuses lush green with the water cascading off the foliage making puddles all over the place. Cutting class to have that steaming cup of tea, sometimes even managing dalwadas, bhajias or makai butta.
When a little older, romancing in the rain! Going for long drives in a car; listening to love songs and holding hands in the little cocoon. Or maybe choosing a bike instead, holding each other tight, letting the water cool blushing faces.
If feeling a little more serene; taking long walks with friends or sitting with them having a few drinks (that keep getting diluted) and listening to the sound of ghazals playing indoors.
In a more carefree mood, lying in the grass with eyes shut… or better still playing in the rain with a young one, for whom this is still a new thing.
And no matter what stage you were at, eventually coming indoors, having a hot shower and then sitting by the window watching nature’s spectacle.
I have done all this and more. I can’t wait for the monsoon to set in well, to relive some of these moments. At least those that can be… For the rest, if you ever see me sitting by the window staring out, you will know what I am thinking.
…pehli pehli baarish ki chitte, pehli baarish bheegey ho ho…
I couldn’t help myself. I had to see this; I jumped out of bed and ran to the window. It was gorgeous… The light was still the gentle color of dawn… but instead of pinks and oranges… there was this bright grey. The skies had upturned a few buckets and it was coming down. The breeze was cool. Beautiful!
Instinct told me to run out and dance in the rain. And just when I was about to, my brains kicked in and I noticed the time. 6.30 am is no time to go prancing about in the rain or anywhere for that matter. So I did the next best thing and cuddled back into my blanket and watched the skies…
Dreaming of other first rains… of times spent…
Going to school on a bicycle, getting drenched by the time you got there. Leaving wet trails in hallowed academic halls, and praying that it would keep raining hard so we would let off early. Never coming home even if this did happen, being with friends was more fun.
A few years later bicycles gave way to other 2 wheelers, this time capable of maniacal speeds. Now if the rain was good and the spirit even better, no one made it to class… choosing instead an out of the way place to eat something, or just drive around without getting caught by any parents.
Reveling in the visual delight of college campuses lush green with the water cascading off the foliage making puddles all over the place. Cutting class to have that steaming cup of tea, sometimes even managing dalwadas, bhajias or makai butta.
When a little older, romancing in the rain! Going for long drives in a car; listening to love songs and holding hands in the little cocoon. Or maybe choosing a bike instead, holding each other tight, letting the water cool blushing faces.
If feeling a little more serene; taking long walks with friends or sitting with them having a few drinks (that keep getting diluted) and listening to the sound of ghazals playing indoors.
In a more carefree mood, lying in the grass with eyes shut… or better still playing in the rain with a young one, for whom this is still a new thing.
And no matter what stage you were at, eventually coming indoors, having a hot shower and then sitting by the window watching nature’s spectacle.
I have done all this and more. I can’t wait for the monsoon to set in well, to relive some of these moments. At least those that can be… For the rest, if you ever see me sitting by the window staring out, you will know what I am thinking.
…pehli pehli baarish ki chitte, pehli baarish bheegey ho ho…
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