It’s been a while since I did any rambling in these parts of the Web. The kind I used to indulge in when I had a daily activity log where I would tell you everything from what time I woke up in the morning to what I had for lunch and what stunt my friends and I pulled off that day. So, it’s time to sit back and indulge in some of that but not to such excruciating detail, of course 
So, what have I been upto ? For one, I decided that since I had a fair amount of free time on the weekends, I should pursue what has probably been one of the original passions of my life. Drumming.
I don’t actually have a recollection of this but my brother’s ever-reliable memory informs me that I first started drumming on everything in sight (whether the dining table or my study table, using mostly my hands) sometime around the age of 10. Apparently, rhythm and the sound of percussion first caught my fancy was when I saw some kids in my school put up a Bhangra dance performance with an accompanying drum. I came home and played the beats for days on end.
I was asked to learn playing the Tabla by my parents because of my (seemingly) excellent sense of rhythm and feel for percussion. I didn’t listen to them back then because I was already into learning Carnatic classical (vocal) music and I didn’t really think I wanted to take on more than that (given that I had interests in playing Cricket, Chess and of course, dabbling with computers).
It’s true that I have a special feel for rhythm (my music teacher told me that and many others, since then). Whatever music I am listening to, the thing that strikes me first is always the percussion instrument. When I listen to Rock, my mind subconsciously memorizes the drum tracks on almost every song I listen to. Even as the lead vocalist of our band in IIT, I had always had a special fascination for the drums (our drummer was this chap called Rambo), which I was allowed to sometimes play during our jam sessions.
The final bit of inspiration came about 2 months ago when I was in St. Louis and Vidya asked me to come along to her Western Classical violin class. I enjoyed myself so much that I came away to New York with a renewed resolve to bring music back into my life.
I started lessons with a young chap, Tony Ortiz, who is enthusiastic, friendly, and willing to teach patiently. My lessons are conducted in what is called a “rehearsal studio” – a place where they have a bunch of different sound-proofed rooms which bands can rent for an hour or two, to practise. Every Sat’day, I meet Tony for about an hour for my lesson and have been having the time of my life.
Since I started learning to play, I have also been listening to music more carefully and trying to form opinions of the different drumming styles that I come across. Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham is my hero at the moment
What else have I been upto? I recently embarked on a movie watching spree so every weekend I make a trip to the Blockbuster in Hoboken and get myself 2 movies to watch.
Thanks to one of these trips, I got to see Deepa Mehta’s “Fire” (1998), which people will remember as the first Indian movie to depict lesbianism and that ran into a whole load of trouble back when it was released in the theatres.
I definitely thought that the movie made some interesting viewing. First of all, lesbianism was hardly the main theme of the movie. The main theme really is about women standing up for their needs in a male-dominated Indian society. While I did think that the case for the protagonists to be driven to lesbianism was not clear enough, the script was definitely good and so were the actors. All in all, a movie worth watching in my humble opinion. I am told that “Earth” by the same director is actually even better – should watch that one too, sometime.
What stirred me into some thinking was the documentary I saw on the DVD, about the controversy the movie raised. In the state of Maharashtra, theatres in Bombay were vandalized and a lot of damage to property was caused, all in protest against the making and screening of a movie which was supposedly “against our religion and culture.” Other than the fact that Indians like to behave like ostriches with their heads buried in the sand when it comes to discussing sex and sexual preferences (gays have no status at all, forget about legal unions), there is no truth to that statement. But the intolerance that is being bred in certain parts of the country is shameful.
What I find worrying is that on one hand we talk of India emerging as a global economic powerhouse in the 21st century without any thought to how we still are a country where people were (and still can be) lynched for being Muslim. Not quite yet time to pat ourselves on our backs, is it?
Anyway, that brings me to the end of my thoughts. It’s back to my world of computers, drumming and Led Zeppelin!
[Calvin & Hobbes © 2004 Universal Press Syndicate]
