Fatal Obsession

The young man is talented, and is a gentleman to the core; but the problem with him is that he wishes to belong to a group of people who do not wish to consider themselves “gentlemen” in the way the world around would understand. He is too polished to belong to this group of men who make sincere attempts to be down to earth. His one and only interest in Indian classical music has kept him away from his other companions who have varied interests, and are not as obsessed as this gentleman, and that is where the problem begins. He has been thinking all along that he was made for music, and nothing else, and would do anything to pursue his interest in music, even by hook or by crook.

This attitude of the gentleman had landed him in trouble on several occasions; his condescending attitude towards his companions who are not as gifted as he is in music is sometimes so very evident that one can make out his motives. Unfortunately he has always considered himself the “best” of the lot in music, and if anyone else were to occupy his place, he finds it hard to accept, leave alone join others to sing or play the instruments. He has been doing this for several years, and maybe he will continue to do this for all the years to come, until he is cornered to face a realistic situation, where he might find his illusions crumble to nothing. But no one knows for sure, when that moment will come.

No one understands me and my interests – this has been one of his refrains to others all the time; anyone who does not encourage him to pursue his sole-interest in music is against him, and all those who let him have his way are good to him. If anyone were to understand him, then they should take it for granted that he is the most versatile classical singer; if they do not honor him with that recognition, then they are considered as music illiterate. This has been his trend, and we do not know where exactly he would land up after a few years; but one thing is sure, his life is not going to be a smooth sail… he is bound to face several storms and typhoons.

I would not think that music had made him less of a human; no. Any true music is supposed to arouse the human heart towards the appreciation of beauty and truth. If that does not happen with this gentleman that is an indication that something had gone wrong somewhere during his upbringing. It is hard for me to go to the details of how he came to be so obsessive with music all these years, and no one had administered to him the much needed shock therapy, to wake him up from the psychological slumber he is still in. Probably once he wakes up from this slumber, then he might be able to see truth as it is, without any additional color glasses.

But who would tell him that what he sees through the eyes of his obsession with music is only partial truth, and there are more elements which may be of greater importance than music, and lead him to enjoy beauty and truth in a more intense way. So long he is obsessed with music, he is not going to see beauty in other elements of nature or human creation. There is beauty in the blue sky, there is beauty in the creepers, helplessly climbing on a tree, there is splendor in a rose or lilly; we don’t need to strain ourselves to see beauty around us, and it would be narrow mindedness to think only music has rhythm. If I can find rhythm in the songs of the birds, in thunder and the rumbling of the streams, then I will find the most soothing music in nature, and then I may not need to take asylum with human-made music!

Defeating Differences

First time in years I witnessed an auditorium overflowing with people; there were more people in the hall than it could accomodate. When all seats were full, more chairs were brought in from all possible places, and still there were more than fifty people standing and watching the song and dance performance by two of my companions. One a folk singer and another a classical dancer, and what may look strange, both of them are staying under one roof, in one Jesuit community. One may wonder, but how can that be possible? Folk and classical in common parlance, cannot co-exist; there is an in-born rivalry between the two, and in that case how is it that a folk singer and a classical dancer live peacefully in one house!

Over 25 years of training (or you may call it brain-washing), has made the two friends to go beyond their area of specializations and think in terms of looking at the common meeting points. We live in a world where differences are greatly highlighted, and similarities are often submerged by the overpowering differences. Some call them asserting of one's uniqueness, which makes one what s/he is. But then how do we account for the similarities, sometimes so very striking that we cannot help but vibe with one another?

The world would be a very different place if only people begin to look seriously at the similarities and leave the differences out of the matters of comparison. If there are so much of religious hatred and vengence, and brutal killing of one another in the name of religion, it is all because we had failed to look at the similarities we share, but only look at the differences. If we can only look even superficially the similarities we share in all spheres of life, then we would be foreced to acknowledge that we are all brothers and sisters, children of one mother!

But unfortunately there are people in the world around us who would not like us to acknowledge the similarities we enjoy, but only would project the differences, because that is how their hidden political agenda would be fulfilled. There are people who would not hesitate to make use of people in order to fulfil their ego. But anyone who is endowed with conscience and balanced consciousness would be propelled from deep within to shun any attempt to look at the differences with a magnifying glass, and look for similarities at all walks of life.

Can the folk be opposed to the classical? Where do they differ? These two are just two labels, and the difference is made by the people who wish to keep the differences in order to keep their status and privileged position. Some times down the century, the folk traditions were attributed to the people from the lower strata of society, while the classical traditions were attributed to the educated, high caste/class people. But times have changed, and it is time that we change our mentality too. The next time when I meet a stranger, and begin sharing with that person the similarities we share, I am sure to make him/her a friend in no time. For, who does not like a common ground where I feel the security of having people who are very much like me! That is the beginning of true human community!