Tuesday, April 22, 2014

My fear of music?

"You don't like music?", she asked.

"No", I replied succinctly.

"Not even in the morning?", she sprung in surprise, making me feel outlandish.

 "Well, it just disturbs me anytime.", I responded.

"Can we try a low volume?", she suggested.

"Could you use your earphones?", I counter advised while starting to feel sorry, since I did not want to accede to her request of keeping the music playing in our office cab and at the same time did not want to pose myself as overtly dominating, on her first day in the cab.




It is hard for people to comprehend that it is not my hatred for music per se that makes me feel uncomfortable but the the shameless levels to which the songs of today have fallen to.

I have tried it a lot before - making others happy by letting the music play and suffering myself with the noise of explicit songs and deliberately intended pun on the FM channels just because I did not want to exploit my seniority in the cab.

But, why? If it is justified to avoid passive smoking, it should be acceptable if one wants to keep off dirty music. To understand my point, consider music like a cuisine. Everyone has their own favorites and even dislikes. If one is free to order their own dish from the menu, people should understand that it makes more sense for everyone to use their own headphones when in public transport to listen to their own genre unless it is known that all the travelers have a similar taste.

I am not one of them who like a particular song just for the beats and melodies. Music can be considered like packaging while lyrics be thought of as the contents. I am sensible enough not to consume something that looks attractive but has crap inside.

Music has the potential to create a channel to experience the divine but unfortunately it has been reduced to a medium which delivers illicit ideas and raunchy feelings, glorifies drug abuse and even blatantly encourages the possession of guns and arms just for the sake of being cool.

I might sound like going overboard in bashing the music industry but we really need to apply our acumen to gauge the vulnerability of our subconscious to such music. What would you expect from young minds who are growing up to this kind of music? I feel ashamed when I see little kids dancing to the tunes of the likes of Yo Yo +Honey Singh who can stoop to the lowest level of morality in their songs. Today, because of singers like him, Punjabi songs have lost their originality and have rather become an epitome of vicious verses and ludicrous lyrics.

I don't know how many of you will agree with me. Some of you might even say, "C'mon dude, enjoy life. Don't be serious about it. Songs are for fun. Just chill ...", and so on. But, I had to share my thoughts, so that I can know yours.

Is it unjust to ask fellow cab mates to plug-in their earphones and listen whatever they want and let people like me appreciate the beauty of silence or even have a peaceful power nap on the way?






No comments: