First Anniversary of my Musical Stint !

By the grace of The Almighty it has been a year since I began this musical journey of resuming my singing at the age of 65 , in the second innings of my life , post -retirement .Believing in oneself to enter into such a venture, I had to muster all the courage and stimulate my spirits to revive my passion. I began my endeavours with a lot of trepidation and diffidence as I took it up after a long hiatus of almost three decades .It was my husband's constant encouragement that goaded me on . The first Lockdown which began last year proved to be , by God's grace a fertile ground to restart my musical voyage and invest in it the requisite time and undivided attention to sharpen whatever musical abilities I possessed. As a result of my persistent endeavours and perseverance today I have in all 47 videos of my songs to my credit. ART is a form of self- expression and creativity. Visual art forms include objects that are produced depicting the skill ,creativity and passion of the artist. Music is a unique art form. It is a lyrical and auditory representation of a story and thought through words, rhythm and melody . I am referring to vocal music here as it is in context of my purpose of writing. Music being a purely subjective art form provides listeners with the insight to personal experiences and even in- depth interpretations of the world around together with tranquility and solace. At a personal level I think I have been characterised with this subjectivity which is evident from my penchant for literature (in which I had developed keen interest and later opted for higher studies) to my love for music as well as other art forms .I believe it was an inherent trait in me....I think it came as a 'sanskaar' by birth . Further this fondness for music was nurtured from a very early age by my parents .My father initiated me into learning this art by purchasing a harmonium for me when I was just 5 years old. During my growing years this fondness grew stronger as music enthralled me! As my consciousness of the external world started evolving I found myself enjoying listening to Bollywood numbers ....so intensely would I listen that I could instinctively memorise even the interlude music of almost every song that appealed to me. My training in vocals was intermittent and sporadic during my school and college years .Post marriage my husband , seeing my interest , did earnestly try by way of procuring learned Gurus for me .Unfortunately this was again interrupted due to various factors. Nevertheless my passion for music and singing was so intense that I revivified my zeal at this late stage of life . Nevertheless to be able to reproduce melodious strains requires total involvement and complete attention of the artist . Passion alone is not enough ...it needs to be sustained with perseverance and perpetual efforts to hone whatever skill one has. As it is said perfection comes with practice.....and thus began my ardous journey of regular practice. As luck would have it I found a Guru Shri Arun Das, who initiated me once again into the basics of classical music for without that training it is nearly impossible to get into the nuances of any song and render them perfectly . Together with this regular practice I took up songs that I loved and had grown up listening to them.Yet though they appeared to be easy they turned out to be quite typical when I started reproducing them . It was just not the tune that had to be reproduced but the pronunciation of every word by the singer the intonation, the voice modulation , the voice control and throw, the change in voice quality ...all were required to be perfected to bring out the desired result .Thus I realised every song was difficult and again continuous practice was the only key to achieve satisfactory results. It is true that it is unthinkable to be able to perfectly render the songs of legendary singers and maestros ,nonetheless to even come anyway near to them requires diligence , dedication and a certain amount of dexterity too ! However, It is true that when one is passionate about something the required efforts are bound to follow ...the point is they should not wane at any point of time for there are highs and lows for every artist ..and definitely it is difficult to tide over the Lows at times. Herein comes the support and encouragement of genuine well - wishers to urge one on to keep pursuing ! I consider myself very fortunate to have a soul mate who left no stone unturned in doing just that ! Be it in the form of encouragement , appreciation, advice , healthy sometimes even harsh criticism , the insistence that I could do it (in the case of some typical numbers I chose to sing ) or in his zeal to create videos , improve recordings etc. I got all the assistance needed! What is definitely worth mentioning is that though he is not a connoisseur in music , he listens to every song attentively and at times when I fail to get the right effect he tells me how to modulate my voice accordingly ....and it has worked !! So with my super Guru as my super critic I have achieved what I never thought I could!! An artist whether big or small ,famous or not so popular , widely-acclaimed or having a limited audience/ viewership wishes and yearns for acknowledgement, recognition ,applause and appreciation....for that is the staple diet for any and every artist that eggs him/her on to go on in their endeavours to hone and excel in one's skill. To return to my musical journey it started off with my rigorous practice sessions of songs accompanied with amateur unplugged recordings done on a mobile phone . However , my ever- creative , enthusiastic husband who wished to bring me into the limelight to showcase whatever talent I had began creating videos of every song that I practised .It was not an easy task at all as the background noises had to be taken care of .Often these videos done on a mobile were recorded with several takes and retakes, without even fans and air-conditioners despite the sweltering summer heat and humidity to ward off any noise . Thus began this journey of posting and uploading the videos on Facebook . Next was to collect all the videos in one place for watching them at one go ! YouTube ,was a suggestion given by dear ones .So once again my husband researched and successfully created a YouTube page for me . Presently what is more important is that these 47 videos on YouTube and Facebook have earned for me several friends, well- wishers , rock-solid supporters who have been with me with their encouraging, motivating and stimulating reactions .It is extremely heartening to note the affection and warmth I have received for the song videos from my friends and well-wishers for which I feel supremely Blessed ! Now I feel that I could carry on with my amateur endeavours of singing solely due to the sustained and continuous motivation and encouragement that I received from my dear friends and genuine well wishers . I understand it requires alot of sensitivity and compassion to encourage anyone's endeavours , to take out one's valuable time to view each video, to have the patience to listen to the songs, then to acknowledge, LIKE , and to feel eager to respond to it positively and comment on it is indeed very appreciable! It requires a heart of gold and a generous disposition to support someone for his / her endeavours ! I take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each and everyone who have been acknowledging , liking, reacting and commenting on the song-videos !! It is so rewarding for me to be appreciated so warmly and I feel deeply indebted to them . A big round of applause for my loving , caring ,ever-enthusiastic sons and their ever- encouraging spouses and my adorable granddaughters who have given me unconditional support, emotional succour and have on several occasions also taken care of technical nitty - gritties in creating the videos. They are truly precious for me . And here I cannot help but reminiscing about my doting parents and my loving parents-in-law who I know are sending their blessings from the heavens above. Besides earnestly being in need of Divine intervention perenially without which nothing is possible , I do need the continuous support of all such thoughtful , compassionate and wonderful people to keep me going on in my humble endeavours !! 🙏🙏 I know that The Almighty has been extremely benevolent in showering and inundating me with His blessings. What is more important is that I FEEL FAVOURED AND BLESSED always and am ever so grateful to The Lord every single day of my life !!