An Ode to the Disliked Bands

The other day, I was a spectator to a very interesting conversation. This particular talk took place in one of India’s biggest money making vehicles – the train. The train is probably one of the most informative hot spots of the country. One can get enlightened on a variety of topics, and what’s more, you actually get to share the seat with some of the most ‘literate’ people of the world. This time around, I was fortunate enough to be with two musicians of immense (hearing) experience and an enviable taste of western music – or so they thought.

One of them was quite the talker. I can safely say he was THE talker. He commenced the discussion and was kind enough to end it too. According to him, western music was “a genre of mixed genres”. I really fail to understand what he meant by that, but well, he was the expert.

According to the expert, Pop music was crap. All the major Pop bands of the 80’s were just a bunch of cigar smoking, long haired, lethargic weirdos who had no clue what music was all about. All they could do was burst their lungs with smoke and put the minds of the people on fire. Pop was bad and so was Rock. I learnt something very interesting that day, Rock bands consisted ONLY of those head banging idiots who were just a step above their fellow pop wannabes. They too, according to this expert, had no clue what music was all about. (Wow. What a realization.) And of course, Western music could NEVER succeed the Indian form of music. It was way too corrupt for that. Although the expert was clueless about the total number of swaras in western music, he was sure there were EIGHT in Indian classical music. They were Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni and (obviously) Sa, and these sounded much better than the ones the finrangis played on the guitar.

Not only was western music crap, it also supposedly appealed differently to different kinds of people. Now let me clarify what he was trying to, or maybe I’ll just put it in his own words – “Guys who listen to boy bands like Westlife and Boyzone are not normal! They are the kind who like other men!”

Whatever.

It is such people who mar the very idea of music. These people belong to that clan of pseudo musicians who can go to any extent to prove their point.

One must realize that western music has its own flavor and is supposed to be enjoyed differently. Indian Classical Music has a rich heritage, and is definitely one of the best forms of music in the world. But that does not mean Rock is crap, or even Pop for that matter.

I believe there is a certain Universality to music as an art. And many of us fail to realize this. Why cant we appreciate both these forms? It is not uncool to listen to a person playing Raag Khamaj on the Violin on Doordarshan. Similarly, there is nothing offensive about Shakira performing at a music awards function.

I guess this discussion can go on and on since this duality of thought prevails in almost all spheres of life today.

With all due respect to the ‘revered’ expert’s thoughts, I humbly disagree with almost everything he said. I guess I’ve already told you all why, but the main reasons are :

1. There are 12 swaras in Indian Classical Music and
   
2. There is NOTHING abnormal about listening to Boy Bands.