Bizarro World
I was driving back home from a very hyperactive day at the office and I needed my escape route which is, was, and forever always is Music.
Listening to “Enakkoru girlfriend venumada… ” and for my non-South Indian audience, the loose translation being “I need a girlfriend” a track from a hit 2003 Tamil movie “Boys” an AR Rahman musical directed by S. Shankar. Now you might be thinking about how is this relevant? I don't know that either to be very honest.
But it did get me thinking about how far we have come in terms of the idea of love, relationships and the way we express it. The song I just told you about talks of this innocent dream of how a girlfriend should for a teenager in the era of 2003, now I know to call it an era is like talking about the Stone Age but with the kind of world we live in 2003 does look like that because in the recent years there have only been very few original compositions, also I know I am no music genius or prodigy in any way, but I am a listener an avid one for the matter and this is my opinion and I honestly do not want to be in a year when I would hear the remake of Jashn-e-bahara.
I think now is the right time to justify the title of this piece. From I need a girlfriend to The hookup song we have seen it all and when I say all I mean the 90’s ke bacche and for me at the least this is a Bizzaro world, where communication is instant and distant at the same time. I also know it is a debatable topic but here I am if you know me you know where and how to reach me and for the people who don't, the comment section of this piece is very welcome!
The evolution of love songs or romantic songs has been revolutionary, nowadays, we, I included learn about new songs via Instagram Reels and to think there was a time when TV or radio was the only source of us to know about a new song. I remember listening to songs using cassette tape, burning CDs to recording songs from the radio to the Nokia 2626 to downloading songs with the magic of the World Wide Web, and now to music apps. We are in a Bizzaro World that has an ever-changing definition of love and intimacy with every moving second for that matter.
Here again, I was and am still lucky to have friends to share my playlist with! There are days when we have just had conversations through songs, dedicating songs, introducing music to express ourselves, sharing that one very precious moment of discovery, or a memory attached with it, Heck I even have a playlist of 30 songs suggested through emails! Yes, I still use emails to communicate… so old school naa, wait until I tell you that I am planning to write a series of handwritten letters to my close friends.
I mean if this piece isn't an example of how far and fast does my mind travel with just one song I don't know what it is! Maybe this is the reason I call myself a music junkie.
Do I abuse it or does it abuse me I have no idea…
Question of the millennium or a lifetime for me that is if you ask me..!
This is also a sign that I belong to the marvelous and glorious Old School of thought category and also a question how many of us still listen to the radio? And also will it be weird to tell you that as I write this is what I am listening to…
तुम ही सोचो ज़रा
क्यूँ ना रोकें तुम्हें
जान जाती है जब
उठ के जाते हो तुम
जान जाती है जब
उठ के जाते हो तुम
तुमको अपनी क़सम जानेजां
बात इतनी मेरी मान लो…
If you know, you know…!
