Cacophony – Adjust Maadi (Hallmark of India)

Every morning, I remember waking up to Suprabhātam, auspicious dawn – a Sanskrit poem sung by MS Subbalakshmi. It would be blaring from the loudspeaker of a nearby temple. India being a land of many festivals has some sort of celebration happening all year round. Celebrations are always loud and musical be they songs from the movies or religious mantras.

Hindi songs would also be blaring from the radio next door. Julie I Love You, from the movie Julie, was one popular song in the late 70s. The other songs that I usually heard were the title songs from the movies Kabhie Kabhie (Sometimes) and Chalte Chalte (walk), it actually meant “farewell” and I did not know it. Of Course, I never got to see any of those movies.

I was six years old then. At school, a lot of my friends sang songs that were new to me. They were in different languages – usually Kannada and Tamil. However, there was one boy in my second grade class who, at the teacher’s behest sang popular Hindi songs to entertain the class. His favorite one was yeh dosti (this friendship), from the movie Sholay (spark).

Few years later, I went to a convent school – a proper English-speaking school with a proper uniform inclusive of a tie, badge and a belt. Your socks, had to be pure white, long and upright, (I remember using rubber bands, when the elastic gave way) while shoes, depending on the day had to shiny black or whiter than snow. The Prefect made sure everyone had their complete uniform and behaved properly during Assembly.

Most mornings started with an Assembly, where the entire school sang hymns from the Bible. On other days, usually Fridays, we sang Jana Gana Mana – Indian national Anthem. Sometimes, in the afternoon, after lunch, we would sing mundane English songs like Little bird tell me where you fly? Or Cuckoo barra sits on the old gum tree, during music class.

There was a time, in sixth grade – when practically all the girls in my class were singing and enacting “Dekho may ne dekha hai ik sapna” (Look, I have seen this dream) from the Hindi movie Love Story, the latest movie that was a total hit with the masses. Practically, all girls in my class were crooning over the hero – Kumar Gaurav. During recess, all that ever got discussed was, how cute he was.

And, here was my brother’s exalted opinion – Kumar Gaurav was a sukha-sarial guy (that skinny-rotten guy) with a prominent Adam’s apple and a horrible voice. He re-enacted a scene from the movie, where Kumar Gaurav looks up at the moon in the middle of the night and sings “Yaad aa rahee hai” (I am reminiscing) like a woe-be-gone dog. I laughed so much that my stomach hurt. After all, I knew, I would never get to see the movie, while he had all the liberty in the world, as he was in college. Anyways, my renewed or “influenced” opinion of Kumar Gaurav did not go well with the girls.

Some of my classmates would belt out songs like, Ra Ra Rasputin lover of the Russian queen, Brown girl in the ring tra la la la and Dancing Queen, songs sung by Boney M and ABBA. They were a taboo at home, as my brother, a connoisseur of western music thought of them as all too common.

My brother listened to music all the time, be it Jazz, Rock or Classical. Some of his favorites were Elvis, Beatles, Bee Gees, Air supply among gazillion other music groups. His room was decorated with posters of popular Rock bands. There was Elvis, a practically naked Linda Ronstadt, Laura Barnigan and others. Music blared from his room non-stop and my parents would shake their head sadly and tap on his door around mid-night “Can you stop that ta ta?”

My mother often said, “if you are singing; sing the Shabads- not those useless songs from the movies.” As, she dutifully listened to her Shabads – sacred hymns in Punjabi, whenever she could wrestle the tape recorder from my brother. It was always that one cassette every single time, shabads by Bhai Gopal Singh. Her desire was for me to sing shabads in the Gurudwara. However, Jayanagar – where we lived, only had teachers that taught Carnatic music, a traditional form of singing that has its origins in Southern India.

While, I was made to practice Carnatic music at home, which was not “in style” at my school. The songs were often in Kannada or Telegu. My practice session comprised singing the basic notes –  Sa Sa re re ga ga ma ma pa pa da da nee nee saa saa. It often, worked as a magnet, as it drew my brother out of no-where. His usual refrain would be “Why are you going mama papa they are right here and what do you mean by pa da pa da (it means fart in Punjabi)?”At times, he would bray like a donkey and convince me that my singing had actually brought a herd of donkeys at our doorstep.

In the evenings, especially, during festivals, there would be popular songs blaring from loudspeakers in the neighborhood. Sometimes two different songs at the same time, the ones that I remember from Tamil movies, are, Ennadi Meenakshi Soladi ennachi ( Come on Meenakshi! tell me what happened?) and Kadil Vanda richi aasiyal vodi vande ( I came running for my love) from two of Kamala Hassan’s movies.

Then Of Course the Kannada songs Hosa Belaku lkoogirade(new light beckons)and Naa Ninna Mareyalaare (I will never forget you) sung by the ultimate hero Raj Kumar, a hero for almost fifty years of his life. And the all time favorite was Nim vooru ya vooru? “Nam vooru Mysooru. (Where are you from? I am from Mysore)

Then suddenly as if stricken by a religious conscience there would be songs dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, especially in November and December. Swame Ayyapo, Ayyapo Swame. Shranam Sharanam Ayyapa! The regular Allahu Akbars from a nearby mosque 5 times a day. Not to forget, the calling of the hawkers, mooing of the cows, barking of the dogs, honking of the cars, scooters, bikes and all possible and imaginable means of transportation.

I guess the songs and sounds from everywhere and of all kinds collide to create a madness of sorts – a cacophony which  is the hallmark of diverse people from varied backgrounds living together in harmony, where Adjust maadi (Kindly tolerate) is the slogan and the underlying mesh that binds everyone together in Bangalore ( must I say Bengaluru) as in all of India.