Monday, November 21, 2011

Conversation between Shehnai and Guitar


The late Shammi Kapoor essays the role of a shehnai maestro with much heart and soul. There is a certain charm in his character of a world-renowned, much-rewarded shehnai player who first recognizes the potential in Ranbir Kapoor's JJ. With a twinkle in his aging eyes and a slight smile creasing-up his paper-white skin, he warns that "this boy (JJ) cannot be bound by mere contracts and words, his talent belongs to no-one but to the sky and beyond, his is an untamed soul which will never rest, he is destined for things far bigger than mere fame and success."

The wonderful jugalbandi between the "traditional" shehnai and the "modern" guitar, between the yesteryear and the future, between the aged and the young.

In  The Dichotomy of Fame shehnai protectively warns the guitar of the perils of fame. It says, "I have seen fame, known it intimately and flirted with it. It is something that everyone wants and aspires for and it is heady like a drug giving you a soaring high. But it also crushes your soul, tears you apart, squeezes everything out of you and renders you as a mere empty shell. Once you are into it, there is no escape. And when you are at the top, it gets lonely and the only way is down."

Guitar says, "this is only about my music. If fame is a collateral damage I have to suffer, then so be it. It is a small price to pay for my heart and soul that is my music. I cannot live without creating my music it, and perhaps I will be unable to live with it. Perhaps it will destroy and devour me. but this is the only way I know."

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3 comments:

  1. Beautifully said, aractus :)

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  2. Thank you, D ! i hope you are doing well. i dont see much activity in your blog for a while, but i hope you havent stopped writing !

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  3. I was trying to survive the semester- more details coming soon :)

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