India Calling

Back to India came I - in a bout of confusion, insecurity, and bewilderment.

I was without my parents for the first time in my life. I was 10, and I had come to India to study. The education standards in Spain where quite pathetic. Nothing beats an Indian education.

I land up in Bangalore and move into the extremely welcoming and warm arms of my Aunt Vani, my moms twin sister.

And so began my life with Family No.2- Vani Aunt, Ram Uncle, Nikhil, Nihal, and Ram Uncle's Mom, whom we call "Avva" (kind of like Granny in Telugu).

Nikhil and I are about the same age, so we were/are really close. Nihal was a lot younger. I started going to tuitions to catch up on my math and english, which I was drastically behind in. And in-between these tuitions and Nikhil's school, we would goof off as much as we could.

Back to the music( I don't want to bore you!). Have you ever heard of Philips Top Ten? If my memory serves me well, it was a weekly show, which showed the top ten Bollywood songs. I'll say it again, I am averse to Bollywood music of the present, but back in 1994-95, it wasn't that bad!

Nihal, Nikhil and I would couch up in front of the TV and watch this, and in our hands would lie the famous combination of Peppy and Pepsi(chips and soda).

Most of what we witnessed on Philips top ten, was heavy entertainment value. It would make us laugh a lot, and the tunes were pretty neat to.

One guy in particular was doing really well at the time- Prabhu Deva.

His dancing was out of this world.

• Urvasi Urvasi
• Muqabala
• Chikupuku Chikupuku

These songs were fantastic!

Here are a list of other great songs from 94-95

• Main Khiladi Tu Anadi
• Churake dil mera
• Rangeela re
• Kehna Hi Kya
• Tu Hi Re *
• Tu Cheez badi hai mast
• Ek Ladki Ko Dekha
• Kuch Na Kaho
• Rim Jhim Rim Jhim

Weather the storm

The early 90s was a perfect time to grow up young! Pepsi was marketing the Generation-X, the age of the youngsters. It was time for us to take our place in society, to make things our own.

Barcelona were winning the Primiera League in an emphatic style, crushing other teams with great disdain and arrogance. Leading this red'n'blue army was Romario and Stoichkov, my favourite footballers of all time.

Ace of Base had just entered the musical stage, and became instantly popular around the world, with their up tempo music.

• All That She Wants
• The Sign

These songs became so popular, it was the only thing playing on the radio for a while!

A song worth special mention, is one that my Dad, sis and I would enjoy singing all the time.

• Take The Weather With You- Crowded House

"Wherever you go, always take the weather with you"

Nice line.

My Dad would sing his own rendition: "Wherever you go, always take an umbrella with you". His reasoning being, that if it were raining, and you were always taking the weather with you, then you would have to always take an umbrella with you.

Roja came out in 1992, and we flipped on the music.

• Roja Janeman
• Choti Si Asha

Fantastic songs. Very atypical of conventional Bollywood music.

There was also this phase where I was crazy about this band called:

La Onda Vaselina

Their album happened to be the first CD I ever bought, and the first thing I bought with my own money, which I had saved up, peseta by peseta. When I went to the store and bought the CD, I gave the guy a bag full of coins, and it took him close to ten minutes to count them!

That about wraps up the Spanish episode of my life.

MoonWalking

Neil Armstrong popularised the art of moonwalking. Wait a minute, I meant Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson became hugely successful in the 80s and 90s. I was crazy about his music and his prancing ways. His videos were awesome, and I would watch them day in and day out. I know he is not the same anymore, but those days, he was simply fantastic. It was the beginning of the pop revolution, though lot of his music had rock elements. No wonder he was known as the King of Pop.

in 1988, Moonwalker was released- a movie starring MJ. A fantastic kid movie, where Michael is a singing, dancing, shape changing super hero. A scene which most of you would have seen, is the music video for:

• Smooth Criminal

Its got one of the best dance moves you will ever see. I would wear similar clothes and try my level best to imitate the moves.

Here is a list of my favourite numbers( which had great videos as well):

• Beat it
• Billy Jean
• Dirty Diana

There are several more, which you can discover for yourself.

Mother's lullaby

My beautiful mom would always sing me songs. But not regular nursery rhymes were these. She would sing me beautiful classics from the 70s onwards. I grew up listening to her singing me songs, which I treasure to this date. I can confidently say, I would never have developed the kind of liking for music that I have, if not for my mom.

Let me list out a few great numbers that she sang to me, and why they hold a place so very close to my heart.

• Angelo *- Brotherhood Of Man

A very very touching song. If you listen carefully to the lyrics, it will break your heart. Its all about a rich girl and a Shepard boy "Angelo", who fall in love, and elope knowing they wouldn't be accepted. They keep running, and end their lives so they can be together forever. Still induces a tear, this.

• Lullaby- Billy Joel

Another great song. Mom used to sing this before I slept. Hear it and you will know why. I used to listen to several Billy Joel songs, but none more than:

• The River of Dreams*

A beaut of a song. Just brilliant. The backing vocals are superb.

Try these songs by the same great artist:

• Two Thousand years
• We didn't start the fire*
• My Life*
• Honesty

I shall now mention a song that I am crazy about, and those of you who haven't heard it are seriously missing something:

Bohemian Rhapsody*

This song(can it be called a song??) by Queen, is one of THE best pieces ever made in rock history, and not many are going to disagree.

An absolute stunner, it twists and turns, and slows and speeds. Words cannot describe this song. It has every element in it- rock, orchestra, opera, melody, etc.

When Freddy Mercury died of AIDS, my mom cried while listening to this song. You can see how much she loves her music.

Thanx Ma.

In memory of dear granny- Sail Away

Although I was still quite young when my grandma passed away in Spain, I can still remember her fondly. One of my vividest memories of her, was her enjoying a song that had released around 1988.

• Orinoco Flow(aka Sail away) *

This song by Enya, was an instant classic and hit right through the early 90s. Enya's music is beautiful, numbing, soothing, relaxing, and much more. Her music is a Celtic style. If you haven't tried her music, you are missing something. My grandma was a great fan of this song, and the video used to come on TV very often.

There are several other great Enya Tracks, but I shall list them as and when they were discovered by me. Keep reading!

*-Must Try

All things Spanish

It was obvious that I would soon get influenced by the Spanish dialect and music. Pavarotti was becoming "widely" successful, partnering with Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo to form the Three Tenors.

There were two songs in particular that were vastly popular going in the early 90s,
and they were:

• La Bamba
• Lambada

These songs bring back beautiful memories of Spain, and the music is typical of the island. Its got a very Brazilian touch to it, with lot of Spanish attitude. You just gotta try it. Makes you wanna move!

After school I would run home to watch my two all time favourite cartoon shows:

• Caballeros del zodiaco( The Zodiac Warriors)

• Oliver y Benji(a football cartoon)

I was so fixed on these cartoons, watching them with immense interest, while my mom would feed me beetroot rice.

The Intro soundtracks on these cartoons are amazing. Just like in He-Man, I would stand right in front of the tele, and scream along with the songs. Man, I miss those cartoons.

Speaking of cartoons, My Dad, Sis and I would sit together and watch Looney toons. We would watch it all day long if it were possible. To this day, when we are together we end up watching it. A lot of our collective characteristics are based on many characters from Looney toons- My Dad bearing great resemblence to Coyote. There is this one song called La Cucaracha(comes in many cartoons- mostly in Speedy Gonzales).

This is a weird version of the song with funky beats and changed lyrics, but do try the original

• La Cucaracha - www.musicalspanish.com/flashdemo2.htm

Classical Enchantment

With the inroads into the world of theater paved, it was time to experiment with Classical music. I suddenly discovered a wild passion for the piano, and having gotten a keyboard for Christmas, I was pounding away on the keys like a baby Beethoven. The keyboard had a button which emulated a clapping sound, and I would play my symphony and then press the button a few hundred times, whilst bowing in appreciation. That's all I would do. bang the keys like someone from the stone ages, and feed off the adulation from the appreciative audience.

Sigh. Some dreams don't turn into reality. But I find that amusing. What does turn to reality, I couldn't have even dreamt of. That's the best part.

Back to the music. I distinctly remember having a small Walkman, and at the time I was learning to ride a bicycle. My mom and I would hit the streets, I would ride the bike, and she would walk. We walked along the beach, and I would plug in my Walkman and listen to recorded tapes of Mozart, Bach and Beethoven.

Ludwig van Beethoven- The master. He went deaf. What a terrible way to end up, if you are a composer. When he went deaf, he thought something was wrong with his piano, and he chopped into bits with an axe. The realisation must have hurt deeply. Even before he went deaf, he suffered from paranoia, his 5th symphony being the point of interest. What a haunting piece of brilliance.

• 5th Symphony
• 9th Symphony
• Moonlight Sonata

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach are another two great composers and pianists. Try any or all of their compositions.