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Criticism

It was the Wave Concert at the Dasain Mahotsav and I was watching 'Mukti and The Revival' perform on stage. I was there with a friend and havng watched 'Robin n Lozza' at the Kathmandu Utsav together, I casually remarked that I found Robin's stage presence and crowd handling better. My friend gave me a wry smile and said, "Had we been watching football and were to happen to see Pele at his peak, even then we would still find some fault with his ball playing."

That shut me up! He could not have expressed himself better. There I was, someone who could not tune a guitar properly or hum a single note correctly and yet, there I was criticizing someone who was doing quite well at the moment. It was equally easy for me to censure others as it was hard for me to do or achieve anything on my own. I have had this frame of mind ever since that day and have been rather cautious in handing out my opinions.

I have a set of prejudices and I know that at times I am not fair but then, though, I should not be taking names, I have never been a fan of Parikrama. I never knew why and had not given any real thought to it. Apart from the usual sneer that I gave on seeing their name in the magazines and bracketing them as a cover band, I was quite content just disliking them.

That was till this other day when I met up with a Parikrama fan and I know that they have a whole lot of them. This chance meeting set me thinking as to why a band with such a fan following does not have a single album to their credit? Maybe, it is due to a genuine lack of creativity but more likely it is due to something else.

In my opinion, they are one of the most glamourised bands in India. The media and the fans alike, just go gaga over their stage frolics. I guess this had a lot to do with their failing to release any original album of their own. They have been so bowled over by their stage antics that they never really care about their limited repertoire and their lack of original numbers. The band in turn has never felt the need to grow musically because everyone else is satisfied with the dish that they fare out, covers and stage antics.

Commercially, yes, they are a good draw and do get top billings but then in the distant future if someone were to look back and trace the development of rock in the Indian subcontinent, will they figure anywhere? I believe no but there will be some Nepali bands and bands like the, now forgotten, 'Great Society' which will because I guess they had a thing or two to prove to the world and more importantly, themselves.

Now, who is to blame, if it is not me, a music fan for restricting a band to the slot of a cover band? The applause may sustain a band but it is the frowns and the yawns that make it grow. I admit that it is wrong for me to criticize anyone else but then I realize, I am right too.

- Wave, December, 2000

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Religion, God and me.

I am not trendy or fashionable. The 'in and out' and the 'hot and cold' columns in the magazines do not mean much to me and I do not follow the general trends as such. Whether it is music, clothes or ideas as such, I have my own set of tastes and preferences and I base my decisions on them.

Music is a very strong medium and can be a good way of disseminating ideas and views. It has had a big influence in moulding the man that I am today. As I have said earlier, I have no idea about the current chart toppers or the genre that is in but of late, I have noticed a sort of an antagonism against God and religion, creeping into some of the lyrics. I cannot and should not generalize but then I think that is what is hip today.

Talking of religion, one question that pops up in my mind is whether I need religion. A growing number of people claim, they do not but I personally feel, I do. I believe religion has had a major in making humans humane. My sense of morality, rights and wrongs has mostly been derivatives of the teachings of my religion. No doubt, there are things which in the present context may not be appropriate but they number a bare few while the rest make perfect sense irrespective of the age, time and place I may be in.

To talk of religion without the mention of God would not be fair. Having religion or the need for one is accepting the presence of God in one's life. So, I need religion and I accept the existence of God and my need for Him and His presence in my life.

The question that now arises is how important is God to me in my life and what priority have I assigned to Him? Is He in the back seat or in the driving seat? The answer to that will most probably be the back seat. God has been one entity whom I have most often taken for granted. Someone to be handed the steering wheel when my chips are down only to be relegated to the back seat when things are back to normal.

These past few months, having had a lot of time to myself, I have pondered over my life, God and a host of other things. One thing that has now become clear to me is that there is a God above me and that He is proactive. I have further realised that I am hopeless as the driver of my own life and that whatever happens in this world happens at the time God chooses. So, no matter how I prioritize Him, the reins to my life are firmly in His hands.

The plans that I make are all futile without divine intervention. Being a mortal, no matter how hard I try it just is not possible for me to change the tide of things. Furthermore, there may be times when I may grumble at the turn of events. But later when I see those very events from a broader perspective, I realise my limited foresight and then I thank God for it.

So, for me there is no denying God and religion and the fact that whatever happens in this world happens at the time God chooses. Moreover, it always does happen for good. The Byrds may have been in a similar frame of mind when they put to tune the third chapter of Ecclesiastes from the Bible to bring out their 'Turn, turn' number.

- Wave, December, 2000

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