Music: Fiddling While Rome Burns...

Music – Fiddling While Rome Burns!!

 By

Vivek Hande 

                      

  

Music, I daresay, is not mere sound, strung by notes. It is a sentiment. It is an emotion, a feeling, an appeal to the highest senses. Music has the power to unite. It has the power to heal, communicate and provide a sense of hope. Music is pure and real. It is perhaps, the world’s most famous and popular language. A medium which slashes through preconceived boundaries of ethnicity and language. Music truly does wash away the soul - the grime, grit and dust of everyday life…

There are hundreds of genres of music. What appeals to your senses is music for you. There is nothing, in my mind, that you need to call trendy, current or contemporary- when it comes to music. My boys enjoy Beatles as much as I do. I enjoy listening to MS Subbalakshmi or Harry Belafonte as much as my Dad does. And that is the beauty of music. I can enjoy ten different genres though the day; my choice can change with my mood - the music and the musician will not begrudge me! And that is the beauty of music..

 

I do believe music is therapeutic and cathartic. On a busy OPD, I attend to a hundred plus patients at times. What helps me get through is Beethoven or Strauss or Dire Straits or maybe Pink Floyd. That would depend on the mood of the day. But it does add to a sense of congeniality and it does allay the fears or anxieties of the patient as well. It does make the physician a normal person after all. Likewise, I see a great benefit in playing music in my Endoscopy Theatre as well. It is a different thing that many patients actually tell me to switch to something gentler than Metallica or Iron Maiden when I am about to put in the scope- it is then a quick switch to Jagjit Singh or Handel’s Water Music!! I have had patients getting into a discussion on the finer points of the music being played rather than focus on the ailment at hand. I have also had patients coming with CDs and asking me to try listening to a different genre and my music collection grows..

Music has a role to play in several facets of our life. Take Religion, for instance. Christianity has a strong tradition of the use of music in the church. Whether it is the entire congregation joining in or the choral group alone, singing is central to the religion. Contemporary Church Music encompasses virtually every genre from Gospel, Rock, Pop, Metal , Hip Hop- the idea being to reach out to a greater segment of the community. Sama Veda , in Hindu tradition is devoted to a great extent to music. Kirtans , Bhajans and Raagas are pivotal in Hinduism. Sufi music based on works of Rumi, Hafiz and many others gives a sense of great tranquility, even to those who don’t follow the religion. While music is an integral part of religion, there are many who do consider music itself, to be a religious experience..

Take Medicine. Apollo was the Greek God of Music and Medicine. Aesucalpius used music and song to cure diseases of the mind.  There are enough studies to demonstrate the Medical benefits of music. Joane Loewy of Beth Israel Medical Center believes,” There is just something about music-that excites and activates the body.” There is a growing use of music therapy by psychologists and clinicians in dealing with patients of pain, depression, Parkinson’s disease and even cases of Alzheimer. At the core of music is sound and sound is rooted in vibration and this is the basis for Vibroacoustic therapy that does contribute in enhancing the quality of life and perhaps promoting recovery. Work is focused on evaluation of  “dosable” and “prescribable” music as treatment..

    

Military and music are deeply connected. Music has always served to inspire courage and valor. Beethoven’s Battle Symphony has some of the greatest descriptive and inspirational music for military bands to celebrate victories. Military Bands are an integral component of militaries worldwide. Marches and Anthems instill courage and conformity and permits an individual to feel a part of a unified whole. The Reveille and the Retreat are important components of military tradition and use trumpets, bugles or pipes. The Tattoo has evolved into an elaborate Military ceremony but started as ‘Doe Den Tap Toe’ which was Dutch for ‘Turn off the Tap”. It got corrupted to Tap-Too and then Taptoo before it became Tattoo- primarily the band going into town and playing to ask the inn owners to stop serving Beer, so that the troops could return to the Barracks!!

 

Music helps improve our attention skills.  It does enhance learning – one learnt ones' ABCs through song and music. It taps into our memories and emotions like nothing else can. Music is important for creativity-it helps you enter what is called, ‘a mind wandering mode’. Music is linked to every important event – weddings, birthdays, graduation ceremonies and funerals. It creates strong memories and very strong feelings. I do believe that music is something out of the ordinary. It is woven into our lives and it is perhaps what makes humans human…

Freidrich Nietzche wrote,” Without music, life would be a mistake.” I tend to agree with him. Music can trigger memories – it can transport you decades; it can make you travel thousands of kilometers to another place. Different music means different things to different people. Jazz to me is smooth and cool; it is a conversation which never begins or ends. It flows like water. To someone who is not fond of Jazz, it may be something highly avoidable. But that is the sheer magic of music; the absolute wonder of music- you don’t have to understand it; you don’t have to recognize it – but if it appeals to your senses- you just feel it. As Bob Marley famously remarked , “The one good thing about music. When it hits you, you feel no pain!”

Before The Ink Runs Dry..

Before the Ink Runs Dry…

By  

Vivek Hande

Can anything be more sublime than the flow of a nib across a sheet of good paper? A fountain pen running across the pages- it is lyrical; it is musical; it is almost magical. It is not a mundane act- it is a pathway, a channel for the musings of the heart. 

A fountain pen is a writing instrument; when the ink flows across paper, it transforms the ordinary to something special. Writing with a fountain pen is like savoring vintage wine; you could write with a Ballpoint pen but that is like having tap water. You could punch away furiously on a keyboard and write thousands of words- but that is like eating a Sandwich on the go; when you put ink to paper , you are having a Michelin Star Gourmet dinner in a fancy restaurant!

The pen and Ink have actually changed the face of humanity and are one of the greatest inventions of mankind. It allowed man to create, share, learn and preserve. It started with the Sumerians who used a stylus to write on Clay Tablets and then baked the tablets for posterity. The Romans did the same on Wax Tablets. The Egyptians, in 2000BC were the first to use Reed Pens- perhaps the first writing instrument as we know it today. The Quill (usually the feather of a Goose) came into use around 600AD. The Dead Sea Scrolls are believed to have been written with a Quill in Hebrew. It was in 1822, that John Mitchell, in Birmingham, first brought out the mass scale production of pens with metal nibs- but they still needed to be dipped like a quill in the ink pot. It was in 1827, that the French Government patented the fountain pen – invented by Petrarch Poenaru- a Romanian studying in Paris. The pen then underwent refinement in design and materials used but have largely remained the same functionally since then. And when I say pen, I do refer to the fountain pen because that is really a pen – everything else is an imitation for convenience and expense.

A fountain pen can vary in cost. It could cost less than a Dollar and it could go up to a million and more! There are custom made pens which can set you back by a convenient million Dollars and more...The Fulgor Nocturnus by Florentine Pen Maker Tibaldi costs a cool 8 Million USD and only three such have ever been made. But well , I do agree that is carrying things too far!!


 

 Each pen moulds itself to the user. one needs to go with a pen which is comfortable for the writer - the grip, the feel , the nib - what suits you and what is comfortable for you may not be the same for me.  I got my passion for the pen from a senior colleague, alas no more. He had an array of fountain pens and would use one, each week. The rest of them would be meticulously washed, dried, put in a pack and kept upright in a container on his table. Some pens would come back for use after months. He also taught me not to use any bottled ink for more than year- small sediments do form which could clog your pen.  He would never lend his pens – he would say, “My pen knows me; it is used to me. Don’t ever press the nib too hard- it is pain sensitive! Let it just glide..”. He almost treated his pen as a living, breathing creature. It inked off on me. I quite much follow the same routine and am passionately obsessive about my collection. People worry about losing expensive pens- it is the same as losing your pet or your children- you just hang onto them!!

 

A pen and your handwriting speak a lot about your character. It is as distinctive as you. A good pen just allows your thoughts to flow and speaks what you really want to say. As Mark Twain is supposed to have famously remarked, “I need only five things in life- pen, paper, food, sleep and a sane mind.” And I do agree with the writer, Charmaine Forde, who wrote, “There is no such thing as wasted moment when I have a pen and paper.”

  The pen has been described as a weapon of mass creation. The pen is often described as being stronger than the sword. But as humorist George Banister remarked rather wryly,” The pen is mightier than the sword- especially when you stick it in someone’s eye!” And somebody rather philosophically compared the flow of ink to the flow of life – the ebbs and tides and commented that “When the Ink runs dry, you are most likely writing at the wrong angle..”

So change the angle. Change the Pen. Grab another Pen and enjoy the beauty of its flow across paper..it is something to be savored before the ink indeed runs dry!!

Going Around in Circles,,

Going Around in Circles..

By

Vivek Hande

We are from the ‘bridge ‘generation. We grew up asking for directions on the road the conventional way. Whether one was in a vehicle or going in circles on foot, trying to find ones’ way in a new city- we rolled down the window or stopped a seemingly knowledgeable  passerby and asked for directions the good old fashioned way. Could you please tell me, how do I get there?  This has changed rapidly with the use of the GPS or your smart phone assistant who helps you, or is supposed to help you to get to Point A from Point B. Our children are rather disdainful of the idea of seeking directions from a third person. “We will use the GPS” or “Google Maps will take you there  Dad”!! "Why do you want to ask anyone?"

But asking for directions was exciting in its own way. First, the business of honing down on the appropriate person. He had to appear “local”- meaning not a visitor or a tourist. His body language had to convey that he knew the lay of the land well. His demeanor had to convey a friendly nature. You did not want to get brushed away by a curt, grumpy old fellow. Invariably, a trifle sexist, but one naturally was inclined to choose a male as a potential “Director”(giver of directions) rather than a lady. It is a different thing that the gentleman would probably give you directions which would take you around the locality and get you back from where you started! The confidence of the “Director” or the lack of it leads to the Rule of Three- always confirm from three independent directors in a span of five minutes that you are indeed headed in the right direction.

 In some places, the Rule of Three changes to Rule of Five depending on the confidence and reliability of the Directors. I have known my Dad to seek directions and quite often getting into a conversation with the Directors and short of being invited them for lunch or asking them to join us for drinks, a fairly close bond of friendship would be established!!.Notwithstanding the fact, that more often than not , they had no clue about where we were headed... 

 But the problem also lies in getting yourself to ask for directions. There was a survey published in 1998 in the United Kingdom. It brought out that men are likely to wait half hour being completely lost before they would seek directions. Women did it after an average of seven minutes.  12% men sought no help and chose to keep going around in circles. 40% men, even if they did seek directions, did not trust the directions given and would continue to go around in circles. Men, on an average, traveled 276 miles a year going around in circles and clocked about 2000 Pounds lifetime on wasted fuel. The statistics do go a fair distance to prove a point!!

Giving directions is also an art and it is handicapped by what analysts call the Curse Of Knowledge. The person giving directions assumes that you know the general scheme of things – “Turn Right at The Yellow Door” and such like is implied on the premise that you know where the Yellow Door is. If you did, you would probably not be seeking directions.

 Seeking directions in an alien language is another challenge but exciting and adventurous in its own way. Just Keep Going Straight is a standard answer. A friend of mine, recently tried out his newly acquired French, to ask, “ Ou Sont Les Toilettes?”.The Parisian replied, “Tout Droit” – Straight Ahead and pointed in a direction. The gentleman kept walking straight and after clocking 8000 plus steps on his Pedometer was nowhere close to finding anything that looked like a toilet but had almost reached the Airport; unfortunately his flight was still three days away. When an Italian says, “ Va Sempre Dirrito”- Just keep going straight and points in a direction, it could be ten steps to ten miles in virtually any direction! So be careful when you do seek directions..

And have you ever wondered why all smartphone assistants and GPS have female voices giving you directions or responding to your queries. As per Professor Clifford Nass of Stanford University, the human brain is developed to like the female voice better and this starts when the fetus is in the womb. And then it does have some historical background too – it used to be the women radio operators who gave directions to the pilots during World War II.

 Incidentally some years ago, in Germany, BMW had to recall their GPS as the men did not want to take directions from women. And I have a dear friend, who after living several years abroad, argues with his GPS in colorful Punjabi to overrule the directions provided and lets her know that he knows the roads better! The one sided exchange of expletives is quite refreshing, to say the least.  Siri , Alexa , Cortana all have female voices and it is only relatively recently that some platforms provide you an option to get directions from a male voice of your choosing( Morgan Freeman/ Tom Cruise or what have you).

                                                       

 But on a more philosophical note, somebody once told me, “Don’t ask for directions if you are not going to start the car”. It has greater depth than I credited him for. Unless you get out and seek directions and get lost and move around in circles till you find your destination, one cannot know the road well. And as Lao Tzu wrote, “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading”. 

Powder Your Nose..

Powder Your Nose..

By

Vivek Hande

The sense of smell is a very important one and does contribute to the sense of taste as well. The sense of smell has a lot of emotional connect as well, as it is linked to memory in many ways. Smell triggers memories, passions, excitement, dreams, desires and what have you!The sense of taste is also quite reliant on the sense of smell.

Smell is not Small..

Impressions Do Count

Without nose-diving too deep into the business of smelling, it must be understood that humans are not as good at the business of smelling as say, dogs and rabbits. Man has about five to six million olfactory receptors high up in the nasal passages as opposed to a rabbit which has about a 100 million and a dog, which on average has about 220 million receptors. Hence, a dog is a much better “smeller”. Women are regarded as having a more acute sense of smell compared to men- no surprises there! There are a few basic smells – Fragrant/ Floral; Fruity; Citrus; Mint; Woody; Resinous; Pine/ Grass; Chemical(Ammonia/ Bleach); Sweet ( Chocolate/ Vanilla) and a few others .

Perhaps?

 If a person can’t smell completely or partially, he is Anosmic. Hyposmia and Hyperosmia refer to a reduction or an exaggerated sense of smell. Parosmia refers to perceiving a smell as worse than it is. Phantosmia is smelling odours which are not there. The sense of smell develops progressively after birth and generally plateaus by eight to ten years of age.  It then declines with age, with certain medications and with chronic colds. When a person smells, the information is sent to two areas of the brain – the Frontal Lobe which helps recognize odours and the Limbic System which is linked to memory – it is for this reason that a particular smell or aroma brings back pleasant or unpleasant memories!

A Perspective

It is so often that a particular smell brings back so vividly images of a particular event or a memory or an association with a person. The smell of hot Dosas on a Tawa may take you back to your childhood; the strong smell of rich coffee may transport you to a lovely morning in a Parisian café; the smell of fresh grass being cut may take you several years back to a Cantonment where you grew up; a particular cologne may remind you of a particularly stylish professor; the smell of earth just after some rain(petrichor) may take you back to a holiday in the hills; the smell of a delicate perfume may bring back memories of your first date and may actually remind you of what she was  wearing- such is the strong association of memories with smells!

It is hard..

It has to be very high on the list

Smells are expensive and a bottle of the DKNY Golden Delicious Million will set you back by a cool Million Dollars!! Of course, in addition to the fragrance, the bottle does add to the cost. One of a kind bottle, designed by jeweler Martin Katz, the bottle has a 2.43 Carat Yellow Canary Diamond on the cap. It does also have a lot more diamonds, rubies, sapphires embellishing the bottle.  A reasonable second is the Clive Christian Number 1 Imperial Majesty perfume smelling at $ 13000 an ounce! It lists as its ingredients Oris Root, Rose Oil, Tahitian Vanilla, Ylang-Ylang, Italian Cinnamon and Jasmine.  Anyone interested in powdering ones’ nose?

Powder your Nose-anyone?

Each one has his list of special smells. High up on my list is the smell of the pages of a book. Nothing can quite match the smell of a book as far as I am concerned.   One can never go wrong with the aroma of freshly brewed strong coffee. Lemon, Vanilla, Petrol, Freshly baked Cookies or a Cake- smells to die for.And another special smell is that of freshly laundered clothes. And then there is the smell of fear; the smell of excitement and the smell of possibility – all very strong and evocative smells! One can smell blood and one definitely can perceive the smell of success. It’s quite often that we do smell a rat and know that something smells fishy. Its best, perhaps to keep ones’ nose out of other people’s business and keep ones’ nose held high or there is a strong possibility that your reputation may nosedive!

Divine

Difficult to beat..

 Smell is also a very individual trait - a smell I perceive and appreciate in a particular way may be quite different from the way you smell it. But do stop by and smell the Roses- you will be a happier person- and I am honestly not being nosy!!

You will be a happier person..