Every aspect of the new WorldSpace ad is too good! Be it the WorldSpace Signature tune played in a Hindustani style or the music shop or the Hindustani music lover (look at his expressions!) and then, of course, A.R.Rahman! Does he look cool! And then, the lines in the ad!

“So you love Indian Classical music? You spend every rupee you can on Ravi Shankar, Bhimsen Joshi? But, can a music lover ever have enough?” asks Rahman.

Yeah, can a music lover ever have enough? What is it that is there in music that never lets you feel you have had enough of it? What is there in music that makes you feel that every time you listen to it, you are elevated to a new state of bliss altogether?

If Rahman’s music makes me feel something, the effect that Carnatic music has on me is something different! Just imagine spending the whole day listening to M.S.Subbulakshmi or Mandolin Srinivas or M.S.Gopalakrishnan or Lalgudi Jayaraman or E.Gayathri or Madurai Mani or D.K.Pattamal or Nithyasree or my favourites Sanjay Subrahmanyan and T.M.Krishna or…. (the list is endless)! Pure bliss! The beauty of Carnatic music is how the same composition/raagam sounds different when it is sung/played by different people. Even if say, you hear the same raagam taken up for elaboration on three consecutive days by three different artistes or for that matter the same person, will it sound the same on all the days? The joy of attending a concert, not knowing what is going to be sung on that day and the joy you feel when your favourite song/raagam is sung! This element of suspense is what makes attending concerts something equivalent to listening to a new music album for the first time!
This is not so with film songs. There is a limit to which you can make changes while performing a song live on stage. The audience won’t be ready to accept hearing their favourite songs sung with many changes. (Hey, this is not a post comparing film music with Carnatic or anything! I am just penning down or rather typing my thoughts)
Coming back to the ad, I, or for that matter, any music lover can identify himself/herself with the Hindustani music lover who comes in the ad. If there is one thing that I find difficult in stopping myself from doing, it is buying CDs now and cassettes earlier. Every time I go to Music World or some shop, I will be in a state exactly like that person in that ad! :) Confused about what to buy and what to leave!
I don’t have much of a problem when it comes to buying CDs of film songs as I buy only the CDs of Rahman’s movies these days. I don’t find many good songs in the last couple of years by other MDs. (Of course, you all would have expected me to say this! ;) ) So instead of buying a CD for one or two good songs in a movie, I am satisfied listening to those songs in TV/Radio/Musicindiaonline.com. But, the problem starts when it comes to Carnatic music! Lots to choose from! I stood with 6 different CDs of TMK in my hand in a shop a few months back confused as to which one to buy and I finally bought just 2 comforting myself saying that I already attend many concerts of his!
Forget the part about buying CDs, will there ever come a time when I say I have had enough of music? The thirst for learning and listening to new raagams/compostions, delving deeper into the already known raagas and krithis and trying to understand and appreciate the finer aspects of those, is so much that I can say that music will always remain the one thing in my life that I just can’t part with. Apart from Classical and Rahman’s music, I want to explore other genres of music too!
Again quoting what Rahman said in the earlier WorldSpace ad, ‘There is so much to hear!’ :)
P.S.: Since it was about music, I couldn’t help writing a lengthy post!