The sound of music

Well, I did promise a blog on my love for music...now that I have so much time on hand, I think its time to get started on one.

To begin with, as a kid I was never really into music much, just a few bollywood numbers on TV or one of the million chart shows once a week. I remember the cassette collection that my dad had...I think he had well over a 100 cassettes...this was around the mid 90's, CD's were not in yet! I wud listen to a few of his cassettes once in a way, but again it never interested me much.

Then came a new school and new friends, and all they ever did was discuss MTV and Channel V, music channels that I cudn't care less about! Seriously, all the way upto my teens, Cartoon Network was my channel of dreams!!! But to fit in wid this new group, the 'cool' group, I had to change a bit, and change I did! Well, admittedly having an elder brother really helped the transition...he was already watching MTV, and I started catching a few shows wid him, and listening to a few songs when no one else was at home!

One day, my bro got a cassette of a few songs that he'd taped off from someone else's collection. I remember a few of the songs on that cassette till date. Backstreet Boys-As Long As You Love Me, No Mercy-Where Do You Go, Ricky Martin-Maria, Wes-Alane etc. were a few of the songs on there. I remember I fell completely in love with that cassette. The first time in my life I had a fave song...Where Do You Go by No Mercy...I used to feel so cool listening to that stuff and watching MTV, I was finally in the happening gang at school!

Then came Boyzone...I'm not sure how it started wid me and my crazy love for Boyzone, but it was true love!!! This was around the time they had come out with their album By Request, a collection of all their greatest hits. I saved every penny of my pocket money to buy the cassette, and oh I loved it so much! Every moment that I had I would be listening to it...that cassette was permanently in our deck, nobody in my family dared to remove it from its place!!! I had a new fave song...No Matter What...I loved that song, and all the other songs on that cassette! Of course, Boyzone also gave me one of my biggest crushes to date, Stephen Gately...that voice like velvet, that smile, that look...I was head over heels in love wid Stephen, same as a million other girls in the world!

A few months into my obsession wid Boyzone, my friend Shruti suggested that I keep an eye out for this new band called Westlife. I distinctly remember that conversation of ours...we were on the school bus back home, and Shruti asks me if I've heard this new song called Swear It Again by Westlife? Well, I hadn't, so she told me I should watch out for it on MTV, that they were playing it a lot these days. I asked her how I wud be able to identify that song, and she said that the video of the song was very simple, a bunch of guys dressed in black, singing in an empty auditorium with a green backdrop, and red seats. Black, green and red, those were the only colours I needed to look out for!!! Funnily, that very day, as I was having lunch I heard that song on MTV. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to listen to it properly, 'coz my mom was talking to me at that exact same time, but I got a feel for that song, and I knew I liked it.

Over time, I got a million other chances to listen to that song, and a few others as well. Boyzone was breaking up, but my sorrow was completely enveloped by my new found love - Westlife!!! The transition was so simple and complete, that I never realized when Westlife took Boyzone's place in my life. I'm proud to say, that affair, that started in 1999 lasts to date! Once again, I was in love, and when Westlife released their third single, Flying Without Wings, it kind of changed my world! To this day it remains my fave song, the only one that can calm me down especially when I'm really anxious like before an exam etc. I can play it at full volume, and that's enough for me to forget that a world exists beyond that song...it completely fills up my mind, and my thoughts...that's the power of that song for me! I guess that shud explain why I've named my blog Flying Without Wings better than my first ever blog did!!!

Anywayz, back to flashback, I was in love again. This time Shruti pointed out the guy to me...Mark Feehily...the dark haired one from the band! I started listening out for his voice on the songs, and boy was I in love again or what! I have to admit, 10 years on, I still love him more than anything else in the world. Those of you who know me really well, must be having a hilarious time reading this, and those who don't know me so well, here's the joke u r missing: Stephen and Mark are both gay! In my defense, I didn't know that when I ended up having a crush on either of them, and by the time I found out 'bout Mark, it was too late...I was in love already!!! I mean, c'mon, I'd had a crush on that guy for 5 years at that point, and that was 5 years ago, and I still have a crush on him, knowing very well that he's gay and engaged to his boyfriend of 6 years! If that's not love, I don't know what is!!!

Moving on from my pathetic love life, I never felt that way about any other band or singer since then. I do listen to a variety of music, from rock to whatever other sounds are pleasing to the ear, and I've never felt that kind of pull since then...until recently. Now, back in March, my friend Lola played this really big hit called Everybody In Love by JLS one day at college. I listened to that song and some others a few times, and before I knew it, I was hooked, I mean like completely hooked! I haven't felt this way about any band since Westlife, and that was 10 years ago! Now I have something new to look forward to, including a new crush...Marvin Humes...not gay, for a change!!! JLS is a by product of X-Factor, and I actually watched their whole season online and I knew I was in love again! Of course, JLS is nowhere near Westlife's league, I mean Westlife have had a 10 year headstart, and they're still going strong, touch wood! I am still firmly in love wid Westlife's music, and they are and will remain my #1 for a long long time!

Bottomline, music is now an integral part of my life. I can't sing, but I love the way a song I love can lift my mood just like that, and how I wait for a few of the songs on my random playlist to come on next. I cant imagine a life without music anymore and I cant remember ever having been so happy before I discovered the power of music. Now, I'm Flying Without Wings!!!