OK, let me say it. Music is like biscuits.
As you let that sink in slowly, let me give you some context.
It is that unearthly hour of a dark silent warm cozy night. I have been listening to and watching RKM on ustream.tv. I have got IPL last over finishes and its zillion ads under my skin. And don't mind confessing that the music is swirling in my being and giving me a good feeling. How to describe it? Yes, how to name it, as Ilayaraja once asked?
I just got it! RKM's music is like a biscuit...
For NRIs, wannabie NRIs and ABCDs amongst us, a biscuit is that freshly baked little or big honourable calorie snack that you call a cookie. What makes the large modern mall attractive is its wafting aromas of freshly baked biscuits as I would call them or cookies as you might. Cookies or biscuits as I prefer do not go overboard like doughnuts or pretzels. They show the middle path in the modern world of instant gratification where man struggles for escape from his prison of ice creams, burgers, chips, and coffee. As Asok said in the Dilbert strip yesterday, we Indians love our bread and starchy food. So biscuits is God's answer to our prayers. From humble me to the big B, we love biscuits. Too much for our own good.
And RKM's music is like THIS biscuit: fresh, fragrant, not too sweet, not too creamy, yet so crunchily delectable and something I can savour every bite. Just for reference, imagine the famous Pune's Kayani's Shrewsbury, fresh from the oven at 10:45 AM, and make it even crunchier, with a touch of coconut, cummin, somehow hinting at caramel- but without oodles of butter and sugar- no orange or chocolate smears, no hidden nuggets, no layers upon layers you need to deconstruct, no cloying sweetness packed into Parle G like gujjus in Santa Cruz. The ideal biscuit is like a short comfortable memorable scenic train journey from Palghat to Shoranur,
So, can you relate to my thoughts? What kind of a biscuit is your favourite musician?
Sachi R
RKM is short for Ramakrishnan Murthy, a brilliant 23 year-old Carnatic musician.
Epilogue:
High time we said something about biscuits in Sanskrit:
BISCUIT nAmaka bhakshaNam
rasamayam lokE sadA-swAdanam
yAtrE gAyaka-ruchikaram bahutaram
atyaMta AmOditam
MARIE bodhita madhukaram
priyakaram svalpam sadA-sEvanam
rasyam snigdhataram gurubalam
rasika-janA-lambitam.
(Note: It seems Carnatic musicians have often relied on Marie biscuits during long train journeys to keep body and soul together.)
