Pointers

Sometimes I feel that music has a less often quoted aspect, to which we all are probably familiar, consciously or sub-consciously. I think it acts as a memory aid !. And when I say that, I don't really mean the songs that we use to make as mnemonics to gulp difficult jargons to pass exams. I feel that many of the songs that are very close to my heart often define a certain phase of life for me. Whenever I come across those songs, casually or intentionally, it instantly takes me back in life and reminds me of some wonderful memories associated with it. The songs may not and need not really be about that particular 'phase', but they still remind me of it because of the association. Whether they were being played in background or in a rock show, or just in my thoughts, they become integral part of the scene, like we see in movies. To put it in the language of C++(which I don't know much about), the songs act as pointers to a certain block of data in the memory !.

Whenever I listen to the song Dance with me tonight, it reminds me of the lonely (but interestingly charming) time I spent in Delhi before coming here. I was stuck there for a week due to an exam that I missed and had to reschedule, for reasons I wont get into here. It was a bit of a messed up time, but somehow this beautiful song kept playing in my mind, and proved to be amazingly soothing. Interestingly, throughout that time, I had no real means of listening to music (no ipods/mp3 player or anything), and hence I didn't hear the song even once during the whole period. As i said, there was no real bearing of the song's meaning to that period, but it still reminds me of it.

When I listen to the songs Pale or Bitter sweet symphony I remember the time when I went rafting in my final semester of college. We camped in the night on a river beach, which was secluded from literally all kinds of civilizations. It was a full moon night and we could see the mountain range along side the river beautifully moonlit, with uncountable clusters of stars above. The place was filled with echoes of gushing water. It was an environment so loud and so quiet, at the same time. I sat there on the beach alone for a while, trying to think of a nice song (perhaps, to complete the scene unconsciously !). But I was so spell bound by the serenity of the place that I couldn't think of any for a long time. Then these two struck me. And I almost wished that there was a huge divine surround sound system which would play these for me there and then.

I listen to Stairway to heaven and I am reminded of the final trip we wingies had to Sikkim before dispersing for stepping into so called 'life'. I remember us lying on a boulder on the edge of the river and listening to this song on ipod sharing one earphone each.

I listen to No woman no cry and I remember the placement season ! It was 1 am in the night when I had casually dropped off CC canteen to have a cup of coffee. After having been exhausted from the grueling placement procedures and stuff, I was waiting for another interview at around 2 am. A pleasant scene awaited me when I reached the canteen. There was a group of alumni sitting there having a merry time together during their 35th reunion. Two of them were playing songs on acoustic guitar and the other alumni were gathered around, singing along and having fun. They switched to a new song, and as soon as they sang the first words (No woman no cry), everyone burst into laughter. I stood there for a while, my mind absolutely off from everything else in the world, even the upcoming interview (trivia: I cleared that interview and got the job).

I hear Fix you or High hopes, and I remember of sleepless nights during Antaragni, our cultural festival. I hear Sweet child of mine and I remember head banging at rock shows all night in the auditorium.

I can probably go on listing all night and I wont be able to give an exhaustive list. I may not be the unique one to feel so. And the songs might not be unique pointers as well. But probably more prominent ones, atleast for me. It gives me a queer peace of mind. And I feel happy.

Exercise for readers: Try to think if this happens to you too !

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