Inspirational Aspirations...

Till y'day you were my aspiration. Today, you are my inspiration."

So says one of K Balachander's characters in a yesteryear movie when he realises that he cannot marry the girl of his choice.

A couple of days back, I had the privilege of listening to some elevating music in Delhi. My good friend-Ajesh had taken me along to Siri Fort where some jazz legends were playing in the evening. He said it would be a good opportunity for me to get introduced to Jazz.

We went there without the passes and were lucky enough to get some spare passes from some DUdes (dudes from DU).

The pass mentioned something about commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's visit to India. As we stepped into the hall, we saw some celebs there- one could make out that it was an "important" concert.

Recorded music was being played. Ajesh enlightened me that these were black gospel songs. Then they played the speech... i mean THE speech...

... I have a dream... that one day, man shall not be judged by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character... i have a dream today... i still have a dream....

This was one hair raising experience... What power...and what amazing articulation of dreams...

Fittingly, the concert began with a rendition of "We shall overcome" by Dee Dee Bridgewater and Chaka Khan. Martin Luther King III, who was present in the hall commented that to a large extent, we have overcome.

Then came the masters- Ustad Zakir Hussain himself... George Duke and Herbie Hancock. Ajesh says (I now know this also from the internet) that Herbie Hancock is a living legend...

I could sense why this is so true- during the 120-150 odd minutes.... Those moments, I cannot describe... those feelings i cannot describe... and when they finally played Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, my eyes were moist...

A visit to the Russian market for a Tibetan dinner acted as icing on the cake (or sauce on the chowmein).

The theme for the evening was obviously dreams...and realizing dreams.

Incidentally, I've been reading this book- "the last lecture" and somewhere the theme in the book is rather similar.

All of us know our time here in this Janma is limited. But, if we knew that "X" is the number of years, months and days we have left to live, would we continue to lead our lives the way we do today? If we were asked what proportion of our aspirations have been fulfilled to our heart's content, would we have an answer? And what are we doing about these aspirations?? What am I doing about mine...

That dream to do this and this dream to do that...bahut nikle mere armaan... lekin fir bhi kum nikle.

Paush says, irrespective of whether we attain a dream or fail in the attempt, the attempt itself changes us for the good. I completely agree.

Well well well... I'll sign off on these thoughts. Have a concert to catch up with today at Nehru Park- Ust. Zakir Hussain and Pt. Shivkumar Sharma...

I still have a dream...