The Music in My Blood
A journey across genres, languages, decades, and one very long commute in Chicago. Every morning of my childhood began the same way. More so on weekends. My father would play MS Subbulakshmi's Suprabhatam, or Balamuralikrishna's Pancharatna Krithis, or MS Rama Rao's Hanuman Chalisa. The house would fill with Carnatic music before the day had properly begun. I did not know it then, but my ear was being trained. The commute that became a classroom My school was some twenty kilometres away from home in Hazaribagh, Bihar. I travelled by whatever was available. Private buses. Trucks. Matadors. Whichever vehicle was heading in the right direction. The drivers played Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan. Contemporary Bollywood at full volume, crackling through old speakers on dusty roads. I listened to every song. When I came home, my mother would have Kishore Kumar or Mohammed Rafi playing. Old classics. Guide. CID. Barsaat. The golden era of Hindi film music, filling the after...
