During Ramzaan time, it is the norm to listen to blaring music in my locality. Most of the songs are sung by kids and I don't understand what they are singing but get the idea due to the occasion. At one such time, I heard a male voice over the speakers say "Dua keejiye, to bas Allah se keejiye". I just wasn't humoured by that. How can anyone tell me whom to pray to? Last I heard India is still a democratic country.
After a year or so, my father began to fall ill. I knew in my heart that it was not good but I didn't want to accept that yet. So I turned to the only avenue I knew that would provide me some solace and that was music. I heard about the MTV Coke Studio and checked out some of that. Two songs from season 3 really pulled me in. Both of them were done by Salim-Sulaiman. One of them was titled "Bismillah" and, guess what? It was the same song that I had heard on the loudspeakers and had rebuffed. The other was "Kare Mann Bhajan".
Now, I am no critic and have no training in music but something in these songs made me hopeful, made me feel that by trusting God and His will, I will get the strength I would need for my father. Every time I heard those, and they were very often indeed, tears would involuntarily flow. My father passed away and even now those songs continue to give me strength.
The point is that how easy it was for me to think "Oh! The sheer audacity of the singer to..". I should have known better. Religion really has nothing to do with music except give words to how one feels about God, no matter whether Allah, Jesus or Ram. For me, those words were a balm to a very painful chapter in my life. At that time, it didn't matter to me which God was being referred to because then, I seriously didn't care. I knew instead of Allah, I could might as well substitute Ram or Krishna and sing that as a prayer. I miss my father a lot but still listen to the songs as a memory of how music helped me stay sane and the words kept me functional.
