Gana aye ya na aye

 Each one of us has a favourite song of his or her own. Why do we like it? Try asking your family, friends or acquaintances why they like a particular song. Interesting answers would emerge.

Most people like a particular song because their favourite 'hero'(mind you, most often , not the actor) or "heroine" is performing (in) it on the screen. The charm of fandom most often goes in to the making of the appeal of a song.

A possible reason could be that the song belongs to a much loved film. In other words, the song is an 'open sesame' to a wonderful world. The song encapsulates vividly the unique world of that special film.

Yet another reason is that the song is associated with a deep seated, unforgettable memory of an event or a person. In other words, a favourite song acts more like a mnemonic.

Some people may like a song for its melody. The unique appeal of the melody could be due to the voice of the singer, its fragile delicacy, its soft tremor, its honesty, its openness, a certain something in the rendering which makes it the 'his/her master(ful)'s voice'.

At times, a more musically aware, ear trained listener may like a song because it uses a particular unusual musical instrument or a special folk tune or a unique raga.

The next stage   would be that certain listeners may like the music composer or the music director as he is Known in the common parlance.  Such listeners appreciate the nuances of the unique combo of the sur/the tune, the swara/the voice quality, the tal/rhythm that go in to the making of a signature tune of a music director.

Very few, almost a miniscule minority of one per cent, appreciate a song for its lyrical quality, its superb literary qualities, the way the poet has managed to create a world through the words that may be simple yet ornate, meaningful and precious.

That in a way is the tragedy of literature, and especially of poetry, a superb creation that a meagre handful choose to understand and appreciate. Poetry, always a "violet by the mossy stone/half hidden from the eye", sensitises existence with insights, ethics, imagination, integrity, beauty, word power, and everything else that is subtle and superb. All that is love's labour, and is never lost!

Pratima@our sweetest songs are made by our greatest minds/to whom the world is rarely kind.