The Power of music.

Everyone felt the effect of the pandemic. Some, devoid of privilege, felt it harder. Those of us who

could work from home had other issues to deal with. The extended working hours clubbed with the

increased screen-time caused severe burnout in everyone from students to working professionals. I

felt it too. Each day seemed to drag on, easy tasks took twice as long and procrastination bordering

on unprofessionalism became the norm. I plodded on, pushing myself to my very limit in every single

thing I tried to do. It was tough.

One thing that dragged me out of my gloom was music. I would listen to music indiscriminately; rock

music from the 80s while jogging, western classical music while studying or writing reports, and old-

school Bollywood while taking a break. It got me through times when I wanted to cry, when

everything got too much to deal with. I discovered new genres, listened to music in different

languages and got over the block in my head that only Western music is worth listening to.

I still don’t understand music the way aficionados do. I cannot tell you why the musician made a

certain choice for the melody or the lyrics. And when I listen to music in languages I don’t speak, the

lyrics go straight over my head. I do make an effort to look at lyric translations and interpretations by

native speakers of the language but a lot gets lost in translation. So, I just let the lyrics flow over me.

I was telling a friend that I have difficulty understanding certain types of music. And you know what

they told me? They said you don’t have to understand it; you just have to feel it. I had a little

difficulty grasping this. What a novel concept! Feel the music you can’t understand. Is it really that

simple?

As it turns out, it can be that simple. Music transcends all boundaries of country, language, and

culture that exist in our world. You have definitely danced to Psy’s Gangnam Style in 2012 and that

was in Korean. And who hasn’t vibed to Despacito, a song sung entirely in Spanish! I never made the

effort to look at the lyrics of any of these songs but whenever I listen to them, I am transported back

to a time when I felt happy.

Music has acted as a space for me to vent my frustrations, cry, laugh, giggle, dance, and most of all,

to let go; to let go of the pain within me, of all inhibitions and just lose myself in the music and feel

it. My respect for people who create music has just increased in this one year. People who write

music and lyrics, produce, and make the songs that move us.

Everyone has songs that make them cry, or put a smile on their face, no matter what. What’s that

one song that touches you so much that you can’t help but tear up? If you could send a message to

the songwriters of that song what would it be?

- Sasha Shinde.