Tripping on strings.

What-ey. This morning i heard somebody playing Strings, and my mind flipped a switch. It was beautiful listening to songs with melody not just in music but also in the lyrics. Started with "Yeh hai meri kahaani" from Zinda Hoon, one of the most goose-bumpy songs i have ever come across. Then went on to hear Anjaaney, Duur, Dhani, Naa Jaane Kyun, and then to songs from various singers - Chandni Raatein (my theme song from school days when i used to have a crush on my neighbour), Sajna aa bhi ja, Chand sa mukhda (my theme song for school days when i vacationed in Hyderabad and had a huge crush on the guy a lane away whose balcony looked onto ours) and more. And as i hear them, i'm reminded of lovely, lovely days from the past. Days when love was about meeting just a guy and falling for him totally and weaving dreams of marriage around him; days of hide and seek with balcony doors, with songs blared across the street as signals to come out of hiding; days of waiting for him to park his bike in the passage just outside our dining room so we could sneak in a touch or two through the window; days that melted into nights that melted into never-ending sighs that melted into...well, just melted. (Imagine me smiling wistfully at this point.)

So, anyway, beautiful days. Listening to the songs also reminded me of something else, something M - a Swedish designer we met at New Year's - said when we sang songs for her on the way to the after-party. She said that the songs were so intense, so full emotion. It's true. Most songs in the past were, thanks to writers like Gulzar, Javed Akhtar (he used to be good in those days), musicians like Khayyam and more. They brought emotions alive without, you know, trivialising them the way its done these days.

I figure that's probably why we never let go of our past entirely - because it has given us some of the best days of our lives. (Thanks Bryan Adams for that last bit.)