Celebrating the moment

Its been raining here since last night and I have been fishing out my favourite music from the nanosecond the first raindrop hit the ground. So it was old Lata numbers including the very melodious `uthaye jaaye unke sitam’, `thandi hawayein lehra ke aaye’, `aayega aanewala’ and `thandi hawa kali ghata’ among at least a hundred others that have been playing on the system setting the perfect mood for a perfect weather.
I love celebrating these small moments in life with music. While listening to these Lata songs, I started thinking of the lines I remember from my other favourite songs that are about living in the moment.
The song `Aanewala pal’ from the very funny `Golmaal’ film, has a line that goes, `Ek baar waqt se, lamha gira kahin’. I listen to this song several times only to hear this particular line over and over again. In a very funny filmi way, I mentally give a background score for situations in my life. So, this particular line is the perfect score when I am in love with a particular moment.
Another song, a ghazal that has been my all time favourite, coaxes people to live in the present__Farida Khanum’s `Aaj jaane ki zid na karo’ has this gem of a line: “waqt ke qaid mein zindagi hai magar, chand ghadiyan yahin hai jo azaad hai.. in ko kho kar kahin jaanejaan umra bhar na taraste raho”. I truly believe that there has not been a more beautiful expression to explain the reason why we need to live in the moment.
But then, some songs even question such moments that people treasure. Shyam Benegal’s `Sooraj Ka Saatwan Ghoda’ has this song: `Yeh shaamein, sab ki sab shaamein..kya in shaamon ka arth nahin. Ghabra ke tumhe jab yaad kiya, kya un shaamon ka arth nahin’ filmed beautifully on a depressed Pallavi Joshi and Rajit Kapoor who are singing the song to each other on the former’s wedding day as she is getting married to someone else. The imagery, which I vividly remember, is simply beautiful. Joshi clinging to Kapoor for dear life, rainfall in the background, light blue-coloured curtains swaying softly in the gentle breeze.
And even as I am writing this, I am listening to another melody, MM Kreem’s ‘chup tum raho, chup hum tahe..khamoshi ko khamoshi se baat karne do’ from Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin. I agree with these lines __ the most beautiful moments are best celebrated in silence.