Nature’s orchestra, always at your disposal

Often, it is the gentlest of melodies that lingers in one’s heart. If I look back in time, quite a few examples float into my mind. The gentle tapping of the spoon on the glass by Zeenat Aman in the prelude to the evergreen hit, “Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko”, the sound of the Hooghly river water striking against the boat in the song, “Kuch To Log Kahenge”, or the symphony of the raindrops striking against the roof in the song, “Rim Jhim Rim Jhim”, still reverberate in my heart even years after I first heard them.

Indeed, gentle melodies waft all around us, largely unnoticed. I made this unexpected discovery a couple of days back, in my sixth decade of life, when I decided to add a morning walk to my cluttered and over-crowded schedule.

The moment I stepped into the nearby park at daybreak, it felt as if I had entered a big nature’s auditorium. The number of steps that I took or the number of calories that I burnt did not matter anymore. The sound of the gentle breeze blowing through the Peepal trees seemed to strike a hitherto undiscovered melody.

The friendly chirp of the common house sparrows perched on the canopies spoke in lyriccal language that simply sank into my consciousness.

The grating sound of my sneakers crushing the senescent leaves strewn on the walkway made for a perfect beat. A family of three to four parrots sat on a jacaranda tree as if waiting to join in the grand musical symphony. Their playful fluttering of their wings only added to the magic.

Before long, the sky darkened and the breeze picked up a few scales! I felt the first raindrops falling from the heavens above.

I quickly sought refuge under my umbrella and, lo and behold, the ongoing musical extravaganza took an entirely different turn! The pitter patter of the drizzle on my umbrella seemed to sing lyrics that required no words. The sparrows had quietened down. It looked as if the Almighty, the Conductor of the orchestra, had signalled them to be silent at that moment.

The nature’s musical performance had more nuances than I had realised until then. The sound of the raindrops falling on the leaves of Garden Nasturtium added to the richness of the melody. What is more, the sound of the very same raindrops falling on the flower bed was a perfect garnish to the already mesmerising fare.

“What a morning!”, I said to myself. Until this morning, I had never realised that the innocuous drizzle had so many layers of music hidden within it.

A distant jingle of a cigarette lighter echoed in my memory with a gentleman by the name of Dev Anand singing, “Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhaata Chala Gaya.” May I add to this, “Har Fikr Ko Baarish Mein Udata Chala Gaya”!

FROM THE FRIENDLY CHIRP OF SPARROWS, THE PLAYFUL FLUTTERING OF THEIR WINGS, THE PITTER PATTER OF THE DRIZZLE AND THE GENTLE BREEZE, SWEET MELODIES WAFT ALL AROUND US, LARGELY UNNOTICED