Bathroom singer to rising star on social media stage
It is a fact that anyone who can warble never escapes being a bathroom singer; not only just the singer of a particular genre or a type, but an accomplished singer who can render all types of songs and even classical ragas.
The entire gamut of a person’s singing talent is on display because he seldom restricts himself to a particular theme. One song follows another. New film songs mingle with the old melodies and the resultant medley is a veritable fare of the much-loved fusion music of the day.
It is not simply the vocal chords which get stretched to their resonant limits; the palate, the lips and the uvula, all come into their own and the singer often gets instantly transformed into a whistler and a flautist without a flute. Such exceptional blurring of genres makes one feel that postmodernism, the much talked about cultural phenomenon, must have had its origins in bathroom singing.
What triggers singing in the bathroom is difficult to say. But certainly, there must be something in the ambience that tickles the music centres in the brain and even those having the croaking voice of a toad turn into nightingales. Shrill discordance momentarily turns into euphony. This metamorphosis is intriguing, and one wonders why a Kafka didn’t spin a yarn or two about such a musical transformation, rather than write a horror story ofa human being turning into an insect!
What a person sings in the bathroom never follows a set pattern. It is the mood that dictates the song. The sad old numbers of Talat Mahmood and KL Saigal are symbolic of a restless mind pining for love. The foot-tapping numbers such as Chhammak Chhallo of rapper Akon capture the exhilaration of a mind rejoicing in celebration of life. The mushy sentimental numbers of the bygone era are symbolic of the desire to relive that period when melody was queen. The soul-stirring ghazals of Jagjit Singh are indicative of a contemplative mood.
The seamless transition from a Jagjit Singh to Akon and back to Saigal and Noorjehan is a common experience of every bathroom singer. This musical journey is accomplished most unselfconsciously. Whatever a person may sing and in whichever way, time stops once the songs start gushing forth. The mind itself becomes an Aeolian harp and the whole being sways to the synchronised rhythm of the melodies flowing out of the mind and the dulcet notes of the water raining from the shower. All this happens without any riyaz.
The harmonies emanating from the bathroom are disrupted only by violent knocks on the door because after having been occupied for a long time, the musical haven has to be vacated for someone wanting to occupy it for un-musical reasons.
Outside the bathroom, the singer is just a normal person; he loses the uncanny ability to transform himself into anyone and everyone. He seldom hums aloud.
However, the emerging music scene holds the promise of a bright future for all bathroom singers. Newer technologies have revolutionised and democratised the music scene. The ever-increasing breed of WhatsApp crooners proves that anyone can give virtuoso performances to the silent, smiley applause of large audiences. Each bathroom warbler can hope to be a rising star on the social media music horizon. With technology, the day of the bathroom singer seems to have arrived.
THE ENTIRE GAMUT OF A PERSON’S SINGING TALENT IS ON DISPLAY BECAUSE HE SELDOM RESTRICTS HIMSELF TO A PARTICULAR THEME