How do things become extinct?
Is it Nature’s Law or is it a man-made
law?
Now, see this- Two species of
plants first discovered more than 125 years ago in Andamans and Meghalaya are
now extinct. Both incidentally belong to the ginger family and are classified
under Boesenbergia. The reasons for their extinction , given by two botanists
from Kerala, include Climate Change and over-exploitation from man.
Can one hope to find these
again?
Before I get into that, let me
think of things which have become extinct- Fountain Pen, Cassette Recorder, CD
Player, Transistor radio.. The list also includes DVD players and i-pods!
Why did these become extinct?
Technological advancement? Or
is there any other reason?
Well, I am not a person who
closes his eyes to modern development chanting ‘Old is gold’. At the same time,
to me such extinctions suggest things which might appear ludicrous on the face
of it, but at same time could also trigger some thoughts.
When we give up things which
were in existence once, don’t we also give up the value we attached to those
things once upon a time? Can we ever give up or even attempt to give up the
joy, the satisfaction and the ecstasy these gave us? Most importantly, can
those moments ever be erased?
Yes, we move on but not
without reliving those moments and also looking back with reverence, with
fondness and with love.
‘Change is the only constant
in the world’, said somebody. I look at this rather from a different angle. To
me, that ‘constant’ is as valuable as ‘change’ and that ‘constant’ signifies
the moments in the past, moments which left an indelible mark in our life.
Whenever a particular date
appears on the calendar (which itself has become extinct), one cannot help
reminiscing about the previous 364 days. To some, it would give sadness. To
some, it would give happiness. To some, it would give a mix of both. But unmindful
of all this, the date smiles at us like Mona Lisa and bids adieu.
No points for guessing the
date which is Dec 31st.
What is interesting and
intriguing is the fact that invariably everyone looks at the next year with
hopes irrespective of whatever had happened before. If not for any other
reason, this alone makes the date very valuable.
Let us make this valuable day
more valuable by looking at a song which too is extinct, or rather very rare.
What makes ‘Happy New Year’
from ‘Oh Maane Maane’ (1984) special is not just the first line. The
composition has shades of Baila, a form of music popular in Goa and in Sri
Lanka. The ubiquitous bass guitar throbs almost throughout the song. The lead
guitar too leads the orchestra in many places.
Are these the only
specialities?
Of course, there are more. Let
us look at the song from the beginning.
The song starts with those
three words which one will hear ad nauseam tomorrow. The claps are joined by
the bass guitar and the lead guitar and even as the claps gather momentum, the
piped instruments enter and dance with a feeling of joie de vivre.
The Pallavi in the voice of
Malaysia Vasudevan brings more joy as the singer modulates his voice and is
joined by another singer (Sundararajan, Raaja sir’s assistant for many years).
The guitar and its cousin bass
guitar sail smoothly in the first half of the first interlude but it is the
brass flute which grabs our attention not least because of its varied usage.
Gliding smoothly to start with, it moves picks up pace and even gives a feeling
of poignancy. The guitar cousins back it throughout albeit differently.
The lines in the CharaNams
move cheerfully in the major scale and this has to do also with the rhythmic
pattern in tisram. The female voice(Janaki) is a bonus while the bass guitar
which is present throughout adds pulsating weight.
The different sounds of guitar
make the beginning of the second interlude graceful and elegant. The piped
instruments enter in the second a la first interlude but the
similarity ends there. These have more vigour and zeal in this interlude with
the dash of alien notes adding to their winsome variations.
Joy, happiness, hopes and
yes…nostalgia. These will exist and will continue to exist without ever
becoming extinct.
Happy New Year!
