Antique

 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 31^st.

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!