When the music stopped once more…

Often times there are people who are larger than life, there works make their presence seem like a universal truth. They are like the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, or they are like rivers or mountains. They are always there. We take it for granted that they would remain that way. But then, nothing is permanent in this world, not even our worries. The way a soap bubble bursts after it has outlived its resistance, or like a flickering flame of an oil lamp everything comes to its rightful end. 

Out of all painful endings, the most painful atleast for me is when a beautiful song ends. I have a habit of putting a song on repeat to create an illusion of an endless beauty. The elation that I feel at the beginning of the song is ridden over by the despair I feel when it ends. But thankfully with these smart gadgets that we own now, we can make the music go on for ever. But how do we do the same for people? Can we? Can we make them stay in this world forever? Sadly we can’t. Stalwarts like Gangoobai Hangal, MS Subbalakshmi, Jagjit Singh, Pt Kishan Maharaj, Prince, Mohd Rafi, Kishore Da, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, the list is endless..and now, added to it is Girija Devi, fondly known as Appa Ji by her disciples. This feels like we are slowly being emptied from within, everytime such a thing happens. And though Lataji has sung rightly, “Meri Awaz hi Pehchan hai”..Girija Devi too will continue to live in our hearts through her music. They all do. But the music dies a little everytime it loses such a guardian. 

Last night too, the music stopped once more. 

I for one felt that silence a little more prominently..