My Music@Jo.com

Logical Derivation: When Shakespeare said “If music be the food of love, play on” he was making a statement to the effect that Music is a type of food. So the natural corollary of this would be that, “One man’s food is another man’s poison.” In other words, what is music to one’s ears is noise to another’s. I’m sure most people would agree to this piece of logic.

Words vs. Tune: In music either people like the words, or the tune, or both. In my opinion, if you want to appreciate the words, it should be read like poetry, with the mind lingering on each line and then re-read it to digest the beauty of the words, the sentiments expressed therein and the total impact of the poem. But what really touches the heart is the melody of the tune, the soul stirring notes, the way it unwittingly brings out emotions that you never even knew you possessed. If the tune is not appealing to the senses, one may not even pay attention to the words, however good they may be. Try putting a tune to your favorite poetry and see whether you like the effect. If the tune is nice and you are good enough at composing lovely music, then you will enjoy it but otherwise, the beauty of the words is lost. Words are limited in their appeal as they can reach out to only those who understand that particular language. Translations totally ruin the effect. Several times I have loved the lyrics of certain songs, but I would have heard them only after the song was played several times. At such times I wish they had better tunes and I even feel like trying my hand at composing them ;-). Maybe I will one day.

Definition: I would therefore like to define music as - Tunes that soothe the mind, stir the emotions, excite the senses and get that adrenaline flowing. Tunes reflect every mood in existence and that’s why it is easier to identify oneself with almost all types of tunes. There are lilting tunes, hip-hop tunes, racy tunes, rap tunes, soulful haunting melodies or sensual numbers. Some tunes scintillate, others are humorous, some are so terrible, you wonder at the guts of the composer to give us such trash. For a true music lover like me, all types of music are enjoyable as long as the tunes are great. My taste in music moves with the times, while never forgetting the golden oldies. I pride myself in not being biased towards new fangled music, or to turning a deaf ear to what good or brilliant. Why do we enjoy the tunes and rhythm of the African drums, or the chanting tones of religious verses, whatever be the language? The answer is right in front of us – Music knows no language, it is the language of the heart and an expression of art. It acts as a bond between people and connects all races and cultures across the world. Folk music across the world is so well received despite it being very elementary in its compositions and musical value. No language can mar a lovely tune, but badly composed tunes with great lyrics are bound to be disastrous. I am reminded here of one particular line which has inspired me a lot. I think it was from a song by Neil Diamond (please correct me if I am wrong). It went something like this –“…you are the sun, I am the moon, you are the words, I am the tune, Play.”

Does Cashew Really Slim the Waist?

I remember reading an article about 10 years ago, which swore "Cashew Slims the Waist" :-). However no mention was made of whether that cashew had to be raw or roasted and/or salted as well (We are not talking here about honeyed or caramelized Cashew nuts, 'cause I doubt if those will ever slim the waist - LOL). Nevertheless I would like to believe what the article said and hope that it is true.

Recently I went on a binge of roasted salted cashew nuts myself. While I cannot say if they did anything to my waist, I do know that they didn't go waste. They gave me a high. I savored every exquisite nut because of the perfect quality of roasting and the proportion of salt, which was just what my taste buds ordered. I used to eat so many at a time that invariably the only way to stop eating them was when the tongue started getting ulcers due to the high salt content. Not one to give up easily, I tried slowing down the rate of intake, but not quite the amount!! That way, you see, I would be able to allow the salt from the first couple of nuts, to be washed away by the natural juices of the mouth and then I could continue with my binging.

After ploughing through a whole kilogram of such nuts I called it a day, (not that my craving had gone or that I was totally satiated). But a few days later, I had another attack of what is known as the Meniere's syndrome. This had returned to me after a gap of more than two years. I read up all I could on it and found that it gets aggravated with high salt intake. I can only put it down to the recent binging on those oh so exquisitely salty, roasted cashew nuts. Well waist or no waist, I am not going to allow my body to waste away if I can help it. So perhaps the next time I want to think of slimming my waist through cashew nut intake, I should think of the raw, unsalted ones. Now I’m sure you are thinking that I am truly Going Nuts!!!