So simple..!!.....???!

I was thinking how simple things which occur in our nature can be so complicated if we look at it closely . I was listening to choti si asha song from movie roja. I remembered the fisherman throwing fish net and a boat in calm water and a big water falls from that movie. Then the question came…. “how? "

Hmm. . As the sound waves struck my ear drum the disturbance was transferred to inner ear . There hair cells(neurons) in organ of corti got excited and started firing . It was carried upwards by vestibulocochlear nerve . By this time sound was converted into information of certain code by differentiating pitch of the sound and the amplitude of vibrating surface area of cochlea, the hearing organ.. And then information was 'filtered' at nerve nucleus in the brainstem . From here upwards only the info which was of any significance to me were allowed higher. I have no idea how it will be done but as the information reaches the brain, temporal lobe to be specific, it will be again refined . The information regarding music will be sent forward for further processing. The same signals will be sent to different lobes of brain simultaneously.

At the beginning when I decide to listen certain gate keeper neurons keeping memories of musical sounds will be having a low threshold of excitation . This might occur by co excitation or cross firing from frontal cortex to memory area. So the new signal is compared to the memorised signal or summated 'on the fly' . If there was any associated visual memory stored which in anyway relates to the incoming signal it will be immediately sent as ‘attachments’ to my frontal cortex wherein my consciousness resides. Hmm may be my occipital lobe may also play a part in this as I could see it in my minds eye!!

How can all these occur within milliseconds?? Science gives me the answer as electrochemical interactions…. Nature never ceases to amaze me..

So simple…………….yet so complicated isn’t it??

Musings about music..

It's been a long time since I wanted to write about music..finally I have sat down to write few words about it. I’ve always  wondered how man invented music..Here are the few thoughts which came across my mind. May be it was a man who saw a bird singing beautifully and tried to imitate it. Or may be it was  a mother who was crooning her child and in that intense moment of affection she started singing. May be it was a heartbroken lover..All  the intensely  felt emotions lead to creation of music. We can say that one piece of music is worth 1000 emotions !

I had the chance to get exposed to different genres of music ..My father is a big fan of old hindi songs and my mother is a staunch follower of carnatic classical music. I grew up listening to both of their favourite songs along with that the concurrent bollywood and indipop songs in the  tv and radio. Once after coming to mangalore my roommate first exposed me to rock music..soon I heard different genres of western music such as rock,jazz,pop,hiphop,blue,altern etc…

And one more thing about music it’s a completely different experience when you listen to it and when you create it yourself..you can try and see, you feel strangely deprived of all the emotions at the end of creating music. so it shows clearly that all your emotions came out in the form of music .Thats what I felt when I tried creating my own variations in alaap of a raga in classical style. I‘ve reserved more such experiences for a separate blog on my violin. Yes I have learnt to play violin in carnatic classical style. I was also vocally trained for few years which I have not used since so many years.

Whatever may be the genre of the music , the final idea is, music is a form of expression of  unspeakable or inexpressible thoughts and emotions. you see the beautiful world and you want to show the beauty to others.. so you sing ..to share the joy that u felt or to share any other emotions you want to share.

I have an observation to make about an interesting difference between the Indian and western music. I feel western music exaggerates your feelings i.e, if you are happy it makes you more happy and if you are sad it makes you more sad. Whereas Indian classical music calms you down no matter whatever state you are in..if you are happy or sad you end up being calmer than before. I m not saying that western music is inferior to Indian one. No way, because for a musician every single piece of music created in this earth  should be  beautiful. That’s my view on this issue. I support both western and eastern music equally, since they are two sides of the same coin.

Thats it for today..will write much more on further posts..

THE WINDOWS AND THE GATES

Hehe actually nothing related to Microsoft here ;) . I was musing about my own memories of my home, the one I will be leaving soon . I don’t know about others but in my home ,the gate and the windows are literally gates and windows to many many memories.. every time I look at them I  get reminded of one or the other events , sometimes many events revolving around the same place..

This is the gate to my home, it also is a gateway to lots of memories. I remember playing shuttle badminton with my sister using this gate as net!! That was when I was in 5^th std I guess.. I used to climb the gate (left part) and move along with it..I remember many important people opening the gate and coming in..I also remember the first time when I took  our car outside this gate. Just as I write all these still more memories flood in to my consciousness..its as if a big part of my life is intimately linked to it.

 

 

 

 

 

                                               

This window also has something to tell..you can see a newspaper lying there right? This window is right in front part of the house. This is where I used to enjoy reading newspaper everyday morning along with chai..Its a ritual to me , to enjoy the daily tea with news, if I miss either of the two, I will be upset whole day! Once I was so engrossed in reading news that I got up without realizing the sharp edge of window was behind me..I had a nasty injury to my back to remember that event!

                                  

This window is in terrace,  where I used to practice cricket alone..:) the marks of dirty ball impact are still there on the walls ;) . Also when I did not get the expected ranking in AIEEE, I remember myself braving it in front of others and afterwards quietly coming here and crying my heart out..I thought I had lost completely  in life and there was no hope. How wrong I was.. I realize now that my failures  were tests of my strength to cope up. I’ve learnt more from my failures than from my successes.

                                           

Hmm .. this one looks kinda scary isn’t it? In fact it is… this window has given me more nightmares than you can ever imagine..whenever I see this window only one picture flashes in front of my eyes. The picture of my father , holding his chest in one hand and supporting himself on the railings as he suffered from angina for the first time.. he was sweating profusely , was breathing labouriously  and was asking for help.. I never felt such fear and helplessness ever before ..fear of losing  my  family.  It looks as if the cursed moment still lingers around this window..

Closing the windows , I would like to add that this is an effort to console myself for the reason that I have to move to a new house. Its such a difficult experience for me to leave a place which I called home for last  15 years. But change is the constant thing in our life isn’t it. I would give still more glimpses of this place  ..next time..