Quick tale: Music

'You should feel the music, man!', he said, 'it doesn't matter if you understand it or not'

'I simply don't get it. How do I do it? I can't listen to some music where the only words I can make out are expletives', I managed a weak response.

'There is an energy to the music and you should let it carry you,' he gesticulated, 'Go with the ebb and flow of it. And keep listening to it enough times and you will get the lyrics. Maybe it is not Wordsworth, Shakespeare stuff, but it is cool, man!'

I rolled my eyes. 'Forget it. Maybe I don't have that deeper sense of music that you do. I'll listen to stuff that I can understand. You stop trying to convert me. I don't feel that I lose anything in life if I can't listen to someone rap about having anal sex'

'Oh! you are incorrigible. I shouldn't be even trying to educate you. What a waste of my precious two minutes'

The rest of the drive, we spoke nothing, me trying to think happy thoughts and him singing along 'An ass like that'. Thankfully it took us only one rendering of an Ass like that to reach our friend Karthik's place.

Karthik had just bought an amazing Hi-fi stereo system in the Christmas sale and we were here to celebrate it. He was, like the true Madrasi that he is, listening to A.R.Rahman. Dil se, arguably the master's best work, was playing on the stereo. In Tamil though (I didn't realise that it was made into Tamil as well... but then I do remember that it was a Tamil director who made the movie).

Our rapper hero got wild. 'Come on dude! You can't play this music. Varun and me don't know Tamil. If you have Dil se, the original Hindi one that is, then lets play that. Or else I'll run to the car and get my CD pack'