A lot of things catch your fancy when you're a kid. But then, you grow out of some and some just stick. I grew out of WWF ("suck it! suck it!" et al.) for one. The love for chocolates and the fascination with cars still remain.

To come to the point - Music. There seems to be some innate ability of ours to drink in music, that makes even 6 month olds jiggle to it. I loved banging vessels with my hands, pretending to be Zakir Hussain.

I've been a big big fan of songs with Shammi Kapoor in them..Junglee, Kashmir Ki Kali, Brahmachari. Md. Rafi's voice and Shammi's exuberance on screen meld into pure Melody..
Tarif Karoon is just brilliant - the words describe a woman so marvelously, I don't think anything else comes close.

हर सुबह किरण की लाली, है रंग तेरे गालों का
हर शाम की चादर काली, है साया तेरे बालों का

and of course,

ये चाँद सा रौशन चेहरा, जुल्फों का रंग सुनेहरा
ये झील सी नीली आँखें, कोई राज़ है इनमे गहरा

By the way, please ignore wrong spellings if any. My hindi was never very good.

Some of my other favourites when i was a kid - paapa kehte hain, mai khiladi tu anadi.

Oh yeah, i totally forgot MJ! See, there were two "English music" cassettes at home when i was a kid - GNR's Use Your Illusion 2 and MJ's Dangerous. MJ was the most played (i grew to appreciate the other cassette too, though later). I was fascinated by the Remember the Time video. It had things turning into snakes and sand. Super Cool.

He's got amazing music. You can't even count the number of hits he's had over the years. The bugger is so talented, its sad to see how his life has turned out.

I was introduced to other "English music" when i was in 7th or 8th standard by my sister. I listened to the Corrs, Boyzone and yes, Backstreet Boys( Everyoby, Larger than life) and Christina Aguilera ( Can't forget Genie in a bottle!). Eiffel 65's I'm blue was another song that's been in my head since then.

Major change happened in 11th standard. My classmates introduced me to Rock. Suddenly I was listening to Metallica and Nirvana. Pop was now crap. There had to be distortion sounds in a song or at least an acoustic guitar. Contrary to what a lot of ignorant people might think, an electric guitar doesn't make noise. What Jimmy Page, Kirk Hamett, Mark Knopfler can do with one is pure magic.

Metallica defines 80's Thrash. Drum and Guitar work in For Whom the Bell Tolls, Entersandman, Fade to Black, Nothing Else Matters is just brilliant. Loads of wannabe bands try to play For Whom..No less than three bands tried it out at Aisiri, and all of them failed miserably. Their soft side comes out in Low Man's Lyric and Mama Said, and they're as good as anyone else.

"Abbe Fear of the dark suna hai kya? Iron Maiden? Kya gaana hai yaar!".

After this excited suggestion from a classmate, i had to download it. I ended up downloading the Rock in Rio version of the song. Listening to the crowd singing out the tune, i realized where the true power of rock lies - in concerts. I dreamt of going to a concert ever since, and it was no less than what i had anticipated when i went to the Maiden concert last year. You jump to the music, you headbang, you close your eyes, you sing, you listen to the music. You don't care that there actually isn't enough place to breathe, or about the fat dude bumping into you again and again.

Problem was, i didn't have proper access to good music. Had a dial up internet connection making it impossible to download loads of music. Friends wrote me a cd or two but that was it. I struck gold in the Galli near my place where i found a guy selling English mp3 cds along with the Punjabi stuff. I found Dream Theater, GNR and Mr Big. Dream Theater has been classified as Progressive Rock. Whatever. They play brilliant music. Period.

I will never get bored of Sweet Chil'o Mine or Paradise city or Civil War or Estranged or November Rain or Don't Cry.

Rock obsession continued into college - SJCE Mysore.

And from here on, its a whole new story all together.