Singer Neil Diamond’s Solitary Man never found his true beloved Melinda, but it is the same number that inspires Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals Sangita Reddy to console countless solitary suffering men. She states, “In this era of hi-fi technology and cut-throat competition, a feeling of unity and togetherness is missing. I support the use of artificial intelligence for healthcare but never believe in superficial emotions.”
Unlike Sangita, many others who have been successful in their careers, have lost touch with ground reality.
Music to them is like a dead river. But not to Sangita who says, “Smile away the past as spring is here at last.” A motto inspired by the famous lines of Pat Boon’s Anastasia.
What role does music play in creative musings and inspirations?
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan once stated, “Music is a great form of creativity. Be it the strumming of sarod or piano counters, they soothe and inspire lots of creative aspirations. Compositions of Beethoven and Mozzart inspire me in the same fashion as rebellious sitar jhankars by Ustad Vilyat Khan.”
Music and creativity are like husband and wife. One is incomplete without the other.
No wonder when eminent English poet Sharmila Ray indulges in creativity, she is emotionally charged by music. States Sharmila, “I have experimented with painting, Indian classical and western dance. But the last 25 years have been very meaningful to me. These poetic journeys of mine have been influenced by music. Neil Diamond’s The Singer Sings His Song and Nana Mouskouri’s My Friend The Sea give me strange feelings. I am inspired to pen social and human concerns through my poems.”
Legendary Maqbul Fida Hussain designed the cover of a book of poems by Sharmila, Living Other Lives, without even knowing her personality.
He stated that while reading Sharmila’s poems, he discovered a hidden undercurrent of music. It flows like a silent rivulet.
Cinema is obviously the greatest medium of art. Music and movies are interrelated. Dimple Kapadia was found practicing the rhythm of Yara Sili Sili for Lekin at Mehboob Studio prior to shooting.
Sitting on a staircase, created on the sets, she was rehearsing and lip-syncing her movements.
It was a sight never to be forgotten by those who viewed it back then.
Says Dimple Kapadia, “As an actor I am certainly concerned with music. Music is a true friend of creative musings. Barbra Streisand is my favourite singer. My creative spirits receive a big boost when I hear Dalia Lave’s, My World Can Be Your World. It is in one way my philosophy too.”
No wonder Madhuri Dixit is launching her own album of English songs soon.
An ardent admirer of Dean Martin and Nancy Sinatra, she once said, “I feel like walking during summer in an orchard all on my own reacting to the great number Strawberries, Cherries and Angel Kissing Springs.”
Time and again this haunting melody has inspired Madhuri’s creative instincts.
Creativity sans music is unheard of. Even scientist Albert Einstein or economist Amartya Sen have been moved and inspired by works of Frédéric Chopin and Rabindranath Tagore.