Saturday, January 3, 2009

Jugni...

Firstly, the song may be read and listened to, here.

Ok.
The song appears at first, to be yet another typical peppy, Punjabi party number. And it is all of that, lest you develop early misconceptions from my writing. What it does to parties every single time it plays out its incredible little story, is beyond what words can adequately describe. The DJ becomes instant God, and the most spent bodies around you pick themselves up with a renewed force.
However, that is not what this post wishes to delve into.

And thus, we enter the 2nd level of thought that this song takes one into.
I was fortunate enough to have been pushed into that infinite well by a wingie of mine. His own feel for this song was inspiring, for unlike me, it is sanely rare that he appreciates something to the extent of becoming a dog for it (kutta ban jaana!).
So he took his sweet 16 minutes to explain the song word for word, feel for feel. And for the first time perhaps, I truly appreciated the worth of lyrics and words in a song. Not that I hadn't treasured them till now, but somehow they had always seemed second fiddle like with respect to the wonders of the beat, note and the entire composition. This was one of those rare occasions, when my interpretation of the piece was lent an invaluable hand by the (often taken to be) pedestrian cult of lyrics. For soon after I realized the meaning of the words being spoken:

1. I experienced how this piece was in fact immensely melancholic, tragic, and near depressing in its countenance. Thus the big party hit, did in fact have greater depth than that which causes people to go insane in front of 8kW speakers.

2. Eventually, I began to understand the tongue in which the music was trying to communicate. Things began to get much much clearer all of a sudden. 2 instances to clarify:
--The portion at 1:21 gradually transformed from a regular techno embellishment, to an accurate expression of one's transition to insanity; of how one of the first steps of loving someone or something is to lose one's mind in it's infinite expanses; of how this song seemed to highlight the less rosy side of that love, which though identical in element, is more intense in its shade.
--And the ending instrumental, though already catchy, suddenly stood up and introduced itself as the epitome of absolute power revealing her face as if in mockery of our tiny selves.

And as is very often the case in such matters, just as I began to wallow in a self-satisfied sense of accomplishment, at having successfully deciphered the song, I was told to shut up and sit down.

Out of the blue, I caught a glimpse of that punch which would leave me in a daze for as long as I wished; which would open my eyes to things never before seen, everytime I closed them. Given the near alien nature of this stimulus response, I shall not attempt to give it a socially acceptable form, rather, I shall choose to float on its waves, and write out all that enters and leaves my mind. Think of it as an extended, essay type Rorschach 'audio-blot' test.
Here goes:

All around, one finds inviting trails of sound, light, laughter, pain, tears and passion. But underlying all of these disparate entities, is one common denominator: Lets call it X for now, hopefully we'll stumble on an adequate descriptor by the time we end tonight. The 1:21 incident mentioned previously throws some light on someone passing through an invisible wall of madness, almost as if by chance. It was as simple as slipping from an N-storeyed high-rise, and yet as innocent in its observant smile as one's 2 year old nephew. And yet, after having reached the other side, one finds oneself unscathed, but for a growing sense of awe towards the hand which is causing this massive upheaval of sorts. Dusting, panting, one gets up, and is greeted by the protagonist, tragically unable to give form to that which has so indiscriminately coloured his unsuspecting mind. While at first glance this seems a plaintive cry for help as his beloved systematically deserts his very soul, leaving it bare and helpless in this big world, one soon sees that which punctuates the darkness all around.
The eternal pursuit for that elusive little 'jugni' suddenly catches one's eye, and one knows the end is near, at least for now.
It is there everywhere now. An artiste's pursuit of that perfection, often rendered zilch by the absence of the bhaav; one's absolute and complete surender, to that... that feel. The feel that enslaves all of mankind in its magical web of freedom; which takes one's very core to places one had never dreamt of; which alone has the power to break that which shackles the soul. The feel for nuclear fission, dhrupad, football, neural science, dance, poetry, service, love... shared by different people, to different extents, directed at different objects, either present or absent in the above non-exhaustive list.
One is exposed to a truth thus far buried deep under the earth; that which had been teasing one with stealing glances all this while; that whose immaculate brightness could not be concealed under the many layers of dirt and mirth poured over it.
The necessity to enslave oneself to one of those several faces, in order to find one's own path to freedom. For unless one gives up all one has, all one is, all one aspires to be, one is in essence nothing. The entire life is spent in this chase for that one thing, which shall take one to absolute void-ness, in order to endow one with that one unnamed elixir. One's pursuit of that ideal renders all other directions null and gloriously void.

One is incomplete, as long as one exists.
To give up and give in, is in fact to attain that which can otherwise only be aspired for.
When one comes to the end bare footed, empty handed, armed only with a smile, one has finished the race successfully, while most others loop around in never ending circles.

"Mainu Maar Gayi
Tu Yaar Meri
Tu Pyaar Meri
Tu Jugni Jugni
Tu Jugni Jugni"

For me, the point italicised above marks the lowest one reaches in terms of perceived self assessment. This point onwards, one embarks on a rising voyage, which attains critical mass at:

"O Jugni Tap Tap Tap Tap
Khoon Bahaundi"

For it is here, that one sees all that has been written above. One realizes the truth behind all the blood, sweat and tears.

And it is here, that one tries to share all that unbridled magic with one's own, and sits down to write.

Cheers mateys!

PS:
"O Jugni Aaja Aaja
Hath Na Aundi Ai"

Sigh...

2 comments:

Avanish said...

u know what dude, after seeing this post and also because of the many other instances that I have known you I would like to suggest to you a situation comedy named frasier. Eleven seasons and I suppose u wud like it.

Justin said...

Already love it! :)
Completed a season i think, before the forces of blinding hecticity caused us to part ways...

Cheers to South Park!

Q. - While people will always act within the bounds of human nature -- good people being good and bad people being bad, it takes religion to make good people bad.

A. - "Well, many religions also give people good reasons NOT to do bad things. And while people may do terrible things in the name of religion or via religion, they may have well still done them without the religion there -- it's just a justification provided for a choice already made."

-- Matt Stone & Trey Parker
(From South Park FAQ's)

Bet you didn't expect THIS from the ones who made Cartman and the gang! :)

Dilbert

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