Crying does not come naturally to me. I consider myself to be a “tough” type who does not get tears in his eyes at the drop of a hat. I don’t often get teary eyed – whether I am watching a Bollywood tearjerker, or even dealing with the death of someone I knew well.
I heard the song “Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon” sung by Lata Mangeshkar for the very first time as a teenager in the late 1970’s. The song captivated me like very few things have, and in spite of being very embarrassed, I could not stop the constant stream of tears coming out of my eyes as I heard the song.
30 years later I am learning to play the keyboards, and happened to talk about this song with my teacher Mr. Vishnu Deshpande last week. Mr. Deshpande is an absolute wizard with the keyboards. As he played the song, I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, and very soon I could not stop myself from crying.
After the class I brought up youtube on my computer and heard the song again – same result. Every time I hear this song, I cry uncontrollably. Why?
I know it is not the musical notes, though they are magnificent. I know it is not Lata’s voice either, because I have heard hundreds of Lata Mangeshkar songs without ever crying.
Is it the lyrics? – Probably yes because they touch your heart. So I just read the lyrics without the music or the notes. They sounded good, but I did not even come close to crying.
So what is it about the song? To be honest, I don’t know. It is probably incredible song writing, magnificent music, and a magical voice coming together that produces this effect. I don’t really know, but you can bet your last rupee that I will keep hearing this song over and over again, and cry like a baby every time I hear it, even though it is not what I want to do!
