Very recently I happened to hear Ms. Shobha De speak in an interview. I frankly don’t know much about Shobha De. I have not read properly a single piece written by her. I even saw the interview in quite bits-n-pieces while doing some other things, but the last thing she spoke about in that interview was extremely sensible and made me think about it.
She was asked what she would advise young writers to do. She simply said: to write! Writing is just like any other art, where a daily riyaz is absolutely necessary. Around 500-2000 words have to flow through your pen every day. Just like a musician practices every day, irrespective of whether he is performing or not, a writer also must do it. Otherwise he should not call himself a writer.
That made me think about a comment I had heard around a year back. One of my musician friends, let’s call him Mr. A, had commented on another common musician friend of ours, let’s call him Mr. B. Mr. A had said something like: “Hehehe…yeah, he plays guitar, he can decently move his fingers around some chords, but he is not a guitarist!”
Now that I think of it, I don’t remember what Mr. A had in mind when he said that. I had agreed partly on that comment that time, since although Mr. B loves music, Mr. B is not a musician by profession and cannot devote as much time to practice / learning music as much as he would like to. Frankly, I do not know more about priorities of Mr. B, so I am not the right person to comment anything further on it. But that remark surely had made me think about myself as a guitarist.
I am quite a beginner level guitar player, if not complete novice. I was like that a year back, I am like that right now – with of course whatever improvements I have managed to achieve in a year. But I used to wonder quite often whether should I or should I not call myself a guitarist?
But now after listening to that interview of Ms. Shobha De, I am quite proud to call myself a guitarist. Having said that, I must clarify that it is based on my interpretation of that term. Well, I happen to have some musical background (active - with respect to playing the Harmonium before I started playing guitar, passive – with respect to whatever exposure to music I have been fortunate to have since my childhood). But it does not interfere with my ideas & understanding about the term “guitarist”. A guitarist, for me, doesn’t necessarily mean that that person is a proficient/skilled guitar player. When I call myself a guitarist, it just means the following:
I have dedicated considerable portion of my life to music. The guitar, or music at large, is not just an interest for me, it’s been a passion.
I have been involved in an active relationship with my guitar for around 4 years now.
I have sincerely tried to better myself with the instrument ever since I first laid my fingers on it. To best of my efforts, I try to practice every day as much and as often as possible.
I really don’t know how many of you out there would agree upon my interpretation. But I honestly feel that a dedicated musician - with continuing, regular & sincere efforts over a period of time to improve his skill - irrespective of his current skill level - has a right to call himself a guitarist/pianist/violinist/vocalist or as the case may be.
Nobody’s right or wrong just because majority of people say they are right or wrong. Who has said this or something similar? I don’t seem to recollect. But I do think being different is not necessarily being wrong. Am I right?
Why do we express ourselves, just for the heck of it, just because we want to start a fight to vent our frustration or because we are looking forward to those replies so that we feel that we are also being heard and replied to by somebody out there? I myself am expressing all this right now simply because it’s going on for far too long and it just got too much to handle. I had to vent it out.
People express themselves. They comment on current affairs, they have their suggestions, remarks, opinions, recommendations etc... I talk to them. I talk to them about this. We have discussions. We have arguments. I try achieving a truce by saying that what you say is your opinion, what somebody else is saying is their opinion. I am saying my opinion. You are saying your opinion.
In spite of getting tired of using the same word again n again n again n again, why do 90% people don’t understand a simple word called opinion? If somebody’s saying something, why do you have to attack (attack need not be taken literally here) him/her, if you don’t agree with it? Just like you have the right to have one, they have the right to have one too. It’s just their opinion, it’s not the end of the world, and definitely not something which gives you the right to attack him/her.
But the worst part is yet to come. When I try to tell them – or should I use the “keyword” – express myself about this, they start to ridicule me! Whoo-ah!! Till that moment, I wasn’t even a part of their world. I was just an inconsequential somebody. But then at this moment, I suddenly become the great Mr. Damle who is trying to preach others! People either take me too lightly or they discard me from the conversation as an extremely serious person. Awesome. I sometimes don’t understand why the hell I bother to express myself? Is freedom of expression worth all that if it’s going to be ridiculed upon and not taken seriously?
There are so many times when I feel that I don’t seem to fit in. I just don’t. I studied the expression “lonely in the crowd” so many times in school, college etc, but never really felt it as starkly as I do these days. May be I am at the wrong place at the wrong time. May be I am not adaptable enough. Whatever may be the reasons, the bottom line remains that I, for sure, suffer due to this brilliant expression exercise.
So what do I do? Good question. I think I have found out an answer to that, an effective one at least for the time being. Its going to be my useless talent no. 67: Keeping my opinion to myself. Freedom of expression is not worth it.
