It’s approximately 2 a.m. I am finally realizing what my friend Abhir always says about the stock market, financial analysts, traders, investors etc. Often I ask him about how an investor enjoys his profits if all he thinks is how he can invest the money back in the market to make it grow further. Abhir always tells me the concept of money for an investor is like that of a growth chart. An investor doesn’t make money because he just wants to spend and enjoy that money. He simply makes it just because that acts as a standard against which he measures his own performance in the financial markets and thus, gets a great pleasure when he sees his return on investment has increased from Rs. 5 crores to Rs. 10 crores.
Not that I never understood this concept whenever he told me. I genuinely agreed with him. But the crux of it did not strike me as hard as it just did 5 minutes back. I think a concept hits you real hard when you understand it in a familiar language.
Many people consider music as a way out of daily routine and tensions. For them it’s an escape route to have some time of relaxation. But for a musician, it isn’t exactly just that. Let’s explore this idea.
Sure, just like the investor would want to have good money at his disposal so that he can lead a good life, once in a while the musician also would like to play some melodious tune which will soothe his mind and take it away from daily tensions.
Yes, it is almost every musician’s dream to achieve that moment of ecstasy when he is simply happy. Nothing more, nothing less, just happy. Some people may even consider this moment as their oneness with the god. At that point, the performer doesn’t care what audience is in front of him, how much money somebody is going to pay him for the performance etc. He is just simply plain happy enjoying that moment of satisfaction when he is hitting absolutely the right notes and his heart is nodding at every one of those. A similar situation can be observed with an investor when he finds out that while everybody else in the financial market has declared a loss, he has made a double profit.
But that doesn’t come too often, does it? That moment of magic and ecstasy comes only once in a blue moon. (And I think it should be that way only, otherwise it would not be so special for the performer any more, would it?) Most of the times, music is just routine practice for the musician. Different exercises, different ways of dealing with various rhythms, adopting different styles, deciphering various songs etc. Just another day at the office.
For the musician, the music performance is more than just a way of having an escape route from routine life, I believe. Let’s take an example. You start practicing a musical piece. You achieve fairly good amount of skill in it. Do you just stop there and keep enjoying that tune, playing it over and over again? May be for a while, yes. But then that itch inside you doesn’t let you enjoy it anymore. Having become restless, it just makes you acquire more and more skill. Like the investor’s case, for the musician the song is not just a stand-alone piece of joy, it is a scorecard. He prefers working towards improving against his past score every single day.
I believe that is a part of the deal. You may be a George Soros, but all you are thinking is how you can outperform the market the following year and in better quantities. You may be an A. R. Rahman, but all you are thinking is how you can make an even better composition next time.
One might say that all this just renders a truly magical experience useless for a musician. Well, I don’t think so. For me, personally, every small step – however basic that might be – towards learning something is a great joy in itself. As the rock guitarist Guthrie Goven said in one of his workshops: Play every single note on guitar as if it is the last note you will ever play in your life. Try to make that single sound as perfect as possible. And then you will truly realize what the real joy of music is!
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