Singing...

There's a load of singing shows in every language flooding the channels on TV. There are few or none actual singing shows left.Now all of them have changed to "reality shows"..I wont even go into what happens in these 'reality shows', but as for the actual singing shows,,even they are overloaded with terms like 'sur', 'taal', 'laya' and less classically 'antra', 'mukhda' etc etc etc.... Which brings me to the point, Why do people sing? In all the heavy bass and unimaginably complex and loud instruments, in the attempt to make every song sound like a dancing track with scantily clad(ok,,i'll admit,,often HOT) females, the soul of singing seems lost. But all is not lost, for there is one refuge of singing that can never be lost.. It iiiiiiis ,,
,,
,the BATHROOM!!!!

Every house, or atleast every apartments has atleast one distinguished soul from who the singer erupts in the bathroom. There must be something strangely liberating in the bathroom , that everyone just forgets about the rest of the world and starts singing. I think that it is because in a closed surrounding, they dont have to look at anyone's disapproving face when they start singing(If what they are screaming resembles a song)..There's no embarrassment factor there..All said and done,,Bathroom singing,Its just one of those mysteries of life that are better left as mysteries...So lets get to some famous singer stories...

Loo Singer
Timeline-->Early 90's(Summer Holidays)
Place-->Cousins house, Delhi
The day dawns, as little kids we were expected to get up in the morning, perform the daily ablutions early and get to breakfast. Now usually all that would take was getting rid of a bit of laziness, looking forward to all the fun that we would have in the day. But there was one problem. My cousin,,abt 4-5 at that time, had a habit. He used to sing when he was on the pot, lighten-ing his load. (samajh mein nehi aaya?? Wo HAGGA maar raha tha...). Even this wasnt much a thing to talk about. But what made it spectacular was the fact that this fellow didnt always have a perfect digestive system. He used to sit in there for a loooooooooong time everyday, sometimes even for half an hour!! So, every time he was in, there was some adult used to be waiting for him outside, just in case there was a problem. So daily in the morning, it was an event at home! Over time, people stopped waiting outside, and went about with their work as long as they could hear him singing. It became a signal!!! Soon, on the days when he didnt sing, people lined up outside the bathroom interrupting him time and again asking if everything was alright!! For adults to wait around everyday was not easy , so the big(ger) kids, my sis and i, used to patrol outside the bathroom, laughing away to glory at the weirdness of the whole idea,,and at the singing!! This was a major source of entertainment for all of us about which we used to laugh around for quite some time,, which usually used to get us late for breakfast.and sometimes even scolded for it..But who cared,,,it was the holidays,,and we were jobless, fun loving little kids!!

Duet singers
Timeline--> 2003-2004 (11th, 12th class)
Place-> Dattasai Apts, Hyderabad
Our house was very well ventilated, and we loved the light and wind, so all the windows were permanently open. A new family recently moved in to the house beside ours. With this family came along another bathroom singer. And as it happened, there was a window in our drawing room which was pretty close to the bathroom of the house beside. This person was one of the types who didnt really think much of the concept of decibels, so yes, in short,,every day our house used to be filled with the singing at some point in the day or the other..A bit irritating initially,,but got used to it, and used to laugh abt it every once in a while with friends.
Hols came by, leaving ppl in school , jobless as ever. So there was more time to sing in the bathroom! And normal singing became too boring. So what happens next,, a new dimension is added to it. How,,you ask?? Simple, one line of the song sung from inside, and the next filled up by her mom who were outside the bathroom! I almost fell off my chair the first time i heard this "family performance!"..I couldn't believe it, "These ppl have LOST IT", i thought..This duet was a performance of "It's the time to disco" from the movie kal ho na ho..And this became a regular affair, so much so, that i still think of bathroom singers every time i hear the song!!
As it turned out, later i became quite good friends with this female, and went on to realise that she was this great singer and all winning in almost every contest she sang in. Though most of the time when she ran bathroom concerts, i used to find it irritating cos of the volume, and the singing wasnt great either, but it used to be nice to hear such enthu singing!!

This behaviour is shown a lot lot more in hostel, where cross bathroom singing is a norm rather than an exception (sometimes even joined in by people walking by)!! And the shamelessness in college reaches levels where people dont care about who's listening or how bad they sound, they get together and sing all kinds of songs as loud as they can, regardless of where they are!!..Its basically the essence of bathroom singing without a bathroom! But that the whole point!!, The reason most people sing is because of they want to!! Not cos it sounds nice, not cos somebody asked them to, it just cos they feel great while singing!! The only thing stopping them is stupid things like shame or embarrassment!!

When we were kids, some of the most fun times i remember when my sis and i were on the sunny with my mom(yes that powerless little thing) and singing along like mad ppl on the road..This extended to the car where (thankfully) we didnt have a radio. The omnipresence of MP3 players and electronics in general has killed such small pleasures of life, which ppl these days shall never experience..

This video is a disney cartoon adaptation of a song called "I Love to Singa" from a movie called "the singing Kid" made way back in 1936..If you dont feel like singing after watching this ,you need psychological help!!
(If you're short on time, just watch the last 1-2 min of it!)


"I love to sing-a
About the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a,
I love to sing-a,
About a sky of blue-a, or a tea for two-a,
Anything-a with a swing-a to an "I love you-a,"
I love to, I love to sing!"
If you're interested in the original,,it is here

A special mention here abt two (not-so-)famous singers in college. One being our very own sean paul, Makhija, who's unfulfilled dream in college was to sing 'get busy' by sean paul on stage. Cos of all of us, he was spared the extra shoes he would get flying at him on stage...Secondly, Gujjin. This guy is pretty much the worst singer ever heard. But that didnt stop him from learning a few bryan adams and nirvana songs and singing them aloud every once in a while. Hail the spirit of the guy for singing despite everyone making threats at his life when he starts!!

Needless to say, i love to singa every once in a while, and when im in a really good mood with a great song stuck in my head, i even hop and step and jump along!! Lots of my friends have heard me singing this song very often, and im sure most of them make faces whenever i start singing..(cos singing is usually where i start when i start acting totally mad...)..Many ppl say i sing bearably(or better), many more say i should stop singing...But i dont really care,,,cos i love to sing-a!!

Characters-->
Gujjin->Being a unique mixture of baniya-gujju that he is, he started showing these traits from the first day, taking a treat(for no reason) from the first person he knew in college....ME!!! Once he came,,he never left, and spent a major part of time in college in my room, to the extent ppl thought of him as one of my roommates!! On the good side, one of the determined ppl i know, who surprisingly was pretty smart too!! He's even a fellow gAp member!!

Makhija->Despite hailing from the land of bhujia itself (Bikaner), he doesnt show any traits of being a chom!! He's a 4 yr old in the shell of a 6-footer, completely lacking the the place in the brain where common sense is kept..But thats what makes him FUN!! Bubbling with enthu, and ever ready to do anything new, despite some of his ideas being plain BAD..(read sean paul part above for example..)

I should leave the post here,,,but i couldn't leave without a note for all those people who get sticks and stones for singing...I would say,,sing when you're winning,or even if ur just happy!,,and if any of your friends plead with you to stop,, you could sing out these lines..
"What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key...."
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends...'
-From the beatles song ,"With a little help from my friends"