Just for the love of music
i began my relationship with classical music and opera songs at a very early stage of my life. listening to classical music gave me a strange feeling, especially the voice of maria callas and others. if i had believed in the reincarnation of life, i would have been a noble in salzburg or a member of the habsburg royal house.
i received my first paycheck in the summer of 1964 when i was an employee of a bank. when i received the yellow envelope i ran to the bathroom to count the money and i found inside kd 90, which was much more than what i had expected since the salary was kd 20 more. i went to the office of my english manager and told him that there must have been some mistake since i was verbally told that my salary would be kd 70.
the manager smiled, looked at me and thanked me for my honesty. he said there was no error in the calculation and that the salary was for 40 days that i had worked and not 30.
i was ashamed of my ignorance, but i was happy that i had proved my honesty on the one hand and on the other hand i had got a salary more than i had expected.
the same afternoon i went to jashanmal, which was located in the al-saadoun building on the fahad al salem street, opposite the jewel of the gulf and spent most of my salary on recorded music of the world-renowned indian artiste ravi shankar, who was the most famous in the world of indian classical music; and also music by great italian singer connie francis, another by the american nat king cole, and a fourth by the american mafioso frank sinatra.
my happiness at that time was indescribable. i called two of my best fans of classical music and we went carrying a player, a few extra batteries, an icebox with refreshments, etc, to the coast facing the us embassy building, which was located near the ambassador hotel in bneid al gar.
it was a wonderful night, which no words can describe and just listened to a few songs and then sealed the sacred session by listening to ravi shankar playing on the sitar for hours and hours. we left for home when sunlight kissed the earth – euphoria and tiredness crystal clear in us due to lack of sleep.
i remembered that wonderful night as i read the invitation i received from the council of indian businessmen and professionals in kuwait to attend the first indian classical music concert at the jaber cultural center, which will be held by irshad khan and the pandit mukund raj on the drum.
the peculiar observation that drew my attention and researched its reasons related to the high proportion of professors of classical music playing among muslims compared to others, although their percentage of the total population is about 15%, and these professors are ali khan, bismillah khan, abdul rahman, and fateh khan and many others.
the reason is that india has historically been religiously tolerant, unlike the extremism of today. the fact remains that classical indian music originated from areas saturated by muslims. it also took note of the fact that there were no known musicians among india’s christians. we will meet you tonight at 7 pm at the jaber center.
