Global Music Autobiography

Growing up as a kid in the most diverse country, India, I was taught to appreciate multiple cultural practices throughout the country. Though I was brought up into Christianity, Hinduism was another religion I was most exposed to.

Hinduism, the most widely professed faith in the country, is a religion that has diverse roots to all the various Indian cultures and traditions. It has so much depth to each theme that defines Hinduism and a lot of them have no idea about its origins. In India, a wide variety of forms of congregational worship, in Hinduism, is known by the term Bajanam. These are devotional songs song by various bajanam groups to a deity. There are different styles depending on the performing style of the group (language, music style, etc.) and the god who is being worshipped. In Hinduism, as we all might  know, people are followers of different gods and different people have different beliefs about their spiritual ideas.

I and my family would often go on some early morning trips to the beach, tennis practices or the gym. As we turn on the radio, even today, most of the radio stations play only the Bajanams, starting at 5am until 7am every day. Each radio station would play multiple bajanams worshipping different gods and in different languages. To be honesty, I sometimes wonder the meanings of the spiritual words used as the lyrics of these songs even though it might be in my language. Generally, Bajanams have traditional or a more of the ancient textual words from the sacred texts and scriptures in Hinduism. All of these words have very complex and deep spiritual meaning that could be hardly identified by anyone.

My mom always said that the Bajanams were proven to spread the strongest positive vibes through people irrespective of their religious or linguist background. Sometimes, I find my grandmother turn on music tapes of Bajanams every time she feels she needs some time with god. Many of my other grandmothers, who have well experienced its positivity, confess that it provides peace and relaxation by just listening to it.

Most of the Bajanams that I have encountered are the ones that are sung by either a male or a female for several minutes. They are all very slow paced and repetitive. Bajanams follow the classical Indian music, the raga and the tala. They are mostly songs that seem to have lyrics which sounds like chanting a sacred text. A typical Bajanam uses a complete set of unique instruments, found only in India, to give a different tone and texture to the music. Earlier, we read about the cultural practices of the Natives American people who do not place instruments on the floor, at least with out a blanket. It is the same in India. At any event that involves the musical instrument of the traditional India, it is very irrespectful for the musician to play the instrument placed on the ground. Often, the musicians play their instruments sitting on the floor and placing it on their lap or spreading a sheet of cloth or blanket to rest the instrument.