Music in Many Tongues

by Ronita Chattopadhyay

I get into an Uber

and the driver plays music.

Oh rutheya khuda khuda/

Maine tera naam liya liya hazaaran vari

(God has been displeased/

I take your name a thousand times)

He turns to look at me,

trying to check

if I am the peppy Punjabi music type.

I pass the test.

Four songs down,

he gets restless.

His fingers hover over the panel.

He decides to switch radio channels.

Tune jo na kaha main vo sunta raha/

Khamakha bewajah khwaab bunta raha

(I kept hearing what you never said/

Unnecessarily, without reason I kept weaving (building) dreams).

So now soft, bittersweet Hindi film music

begins to fill the air.

Three songs later,

another change.

Amar hantu jale smritira bheshe chale/

Jeebon katha bole shabayi chup

(I am in knee-deep water with memories floating by

Life speaks, everyone is silent.)

Haunting Bangla melodies

now travel with me

on this last leg of the journey.

I reach my destination.

Aapko kaunsa music accha laga?

He asks.

(Which music did you like best?)

My mind immediately conjures

a list with options where

I tick all of the above.

I smile and say -

Sab bhasha, sab music, sab kuch.

(All the languages, all the music, everything.)