Meher Marfatia: Thank you for the music

Pure joy packed the theatre It was as if the auditorium was warmed walltowall by one big collective smile Strumming plucking bowing blowing into instruments twice their size the children of a city music school performed virtuosolike last week Utterly endearing in their manner mdash bright of smile jaunty of step engrossed in the magic of the moment mdash their stage sparkle rippled contagiously across the concert hallLearning to play piano and guitar but not part of the above ensemble our own children surprise me and my husband Generously introducing us to the music of their generation they equally enjoy retro anthems from our campus years They also never tire of hearing a pair of family anecdotesRepresentation picOne is about their grandfather my dad beginning violin lessons when he was 75 with a 25yearold teacher The other describes their mother falling asleep as a baby in a pram parked beneath stacks of LPs strains of Bach to Brahms her lullabies Those timeless melodies swelling from a vintage Grundig system did make my eyes scrunch shut in mere minutesMy fathers favourites being Beethoven and wizardoftheviolin Jascha Heifetz hed fervently hoped both his kids could share his heroes birthdays My brother obliged coming in close just a day after Heifetzs I was doomed to more distance rushing out to greet the world a whole fortnight before BeethovensIt wasnt enough having the maestros marble busts placed benignly beside ancestral portraits in every room Paying tangible tribute to mark those musicians birthdays we sat to festive breakfasts of sev and ravo sweet dishes the Parsis traditionally tuck into on auspicious occasions Ticking these redletter dates on the calendar was my wonderful encouraging mother who quite literally fed her husbands hobbyWhy harp on halfacenturyago happenings Because they have surely shaped my present and will indelibly stamp my kids future The power and positivity of music stir children and adults alike The young intuitively grasp what psychologist Howard Gardner clarifies in his cult book Frames of Mind the Theory of Multiple Intelligences that music is an inextricable part of how we make sense of our world Gardner writes I want children to understand the world because it is fascinating and the human mind is curious We need to if we are to avoid past mistakes and move in productive directionsKey to this understanding is to know who we are and what we can do Gardner explores human cognition in its fullness identifying eight intellects one specifically musicalgt VerbalLinguistic intelligence propels reading writing and speakinggt MathematicalLogical nurtures the left brain enhances math skillsgt VisualSpatial perceives space in three dimensions and directionsgt BodyKinesthetic releases the energies of physical movement dance and playgt Intrapersonal offers selfesteem and self spiritual awarenessgt Interpersonal builds communication and leadership qualitiesgt MusicalRhythmical fosters a love for song and rhythm patternsgt Naturalistic recognises the readiness to appreciate naturegt The last two faculties mdash musical and naturalistic mdash raise sensitivity extraordinarily yet suffer shorter shrift than the rest of Gardners octetWhat a pity that music is dropped from several senior school curricula though it offers amazing scope to apply math and science concepts Music beautifully marries many disciplines In a lecture I attended nuclear physicist and musician R Vijayaraghavan from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research explained the connections With audiovisual examples of resonance harmonics tonality sonic waves and pitch pacing he showed the fascinating synthesis between music mathematics and physicsAn interest in some form of music is a chance and choice gifted to us all Heres a happy coda to the start of this story After long years spent following his passion my father authored a book on Western classical composers when he turned 90 two summers agoTo his delight Zubin Mehta graced it with a foreword He is now immersed in writing a book on music appreciation for children as well as compiling a vintage songbook for my son and daughter actually singing out the old lyrics for their listening pleasure when they visit him Mine is the privilege of witnessing firsthand an enduring love for music touch three generations so far I celebrate it I cherish it And know it inspires my kids to rock onWrite in to Meher at mehermarfatiagmailcom