The Jam of the 7th December!

The Jam of the 7th of december, 08


In this jam I had left at the last moment and I had waited for Amar and he obliged by coming, listening to my pleading voice. Si we have a participant returning to the jam after almost and year!!! we both sat in the auto and then are on our way, Gauri is already there and is making panic calls that she is all alone at the jam location. So we rush it. Then when we get there Gauri is nowhere to be found! While Amar calls and I take the guitar out and start to warm up with the guitar to look forward to boring people in the session that shall follow. Then we are pleeeeased to find Gajju and Kailash coming in! what a pleasant surprise! So Gajju starts with the song "Tum ho tau Gaata hai Dil" and I fele that maybe everyone is singing for me, but soon my heart breaks when I find out it is not so!

Amar waits patiently in the time being, holding the leashes of the horses of his crazy energy! soon I sing the old and rusty number "write about it " by lynyrd skynyrd and feel satisfied having sung it! Then Amar starts and we warm up to pacing up the whole Jam in our usual manner, taking each "meaningful" song and then pacing it up so that everyone is clapping and cheering and in tears of madness! Everyone feels great having let out all the excess energy that we carry with us, negative thoughts etc. etc.

so the jam proceeds on, There is a lady whose Birthday is there and Amar becomes the Master pf ceremonies and gets everyone to cheer on the 'auspicious' occasion of her birthday! he sings a nice song on the occasion and we follow.

we also sing some real meaningful songs, Wande mataram, Dil se, Kar chale hum fida jaano tan, which make everyone feel and connect to the sad events which are going on these days. Then I, as usual unable to hold myself, go out and announce that music for meaning is our one and a half hear old platform for us unpracticed, unorganized musicians to get together and say out what we want to say about all that we feel is there in the society as there should not be, through the old and trusty and entertaining medium of music to the people, creating a little platform where we can express ourselves, the inner voices of our souls and let others also do so, where none judges no one and we all welcome any sort of thought and input to the platform. The I also took the opportunity to speak about all the terrorism that is going on these days, and that, fighting and all are just not solutions to wrongs done to one. The answer lies in each one of reflecting on how we lead our lives, and finding peace within. I also took the opportunity to speak about the terrorism that the smart politicians do , without any weapons, by playing games of brainwashing simple people into believing that they must hate the other religion, so on and so forth.

Also Notable is when Amar gets everyone to stand up and say prayers for the souls which lost their lives in defending us against the terrorist attacks, so that we can peacefully stand here and play. That is a moment of great realization and touches me deeply, and Im sure each one us as well!

There are many song requests, some out of line from the theme of peace and unity etc, but we entertain then as well, not making the whole jam too focused on one single issue. so around nine thirty , Amar and I pack up to leave, While Gajju, Gauri and the other guys continue to play on for a while. Gajju's guitaring is great.

All in all, the jam is good. Although personally I feel somewhere we loose our focus on on vision and mission of creating and articulating peace and harmony and unity on this platform, it still is good in these ways:

It gets us out of homes, together at a place where we express ourselves, both artistically and spiritually and make happiness for ourselves and well as for others, at no expense of any resource other than our hoarse (After the jam) voices and a broken string or two, and it gets us to meet people who have similar intentions and thoughts and creates a sense of purpose for all of us. It surely does creates happiness for the people who come there, many come week after week and become 'regulars'! This is how all of us got together!

Although, I reflect and it is apparent to me that before MFM, could turn into a movement, it was and is really much less than that. From my experiences now, it becomes apparent to me that movement, to be really a movement, gets people, involves them activities and such which makes a significant , increasing and positive change in each individuals lives. Ill share more later, but these thoughts for now.

Pulin, Tarun, Kailash, Gauri, Gajendra, Amar and me are among the jam makers, Chintan and Monika are missed! Where's Vinay? He is in Allahabad!

So that was that for this jam! The first jam I get to attend after coming from Vrindavana!

Cheers and A Merry Christmas and a Happy New coming year!