I don't think I need to go into how music can set the mood for so many different things. Something which struck me in Bombay this time was how some kinds of music were just suited for a particular city..or an area of a city. The life and pace of the city blends with the perfect kind of music to create a sort of background music, which seems to just 'fit in'. For example, South Bombay and jazz go almost perfectly together. Jazz is about spunk, sophistication, sipping champagne and enjoying a cigarette and elegance. Yet it is also about passion, confusion, improvisation and celebration of the liberating power of music. South Bombay is also about a lot of these things. The old buildings of Fort and the Art Deco of Marine Drive are perfect to stare at while listening to some Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald. The trippy and cult atmosphere in Causeway and the madness of VT and Churchgate finds expression in Dizzy Gillespie's almost impossible compositions. Yet as you move North, towards Bandra, the crowd becomes increasingly younger and yuppie and the music changes to classic rock..pretty much the music which reflects Bangalore the best. Here beer, corporates, techies, college kids and school kids 'come together'. Whether it is angry intensity of The Who and Led Zeppelin, the psychedelia of The Beatles and Pink Floyd, or The Doors, Deep Purple and various other bands, they somehow reflect the mindset of the young crowd in areas like Bandra or Brigade Road, Koramangala and MG Road..a mix of optimism and skepticism tinged with the surreal.

Older areas in Bangalore like Jayanagar, Banshankari and Malleshwaram somehow just call for Carnatic music in any form. The shaded roads, markets, temples and older population of these areas seems to blend only with MS, DKP or any of the other greats. These areas are after all the most 'South Indian' as it were in Bangalore.

The most Bob Dylan place I have ever been to is in fact Pondicherrry. This time, I went for a walk on the beach, listening to Dylan and the setting was perfect. There are some songs which should be listened to by the sea. The sea seems to add a rhythm of its own to the song, making the whole experience very harmonious and agreeable. Dylan's soft guitar and poetic lyrics merge perfectly with the mildness of Pondicherry and its eclectic populace.

I not sure if the above post makes sense, but I think its a fairly funky way of looking at a city and its people. Music has always enhanced and completed things for me. And now it has go on to greatly enhance my travel experiences..two of my favourite things together. Sigh, the limitless powers of music!