Joy, Pure Joy

How does it feel to be purely joyful, as in, feel pure joy? Everyone has their own interpretation of joy. It's abstract, momentary and feels good. Hence, cannot have a set definition. To each their own.

If I have to define pure joy, it would be the kind of feeling I get when I watch musicals. I know, weird, right. But, that's the best metaphor I can think of for explaining a feeling that is not easily describable in words. 

It happened as a child, when I watched my very first musical - Rabindranath Tagore's "Tasher Desh" (Land of Cards). It was magical, fanciful, imaginative and made me sit there in front of the stage in awe, as the little children, almost my age, kept dancing to beautiful tune and music. The irony of the play's storyline was that despite being a children's dance drama, the theme was political, and in a simple manner taught even a small child like me to always be curious and keep asking questions. It had my rapt attention and it did something as it transcended me to a different land itself. And, that was pure joy. 

Next was the famous "The Sound of Music". I was simply blown away by Julie Andrews rendition of "These are a few of my favorite things", "Do re mi," and I loved "I am sixteen, going on seventeen", simply because I was going to be 16 when I watched that movie. The pure joy of romantic love, being puppy-eyed, that was a very unique feeling. 

While I watched many popular musicals post that too, but the next time I felt ecstatic was when I watched Gerard Butler's "The Phantom of the Opera." Wow! The pain of a disfigured musical genius felt so personal, and yet in the tears that I had shed for the Phantom, I still felt a strange sense of joy. It was his heartfelt love for his lady that won me over. Being an Andrew Lloyd Webber production, everything of course was over the top, but that just made it more appealing. 

Musicals, these days, have become far and few. In an age of instant gratification, people don't have the appetite for a musical sojourn. Though did catch the latest "Aladdin" and "The Greatest Showman" and yes, loved them too. But my absolute recent times favorite has to be Ranbir Kapoor's "Jagga Jasoos". It was fun to watch it, and somehow I looked like an idiot being almost the only one enjoying the movie in the theatre hall. Even my friends who watched the movie with me, at a point in time, refused to acknowledge me! Who cares, I loved it. 

It is tough to pick a single song from any of the above movies, but I do have a perfect song. This is from "My Friend Pinto". Such an amusing movie, with a social commentary, that never got its due credit. Prateik Babbar is an underdog, and this song is a gem. Enjoy, pure bliss 😍