Maybe, a choice or a chance - Kaash, Swarathma #acnotes

After 13+ years, I attended a live concert in Jan 2025, and what a memorable evening it was. An evening with Swarathma at BIC, Bangalore. An evening of sporadic tornadoes and some trysts beside tranquil waters. And this is a reflection of one such moment which was the stillness amid the storms.

There are choices you make. And then there are chances you take. The remorse remains for a longer time when the choice goes wrong, as opposed to, a messed up chance. Perhaps, that hurt may last a lifetime for a few. And this song titled Kaash from Swarathma's 3rd Album Raah-e-fakira is not a message from the pulpit or page off a self help book. In fact, it's a mail from a distant friend or part of a conversation you might listen from your soul mate over a drink. Better still, it could be a letter you write to your younger-self, which you send it back via time travel postal service.

For someone like me who isn't that familiar with Hindi, this did take me a while to get the whole meaning, however the essence was conveyed at the first few listens of the tune. I remember hearing something similar over a podcast or some interview (Apologies as I don't recall who was in it) where the guest mentioned "there's no ideal past". Well, this is what I could immediately think of at the end of this song.

Listen closely, whenever you do, and you will notice - how the song midway which is in a rumination mode turns into an epiphany at 1:50. And then there's an elevation in music to depict there's a changeover, but at 2:37 it's back to the same rhythm/pace. Perhaps, to draw a parallel that while you have had your "aha moment", life doesn't change over in a song like it may happen in a movie. You are still in that same life, the circumstances are the same, but what's changed? To learn to embrace that regret and move forward. To skill yourself to lift that anchor, eventually, that's pinned you down and sail forward. To unshackle your ankles from the leg-iron that has chained you down. To be kind to yourself and talk yourself out of that past than to question/self doubt - time, time and again. To know that you still deserve a second chance while you commit to that choice you made. Kaash?! /Maybe, not just wish for it. I affirmatively hope and pray, we would all get that maturity to get there one day.

Kudos to Jishnu Dasgupta and his band Swarathma for this message in a bottle. It's a song that will make a difference regardless of when you listen to it. A song that assures your present self that you no longer need that "If I could go back in time" scenario to reverse that remorse. All you need now is the courage to make it through. Through those choices, chances and curses - through it all you'll cruise your way through. And arrive at this state-of-mind, which was also captured long back by Robert Frost -

"I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

Now, here is the song to listen to on your choice of streaming service

https://lynkify.in/song/kaash/eXqGDGtx

Or watch an acoustic version on YouTube

https://youtu.be/GIwP_l5hh7U?feature=shared

#acnotes