The Sound of Music is The Sound of Hope

Way back in the 1980's , our school introduced us to this timeless legendary film , for which we will always be indebted to them. We were really young then , probably in our late primary or early secondary schooling days , when we had a period ( I don't remember the name- maybe my school friends can remind me) where we could watch movies that were suitable enough for our age. That room was called audio-visual room. The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins are the two movies , I remember watching during those times.

Back then , it was just a musical for us , the songs of which I started humming and still do till date. I remember that each of us used to look forward to that period to watch the musical. and since it was a long film, and our period was for 1/2 hour , we had to watch it in parts. Nonetheless , the anxiety levels to watch the next part kept growing each time. Julie Andrews (Maria) became our idol and Christopher Plummer (Captain Von Trapp) , our childhood crush. After few years , when we got the VCR at home, I used to rent the Sound of Music cassette to watch it over and over again.

Decades have passed by and my viewership patterns switched from VCR , to DVD's , to sometimes online. What remained immortal was the musical and its characters. As I grew up watching the film , it began to unfold the various learnings and life lessons, probably which I did not notice / realize while I watched it when I was young. Every song became an inspiration in itself and gave some really valuable learnings. The title song  'The Sound of Music', ' I have confidence' , 'Climb every Mountain', 'Edelweiss', each one of them is eternal. My Jr. Cutlet continues to hum 'I'm Sixteen , going on Seventeen' as she continues to do her chores. Maybe she wants to believe in the lyrics that say,  I know that I´m naive, Fellows I meet may tell me I´m sweet, And willingly I believe. 

During our school farewell , a batch junior to us , held some performances for us and one very memorable one was when few students got onto the podium and sang this wonderful rendition ' So long Farwell , Auf Widersehen, Goodbye' . Maybe that was THE time when we realized that it was indeed  was our last day in school and we couldn't hold back our tears. And everytime I hear this song, I recall this incident to the Jr. Cutlet , she replies, " Yes Mom , U've told me this already" 😇

One song that stayed with me throughout the most challenging times of my life was 'Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens'. My niece Saanvi used to sing this song to Advay when she was very young , and everytime she sang 'When the dog bites , when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite and then I don't feel so bad'.....we would watch his 200 watts smile. And then after everytime he cried , this song became a routine with us. 

My reason to remember all of this today is that , we were fortunate to watch this Broadway Musical yesterday at Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre and it blew our minds yet again. Every memory created over decades by the film was relived in  a new format ready to sweep our feet off the floor. It is definitely a must watch , a joyful experience again for those who have known the film. 

That makes me believe yet again.......

If you want to spark magic in your life, then you have to surround yourself with magical people who inspire you....LET THE MAGIC BEGIN.......