Happy World Music Day

Music is so often a medium to celebrate an event. But every year on June 21st, “music” becomes the event to be celebrated. That’s because June 21st is celebrated the world over as World Music Day.  Music provides us more than just mere entertainment. It wakes us up in the morning, sticks with us through the day, lifts our spirits in the evenings and sometimes even tucks us in at night. So it is only fitting that we set aside a day every year to celebrate music itself, and the myriad artists who bring it to us. 21st of June also happens to be the summer solstice, the one day in the year when the sun is at its magnificent best. How apt then, that the brightest day on the calendar is dedicated to music, the element that actually brightens up every day of our year.

India has one of the richest musical heritages, something all of us should be very proud of. Last year saw the demise of some stalwarts of the Indian music industry. Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, one of the finest classical vocalists ever, Ghazal maestros Jagjit Singhji & Mehdi Hassan saab and Ustad Sultan Khan saab, the legend behind the immensely popular Piya Basanti Re! This World Music Day we’d like to pay homage to these institutions of music, and to the many others who’ve touched our lives through their musical magic.

On World Music Day 2012 we encourage you to open your mind to finding new music. Something different, something out of the ordinary and something you’ve never heard before. Listen to it all day, for a few hours or maybe even 5 minutes; but give “music” the chance to surprise you. Visit our SoundCloud link for starters www.soundcloud.com/timesmusic. We guarantee you will find something to tantalise those musical taste-buds. If not, please feel free to send me stinkers on my email id: russell.pinto@timesgroup.com