It's been over a month since I left India -- the longest that I have been away from my country all my life. In my previous trips abroad, 'home' was not really very far away. The short vacation would be over and I'd be back to my old life. However, knowing that I will be away for the rest of the year has different connotations. As the headiness of travelling wears off, old habits and routines long to come back. And as this happens subconsciously, you are aware that you are starting to miss home more. Definitely the people, but the other smaller things that you took for granted. Like the feeling of being out about in your city - your space, of which you are the Queen (or King), of Sunday lunches away from the university campus, the unknown faces on the streets and its noise, the predictability of what is to come. You miss the warmth.
Saari Raat is home. I have fond memories of this song from high school. It would blare in my dorm room or on my headphones in the library as the monsoon rains tattered against the tin roof or later the autumn sun shone through the window, getting into your eyes but really warming your soul. The song picks up slowly, the guitar strumming and the piano setting the tone and then the sitar wades in and somehow you just know that this song will be an acoustic treat. Then as Ali Noor's soft voice starts to sing of how he "lay awake all night," you fall in love with the song as it changes form and you are encountered with heavy guitar riffs. There is an urgency in the song now and you can literally feel the energy flowing through you, manifested by a foot that's incessantly tapping to the beat of the song.
And that is why Noori is so great. You feel what the song feels and for those few minutes, it's like you were watching them live. I have been lucky enough to have actually heard them three years ago. What. A. Treat.
If you miss home, reminisce with this song as your soundtrack.
You can learn more about Noori here:
About the curator - Aarushi Aggarwal
Aarushi is a senior at college and is majoring in history and international relations. Her music library is as much home to jazz as it is to Indian classical. Her passion for discovering new music far supersedes other equally important things like finishing assignments on time. She loves dogs, coffee and chocolate.
