The Gilded Melodies that Grew on Me
Music is a universal language. There are many songs in my collection whose lyrics are not always very clear to me though they are in Malayalam (my mother tongue), English, or Hindi. While I drive, the meaning doesn’t matter to me; the rhythm does. All the songs on my pen drive – and there are a few hundred of them, apart from instrumental albums without any lyrics – have very gentle, soothing music. No chaotic, noisy genres. When we listen to reflective, slow-tempo music, our brain enters the Default Mode Network (DMN). This is the state for self-reflection and waking dreams. DMN is active when we are relaxed. It gets deactivated when we are engaged in focused, goal-directed tasks. I usually listen to music while driving. So, I’m not sure whether my brain enters the DMN. Driving requires concentration. But the soothing music in the background does help to keep me cool. Music must provide me a soothing feeling. That’s the only rule I follow while adding albums or songs to my pen...
