Posters, Frames, Floyd, Beatles and Sanchitram.

My first initiation into Pink Floyd music was at Utsav College Festival at BMSCE, way back in the 80s. I was walking along the festive atmosphere in the college campus when the sound of what was playing perked up my interest. A few friendly inquiries revealed that 'Time' was the song playing and to the consternation of Arnab, my to be music provider for some successive years to come, it was my first hearing! From that moment, I was slowly but surely initiated to good, timeless music. With a job, marriage and moving to new destinations, the frequency of listening to such music reduced until Sanchit grew up exhibiting enormous interest in all kinds of music.

 During his teens, we had great conversations on the timeless nature of music and heard quite a bit either at home or on long drives.  He was very open to hear music from another era. And so it was that I began to listen once again to PF, Cale, Doors, Led Zeppelin etc. 

Once he moved out of home to pursue UG education in the States, he also experimented with music and developed a wider range of interests. His continuing keenness in PF was a source of tremendous joy as we kept exchanging notes and I rediscovered the pleasures. Here is a poem I wrote on the occasion of one of his birthdays – a kind of memory to both him and Floyd!


From the time you were born, we knew that you weren’t another brick in the wall
The stars were aligned right; you were destined to be part of Astronomy Divine
Nestling in her womb, with overflowing love from a Mother, you were Comfortably Numb
Twenty years ago, in a military hospital in Delhi, she gave “birth to a smile !

Growing up in Dubai with numerous activities were the Happiest Days of our lives
As you grew from strength to strength, achieving several laurels, of you, we had High Hopes
With all the attention lavished from home, school and well wishers, you must’ve been feeling ‘I’m a King’s Bee’
However, nothing could deter you, as you went into Interstellar Overdrive

Being at the top of your class, at competitions, surely you’d have been tempted to ask “is there anybody out there?’
But being well grounded, you continued to persist as you were ‘Learning to Fly’
We found that during social conversations, with your attention seeking background, you were never “lost for words’
With you around, we felt that at parties, we never ‘lost the art of conversation’

One fine day, growing up, as you were ready for University, you bid Dubai ‘ Goodbye Blue Sky’
As you followed your sister’s footsteps, we were left feeling that there was “nobody Home’
The first year at college, you must admit that it was a bit like a ‘Party sequence’
As you discovered other fellow students and yet felt ‘Poles apart’

But never dropping grades and getting into the groove, you ensured that the ‘show must go on’

As you got a great opportunity to sing with India’s greatest composer, you said “point me at the sky’
Amongst equals and betters, as you strived to find your voice and bearing, you learnt the “hard Way’
After the successful show, on the world’s platform, you were welcomed like a ‘Hero’s return’

As you rest on your laurels now, so early on in Life, we feel that it may not yet be appropriate to “have a cigar’
You must continue to strain every sinew, stretch for the moon and be “fearless’
On the eve of your twentieth birthday, as Life stretches out for a “great gig in the sky’
Remember to constantly say “Diyoyonapprachodayath – ‘Let there be more light’

Happy Birthday!


As he set out to begin work, we volunteered to help set up his new home in Cincinnati exhibiting eagerness and enthusiasm that is typical of Indian, indulgent parents.
Once we reached the apartment complex where the entry is managed by a series of numbers being punched into the keypad translating into a call on his mobile phone, he demonstrated it with great relish.

As always, with Sanchit, before any serious activity begins, a quick jamming session must happen! A few songs were improvised and jointly belted out, thus setting the scene, so to speak. We started with the Bohemian Rhapsody an all time favorite of the family. Moving on quickly, a completely unrehearsed and impromptu rendering of ALWs CATS, some incredibly sophisticated minor chords of Ilaya Raja and blues riffs completed the set and we were now geared up for action.

A few posters lay sprawled on the carpet. He had purchased them over his college years. Living in the dorm, they were simply pasted on the walls. We decided that we needed to frame them and put it up on the walls in the apartment to ensure that it had a distinctive look - quite unlike a shared accommodation or a dorm. We started measuring them approximately and decided to visit IKEA to pick up a few frames.I find the job of framing posters most enjoyable and gloat over the end product like a proud parent.

The first to go on the wall was the tin frame of Beatles Abbey Road – while there was a debate on what was the best method to put it up, I checked the wall and found that it was not permanently plastered and used an O shaped screw hook after being expertly guided on placement by Shruthi. Bala had purchased this tin frame from one of her shopping trips at the global village at Dubai. She has this keen eye for detail and an uncanny ability to source and procure items of interest to the family on her shopping expeditions which would be revealed at appropriate times. The metallic poster was one such acquisition, carefully hand carried and given at the right time. Evidently, this piece was the first to go up.
With that in place over the kitchen and dining separator, it lent a kind of aura that Sanchit always wanted. The debate on what to do next lasted for a few minutes before we decided on the Pink Floyd poster with the members in a close up B&W. This poster was an amalgamation of some of their albums along with a close up of the members that gave it a warm feeling. 
Up next was the Beatles serigraph was a gift from Shruthi to her brother. She also inherits this trait from her mom to discern and identify the right kind of gifts. The serigraph was one such hand painted purchase possibly from one of her several Philadelphia outings during weekly fairs. Since these were individual band member paintings,  we had to be careful with alignment. After much deliberations on the use of scissors/ scale to trim the edges, we got the 4 separate posters in one frame.

During a visit to Salzburg last month, we got talking with a Croat who had a small A4 size painting of Mozart in his traditional red coat. Friendly negotiations ensued and we revealed to each other that our respective kids played the piano. This prompted him to drop the price of the painting to a far more affordable level and it exchanged hands. This was a natural choice over his piano/keyboard corner.

That left us with one more poster framing for the day. By now we had the skill set to quickly fix the poster into the frame. It was another one of PF . Getting all the posters framed was easy in comparison to the placement. We had to experiment with positions and it is never easy to obtain consensus here. With everyone voicing what was allegedly the best place, we felt the ill effects of democracy at home and missed the presence of a key father figure who was also a dictator! But then, Shruthi mentioned that a dictator dad may not have necessarily assisted in the current scheme of things!

After much deliberation,  the two Floyd posters were positioned in the passage from the entrance to the living room. This was a Wall dedicated to that group with enough space to accommodate a 1000 piece jigsaw of another album.
After all the hard work, it was time to enjoy the fruits of our labour at the local Finley's Market.