Solace In Songs

The past few days have not been the best. The fascist at home has tightened his stranglehold over the country and aspiring fascists here, rookies though they are in comparison to him, are getting stronger by the day. Although I am not a music afficionado,  I often turn to music for solace or inspiration. I have written before about the power of music to summon the past and how I associate certain songs with certain periods of my life. I just went back and read it and didn't know whether to be pleased by the quality of the writing, which was good, or dissatisfied that I haven't made as much progress as I thought since then. But that is a blog for another day. Coming back to the present, where hope hangs heavy rather than uplifts, I have been seeking solace in songs. The only songs that provide solace are old Bollywood songs, because they remind me of an India very different from now, which was already changing for the worse when I was born. And Indian protest songs, which remind me of the India that is fighting back against the rising tide of hate and fascism. All other Indians seem like they are complicit in the making of the new India. Of course, the obvious question is if I feel so strongly about what's happening in India, why am I not back there? Its a good question, and I have no explanation beyond saying that I don't want to live there, and now even less as it is careening into  fascist future.