This is a canon list - pieces of media I’ve consumed over the years that moved me, stayed with me, and that I return to.
I’m going to write it as an itemised list because I don’t feel like finding the words to stitch it all together.
Before I start, I just want to acknowledge what an incredible gift it is to be able to consume good art - and be touched by it. We can scroll through social media for hours, and none of it stays, yet Kipling’s If— does, even though we studied it in school decades ago. How extraordinary is that?
Anyhow, here it is:
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An old YouTube video of an interview with Anand Bakshi, conducted by the legendary Tabassum. I didn't even have a vague understanding of who Bakshi was before this point, and I went into it with zero context. Turns out, he was an army man who wrote poetry, and he was the one who wrote the lines 'mere mehboob qayamat hogi. A song that is currently in its 60th year and will no doubt live for 60 more. Watching him speak slowly, deliberately, with decades of life imprinted on his forehead, was like watching the face of God.
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the lines - 'mere nizamussin ke darwaze par, aawan keh gaye aashiq rang aur beet gaye barso' from the song 'sakal ban' originally written by