The Knopfler post

The Knopfler post (n): Something one should just have stayed the hell away from, if one were both a writer and a fan. An euphemism for a devilishly difficult thing to do, more so because of your exacting expectations of the outcome, in spite of how badly you want to do it. Something like the perfect date, or the precise seating position on a bean bag.

Source: Xander’s Dictionary of Life, 2006 Edition

Maybe I did take the assignment too seriously. Or maybe the man himself. For those not in the know, this post is dedicated to Mark Knopfler. And the blueprints for what is to follow have changed a million a week, so pardon me for taking the easy way out and fishing one out from the dark right now.

I first heard the Dire Straits probably on radio, during the 11th and probably one of their popular hits too. This was my initial exposure to music, so they ended up being just one of the bands that had come on. Market share had been cornered largely by stuff like Prodigy or The Offspring, and you may smirk all you want, but you were an idiot in the 11th too.

The dude really came to the fore only after the 12th, when Anish and Ashish came around to being set in the Best Friends Forever mould. We were broke, we were sneaking bottles of Fosters from fridges and searching Mahim through the night for replacements, and we were trying to ignore the lack of girls in our lives by concentrating on the very best that food, drink and music life had to offer. Within a budget of 100 bucks.

The music first came through in precious snatches, whether they be the radio, MTV or the same set of mp3s on everyone’s computers. But it gelled well with the life us 3 led. Money for Nothing, Heavy Fuel, Sultans of Swing, Walk of Life…they all had very guy friendly lyrics. And the guitaring could be revealed only when you had your butt in your chair, when you learnt not to talk when good music’s on and when you genuinely had nothing to think about other than who sat closest to the remote and could thus reach it with minimal effort. And yeah, you positively cannot be dancing to the music.

If you went to your music library and played Twisting by the pool right now, or at least had the impulse to do so, your level of adulation matches what us 3 share right now.

Because it’s impossible for me to talk of Knopfler without talking about these 2 guys. For 8 amazing years, we’ve gone through thick and thin with Sirji strumming away in the background. So much so that I’ve begun to use his music as a leading indicator of whether a guy could be a besht buddy and all that. Girls are another matter…we’d probably kill each other for a female Knopfler fan, but they’re all taken.

I have almost all his songs now, and believe me, I’ve been listening to them day in and day out almost everyday. It’s the default playlist in my room here, and the music never fails to thrill. If you thought (as we did) that Dire Straits hit the pinnacle of guitar, wait till I hand you his solo stuff. And his recent set of duets with Emmylou Harris.

I’ve gone and turned missionary on campus for the guy’s music, and met with spectacular success….so much so that there are only 2 kinds of people left in my world. Those who like Knopfler, and those who haven’t heard him yet.

Got carried away here, didn’t I? I don’t have the heart to go back and delete anything, so it stands.

But put up the happiest moments together over the last so many years, whether they be the Mahim night, the lunches in Anish’s place, the parties at Vasu mama’s, the Knopfler concert, the parties I’ve had with my closest friends in NITIE, the night I landed in Bangalore, the night I left Bangalore, the afternoon on the shack in Goa, the totally free days in the room with nothing to do but listen to Herr Knopfler. And that’s what I’ve been doing through them all.

Us 3 always had this 4th guy. And I take his stuff to every new setting with an almost evangelical zeal…..I lugged the damn laptop through rain and bike rides and sun and trains and buses only so that I could setup the playlist in that shack. Usually there’s this switch in my head which flashes on whenever I go overboard with something, but in this case…it’s been yanked off the wall.

Yeah.