When music is life

There are two types of people...I think. 

One... the kind who needs perfect silence to keep their brains ticking. And then..there's me.. the second category. The kind who needs music blasting at the loudest in their head so they can get some real work done... And then these two categories get married and decide to work from home, under the same roof!!!!!

Music rules me. Everything about me. I work best when there is music around me. I love to have it play while I am cooking, bathing, reading, studying, working, walking, dancing, driving...you name it. I need music. Everytime. All the time. And I am not picky. But I am still stuck in the 90s when it comes to my favorites. Malayalam songs are obviously my first pick. But I am also terribly in love with Ilayaraja SPB combinations. Maybe because I grew up in Tamil Nadu. But my love for Tamil songs is something my husband will never understand or share. AR Rahman kills me with his compositions. I will die for him! Then there are also the occasional Kannada songs that have stuck with me, especially during my Mysore days. Riding the cabs very late at night, where the only consolation is the one random song that comes up. Hindi songs are hit-or-miss for me. Like I said, stuck in the 90s. Love to dance to the new ones but for the mental stimulation, I need to time travel, to the past. Maybe it is the nostalgia. Remembering an era where my biggest passion was just being in that moment. 

I could live without oxygen, maybe, but never without my Bluetooth speaker or my headphones! I couldn't survive a second. I drive my family up the wall. I fight with my kids over the songs I choose to play on long drives. I give in to their occasional Swiftie requests, but then I keep going back to what is mine. Mine and mine only. And that is where my husband swoops in with his Pink Floyd and Metallica, driving me insane again. 

Today, though, I even tested the limits on my mother. She has been a huge help at home, handling all the lunchtime chores while I focus on my 9-5 and my PhD prep. So I guess walking into the room to find me lip syncing to SPB at his loudest and seemingly typing on my laptop, while she has been working to keep my clan and me fed, irritated her. You see, my mom comes from a generation of mothers who firmly believe that resting during the day is a sign of inefficiency. And listening to music during the day is considered 'resting'. I get it. Because I take up after her when it comes to my home-ethics and routines. I promptly jumped into damage control mode. But it does leave me stuck. 

When I have music with me, I am not distracted. I am anchored. The noise around me recedes. The task in front of me sharpens. My thinking moves faster, my patience runs longer, and the quality of what I produce goes up. Not just marginally.. but also meaningfully.

I am not asking anyone to adopt my method. I am not even arguing that music works this way for everyone. I know it does not, and I respect that completely. which is why it is always me and my music, either on my headphones in a closed room, or the speaker, kept at its lowest volume, by the kitchen window.

The science, for what it is worth, is broadly on my side. Research on background music and cognitive performance has shown consistently that moderate-tempo music can improve focus, reduce the perception of effort on complex tasks, and elevate mood in ways that translate directly into sustained productivity. The effect is particularly pronounced for creative and analytical work, the kind of work that fills most of my day.

But honestly? I should not need to cite a study to justify the conditions under which I do my best thinking. We do not ask people to defend their preference for natural light, or their need for a standing desk, or the particular brand of pen that helps them think. We extend the quiet assumption that adults know something about how their own minds work. I would like that assumption extended to me, too.

So maybe I want the music to stay...not as a statement, not as a provocation, and not as something I need a committee to ratify. Simply because it is part of how I show up fully, do my best work, and bring everything I have to the people and problems that deserve it. Or simply because it is what I love most, among a few others!

And if that still needs convincing? I should be more persuasive about it with a good playlist on, I suppose!