Music without boundaries

This was a profound experience that explained , music has no boundaries. It is so true that music doesn't need language and has no boundaries..

A while ago I was in Mexico for work. On my way back to the airport as usual I called Uber. As it was a Saturday I was not expecting a lot of traffic. Being stuck in traffic for hours in last few years , I  don't take chances on Mexico City traffic...


Me being me, I was talking to the Uber driver. He was a man in his fifties, very wise and did speak enough english to communicate. I generally start with my typical Spanish sentences like

cómo estás (How are you?)
cuanto tiempo al aeropuerto (How long will it take us to reach the airport?)

He answered those questions in Spanish and we started our journey to the airport. Typically it takes anywhere from 30-50 minutes (Once 3.5 hours!) to reach. Then he asked me where am I from and what time is the flight ? I told him I am flying back to US.

Then he asked me if I was from India. Well, I get that question a lot in Mexico so it did not surprise me. What surprised me was his next question. When I said yes , I am from India. He asked me do you know Ravi Shankar ? I couldn't believe it!  Pandit Ravi Shankar , Yes the Sitar Maestro.

We had such a wonderful conversation about Panditaji's raag Yaman Kalyan, Todi and his concerts in US in the 70s. I couldn't believe the level of details and insights he had about indian classical music. The discussion continued to Anoushka Shankar and her recent albums.

I felt like that was the shortest journey to the airport. I didn't even realize how time passes and I was at the airport.