Sing a song of six-pence

Sing a song of six-pence

One of my favourite songs is Nature Boy. The first time I heard it, was in Moulen Rouge: and after that, I tracked the song down to its original version by Nat King Cole. There was something about it that attracted me. Something that spoke about a beautiful boy with cherry-red lips that I would want to kiss, and soft curly hair I would run my hands through. No, it's not a gay song, not in the sense that so many other songs have suddenly become enshrined as 'anthems' for the gay community - it is a sensuous song.

The greatest thing you can ever learn is to love and be loved in return...

I'm not sure if I got the lyrics right, but there it is.

Strange how a song can make you remember things and think of things. This picture that I just drew of this beautiful Nature Boy will forever be associated with this person I'm seeing currently. (Complete with cherry lips and Medusa curls, and corny one-liners.) Then there was this other song, from a Hindi movie, which was suddenly the rage in all the discs around town - but for me it's linked to a boy in Delhi - whom I was sharing SMS' with, while driving back from Noida, rain crashing down on the car windows, road lit up with head lamps, music blaring through the radio, and I was messaging him - telling him how much I would love to kiss him in the rain.

Then there was the Jazz creature. I wanted to get him a going-away gift, when I was leaving Delhi, and so I entered this shop in downtown Patel Nagar - not the most fashionable district at all, and teeming with Punjabis of all shapes and sizes. I asked for a Jazz collection - and was promptly shown a CD of Jazzy B's latest bhangra numbers. I gawked, said "I'm sorry, I don't think you have what I need", as politely as I could, and scooted out as fast as I could before dissolving into maniacal, snooty gay laughter. I got my CD after that, and I got a special evening in my boy's flat, complete with music, tall candles, and rich chocolate cake. I remember Louis Armstrong from that night.

No - they're not quite a 'I want to break free' or a 'I will survive' - but they stand for some of the most melodious moments of my gay life.