Despite my relentless dedication and effort in learning the nuances of music through study and practice, it always seemed to be a distant dream. The music I craved for, one that vibrates through time and feels like quicksilver days, was always out of reach, no matter how hard I strived or wished it. Was I hitting the right note or tone? My tutor posed it as the ultimate challenge for me to figure out.
He suggested that understanding and truly immersing oneself in the essence of music often happens when there’s no audience left to applaud. When the public have tiredly left, fastening their winter coats, a blush of embarrassment will shade your face, born from your previous ignorance about music. The janitor busily cleans the discarded concert programmes, as the snow outside dances and twirls in the night. Only then will you savour the sweet silence, matching your inner tranquillity – the very music your mind yearned for all along.
D Nurkse, recognised as one of the proposed candidates for the 2011 UK Forward Prize, is indeed a celebrated figure in the realm of literature. The American Academy of Arts and Letters acknowledged his unique contributions to literature with an award. His magnum opus, ‘A Country of Strangers,’ part of his twelfth compilation, was published by the renowned Alfred Knopf Publication, New York, in 2022.