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Favourite Watchable Movies etc..

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Recently, there was an event where actors, producers, directors in Hollywood were asked to provide their list of their top 4 movies. Many of them struggled with their answer. Especially for those in the industry, movies are surrounding them and to narrow the selection to the top 4 can be very challenging. I know I have already listed my favourite movies on a different post, but I realized that this list can change.

At an industry even recently, I asked a colleague this question and before answering, he said that what he defines his favourite movies to be are movies that if they are on television, he will watch them over and over again.

Because I am always considering various criteria – ensuring my selection represents diversity, has a drama, comedy, older movie, new movie….I can get steeped down and if I were asked on the spot, I would answer, but I don’t know that my list would be accurate because there are so many great movies that sometimes get forgotten.

For instance, the other night, my husband and I came upon The Road to Perdition, which we both had not seen in a while and even though it was 1/3rd through, we watched and just admired what a great movie it is. First of all, the direction by Sam Mendes is brilliant, the cinematography is on point for the era it depicts, the soundtrack is haunting and the acting and group of actors is simply compelling. Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Daniel Craig, Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law….. magnificent. And the boy playing the son, Tyler Hoechlin – just scene stealing. That movie is just riveting and it gets missed from my favourites consistently.

My list of watchable movies, where no matter if I had just watched it, will watch again, is quite long. It includes movies such as a Few Good Men, Legally Blonde, Casino Royale, Skyfall, Heat, Rocky Aur Rani, Pathaan, Gone With the Wind, Any Equalizer movie with Denzel, Gladiator, Funny Girl, Any Star Wars movie, most MCU movies, but especially Thor Ragnarok, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Black Panther and End Game, The Fugitive, Patriot Games, The Bourne Identity (only with Matt Damon), The Ya Ya Sisterhood, How to Marry a Millionaire, Breakfast at Tiffanys, The Ocean 11 movies, especially the Oceans 9 movie, the original West Side Story, The Philadelphia Story, 10 Commandments, Rear Window, Vertigo, In the Line of Fire, Mission Impossible 4, the John Wick franchise, Elf, Anchorman, Zoolander, Beverly Hills Cop, Hidden Figues, Trading Places, Get Out, Daddy’s Home 2, Goodfellas, The Godfather movies (1 and 2), Hilary and Jackie ……honestly, I could probably provide a never ending list because I adore movies.

These past couple of years, I have not seen many movies that I adored, but there were a few – Sinners was amazing and I love great horror movies. I thought Conclave was brilliant and provided great insights into the selection of a Pope, which was on point. I really enjoyed Materialists and am a big Celine Song fan, and lastly, I really liked the Wild Robot, which I watched with my son and thought it was very innovative and touching. Although formulaic, I did enjoy F1 also, just because I like a good blockbuster.

I look forward to discovering old and new movies, never watched and always knowing that I have the comfort of previously watched movies, like a warm blanket, or catching up with an old friend.

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

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Bengali Roots

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Learning about my Bengali heritage was a big part of my childhood. I went to Bengali school every Saturday morning for years, learning how to speak and write in Bengali.

I loved writing the letters and learning the sounds, but hated speaking in Bengali. I grew up in a house where we spoke English and therefore, I was always uneasy speaking in Bengali – I did not have that environment to feel comfortable to try and fail.

And when I sang in Bengali, I worked really hard on my pronunciation, but there was always a critic. But we had Bengali music playing in our house a lot. My Dad worshipped the songs of Tagore and we grew up learning the genius of Rabindranath Tagore. Not only was I expected to know his music and songs, but I was required to recite the English translation before I sang, so that I understood what I was singing. When I was younger, I was focused more on hitting the right notes and pronouncing the songs properly, than truly understanding the lyrics.

The first Bengali song I performed when I was 4 or 5 years of age was Alo Amar Alo Ogo. Now when I look at the lyrics – I truly understand them and am in awe, but it did not have the same impact on me when I was younger:

Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light. 
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven's river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad.

Tagore was like another God in our house. We proudly sang the Indian National Anthem at the beginning of every Bengali class, knowing it was written by Tagore. We learned that he was the first Asian and non European to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature for Gitanjali, which translates to Song Offering and again, was an important book in our house. In 1919, he refused the knighthood from the British Crown to protest the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, where many unarmed Indian Civilians were killed. There was a reverence for his University, Shantiniketan, where my Aunts studied. Tagore could do no wrong in our house.

I am nostalgic for my Bengali roots at this time, as Durga Puja passed, which was always a significant time in our house. My parents would buy us new clothes, like they did for my Dad when he was growing up in Calcutta and we would attend a week long attendance for various Pujas throughout the GTA. When I was very young, the festivities were held at Harbourfront and it was really magical to see the Bengali displays of Ma Durga throughout that space. When my brother was born, we would run around and dance and have fun. It was truly memorable. My Mother always wore the most beautiful saris and had gorgeous blouses that she would make herself, always distinct and stylish. She brought the dazzle to this special time of the year.

My Father kept all of the Durga greeting cards we received throughout the years, and that art has stayed with me. It is very distinctive. When I was growing up, we had a framed Batik print of Ma Durga and recently for my birthday, my husband had it professionally framed. That depiction of Ma Durga, for me, is very special to me. Ma Durga has always remained my comfort and the temple that we take our kids is the Vaishno Devi Mandir always provides me with peace. I always regret that we were not able to get married there (logistics) because it has always been very special to me.

And so now, when I become nostalgic for all things Bengali, I turn on my Spotify Bengali playlist and sing along with songs that I learned as a kid and over 35 years later, still remember the words and melodies. They truly put my soul at peace with their beauty.

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

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Summer night in Toronto and nostalgia

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A client of mine was leaving her company and so I was invited for drinks at her goodbye party in downtown Toronto last night. Just for context, we live in a suburb outside of Toronto. On a good traffic day, the commute into Toronto can be anywhere from 30-40 minutes. On a bad day, well over an hour.

So, it can sometimes be agonizing about deciding going into the City. But I decided to go and as expected, given the time of day, it took me well over an hour. But I worked in downtown Toronto for almost 25 years and once I get into the City, I am always at ease.

I had a lovely time at the goodbye party, catching up with clients and colleagues in the industry. It was at The Keg on York Street. I used to work in the building adjacent to The Keg and was there at its soft and grand opening, where their drink prices were reflective of the year The Keg first opened (1971). I have had many great get togethers there, first dates (it was close to where I worked) and I was remembering all of that throughout the night.

After the event ended, I decided to take a walk and refamiliarize myself with the downtown core. I am in Toronto a lot, but typically for work and events and I never get a chance to amble, so I did. And it was the perfect summer’s night. Not too hot, the bustle of people leaving work had trickled out and there were other strollers, just enjoying the night.

The patios were full to the brim, because of course, it was a Thursday night and was lovely people watching. I walked by restaurants with new names, where once upon a time, I used to meet like clockwork every week, to catch up over drinks with my fellow crew of young lawyers. We talked about everything under the sun, and tried new martinis and drinks, still figuring out our favourites.

New buildings, where old familiar buildings once had been. When I made partner at my previous firm, right after the partnership meeting, a group of partners took me out to celebrate at Hy’s, a highly regarded steakhouse. Its location has since moved and as I walked by its former and new locations, I remembered the celebratory feeling of that night and the support for those who attended. It was a special night.

I ran across King Street Carrie Bradshaw style, to see if my favourite doughnut store was still open, and it was. I picked up a dozen for the family and then returned to my stroll. I decided to walk up to Old City Hall, because I had seen that there was an art show, and I wanted to see if it was still ongoing.

When I first moved to Toronto, I lived just up the street from Old City Hall, and it always had something going on in the summer. I moved from London, Ontario, to downtown Toronto, with the help of 2 great friends in the summer of 2000. I had next to no money, because I had to pay for a month of a bar admission’s course, before I started my articling year and had no sources of income during that time. So, it was super hard that first month in Toronto being surrounded by great restaurants, and people going out for drinks. For the first time in my life, I lived on my credit card and it was not a nice feeling.

So when I wanted to do something fun without spending money, I would end up walking through Old City Hall, to see what performance or exhibit they had and this remains to date. There would be farmer’s markets, art exhibits, cultural shows and exhibits – always something going on. But current day, unfortunately, as I arrived, the art exhibit was closing up and I missed it.

So I drove home, again, passing through a different part of Toronto. John Street was always the life of the party and it has not changed. I drove by the building where I threw my 30th birthday party and remembered the great time I had that night. By that point, I could afford to throw a party and invite my friends to celebrate in style. Another great memory.

And when I got home, the house was empty. My husband had taken the kids out and I had the place to myself, which is an odd occurrence. I decided to take advantage, and after cleaning up, I changed into comfy clothes, got a speaker and moved to the deck, where I turned out the deck lights and sat, page turning magazines, sipping on some ginger ale and enjoying the beautiful summer night from a different perspective. When the family returned, one daughter stayed out with me, while the other found the doughnuts, and she and I listened to music and talked.

We watched this fun video of a group of musicians performing Star Gazing by Myles Smith (https://www.tiktok.com/@juliencohen_piano/video/7525204753165454614) and we looked up to find the first star of the night.

The perfect moment on a perfect night.

But that’s just one Diva’s view!

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Fireball Candy

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I just finished watching Our Friends and Neighbours with John Hamm. I highly recommend it. I finished the last episode yesterday after a busy day and had been saving it as a treat. It delivered. In one of the episodes, Coop (John Hamm’s character) goes to his ex-wife’s milestone birthday party thrown by her current boyfriend. The gift table is full of designer wrapped presents, but his present is in a crumpled paper bag, and this is the present that his ex opens first to discover that it is full of her favourite candy, Fireballs.

When I was young, my Mom would take me to our local library at least once a week. In the summer, we would walk there. The path we took allowed us to walk past 2 convenience stores, which were across the street from one another. We knew both owners, and what treat I could afford or get, determined which convenience store we would be attending.

But the big treat for me, were Fireballs. They were a cinnamon jaw breaker, which would take a while to break, especially because the cinnamon made them so spicy, at least for me and my Mom. And my Mom could eat spicy food. We would often keep our wrappers and place the Fireball back inside to give our mouth a break. It honestly was my favourite candy, but it was expensive. One Fireball was 25 cents. For 25 cents, you could get taffy, penny candy and various gummy candy. So to spend 25 cents for one candy, was a big deal. But it always delivered and made the walk back and forth to the library, which was my home away from home, so much fun.

This week-end, my firm had our retreat at Niagara on the Lake. I have a favourite bakery, where I always buy almond tarts. But as I was ambling along the main strip, I decided to pop into the candy store and asked for Fireballs. I was admonished and told that they are no longer referred to as Fireballs and was directed to the back, where I found a package of candy called, FIREBALLS. Nevertheless, I was super happy. I had not had a Fireball candy in forever. Although the candies were much smaller than when I was a kid, I was eagerly looking forward to that spicy taste of the jaw breaker. After the jaw breaker broke, you would have a wonderful gum to soothe your mouth.

And so I had my Fireball candy……..and it was not the same at all. The cinnamon had been toned down, and the gum inside was not good and I was terribly disappointed.

And I came to realize that I was trying to recreate a memory, which often cannot be replicated. The taste and experience I had with my Mom, who I was missing, is something to be cherished as a memory from the past. I could never fully go back to that happy childhood moment. And with that realization, I tried to enjoy my new Fireball experience.

And it did not deliver.

Sometimes, you can’t go back and that’s OK; the memories sustain us.

But that’s just one Diva’s view!

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Homeward Bound, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and World Music

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I was very fortunate to grow up in a home that introduced me to all genres of music and develop an appreciation of international sounds.

One of my favourites to listen on on the 8 track player (I know I am dating myself), was Simon and Garfunkel. They were the perfect duo – the songwriter and the voice. Their melodies were captivating and their lyrics were thought provoking. However, I am typically, first and foremost a melody person. The lyrics are generally secondary for me. But Homeward Bound, was the perfect combination of the 2. I would listen to the live version a lot, and lyrics such as the below stayed with me:

Tonight I’ll sing my songs again
I’ll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me

Shades of mediocrity…….the perfection of the phrase still resonates with me more than 40 years later from when I first heard it.

But what is equally as drawing to me is the melody and harmony. I love it and recently watched Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon do their own rendition of Homeward Bound, which was original in its own right. The harmonizing was great.

Again, for me, the melody, harmonizing and instrumentation have always been really compelling for me and I believe that originates from a love of South Asian music. I grew up listening to classical singers riffing off of the scales and creating beautiful ragas without any words. We sang as a family – my Dad’s influence and we sang English, and Bengali songs. I sang my first solo of a Bengali song when I was five, with my Dad accompanying me on the harmonium.

When I was older, I started listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a popular Pakistani singer, known for  qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Again, I do not understand what he is saying and yet, the music has always been deeply moving for me. I imagine being able to play the harmonium, while someone of his caliber is singing. It would be a dream come true.

Jagjit and Chitra Singh also continue to provide me comfort, with their beautiful ghazals.

And now, isn’t it great the range of music we can hear from all type of backgrounds and countries? One of my favourite tracks this past year was APT, a song about a Koren drinking game featuring Rose (from Korean super group Black Pink – LOVE!!) and Bruno Mars. Calm Down by Rema and Selena Gomez remains on rotation for my playlist and I adore all of the AfroBeats I hear. Bad Bunny is perfection and again, I don’t understand what he is singing, but I love it.

At my kids’ school, they listened to French Pop Music and had to vote for their favourite tracks with songs battling each other until the winner was chosen. The kids would play their favourite songs and we provided our picks as a family. And again, the French tracks were a mix of African influences, reggae, dance, rap, traditional; it was eclectic.

In a world where there is a lot of divide, I am glad that we have music, to allow us unity and joy, no matter its origins.

But that’s just one Diva’s view!

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Cardinals

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When I was growing up, after my Grandmother on my Mom’s side passed away, whenever we saw a cardinal, my Mom would say that it was my Grandmother coming to check on us. And so Cardinals became a special bird for us. Whenever I would see one, I truly felt that it was my Grandmother, who I admired greatly.

After my kids were born, I passed on that belief to them. And when my Mother passed away, whenever they saw a Cardinal, they truly believed it was my Mom coming to visit. Whenever they see one, they say, Hi Grandma and try to get her attention. It makes us feel connected to her spirit and feel protected that she is watching over us.

In my kitchen, we have a cardinal suncatcher and over our patio door, I have a small painting of my Mom and I sitting facing the horizon, with a cardinal watching over us. I see it everyday. It gives me peace.

This past Christmas, I received one of the nicest and most thoughtful presents ever. My kids, who are getting old enough to buy little presents, got me a special present. They bought me a snow globe with a cardinal in it. Honestly, as I opened it, I started crying because of their thoughtfulness and knowing how meaningful it would be, it truly moved me. I have the snow globe on my bedside table and I see it everyday also.

And on my recent birthday, as I was opening the curtain to our living room first thing in the morning, there was a cardinal waiting for me in our front tree. It just sat there looking at me. And I turned into a kid and waved at it and started telling the cardinal all about the kids and the family, to catch her up. Mid sentence, in my soliloquy the cardinal flew off. I was so disappointed, because I had so much more to share. But I was joyful, because I got such a special visit for my birthday.

In honour of my Mom, my brother and I make a donation to a Shelter in her name. On my birthday this year, they sent a card thanking for the donation on my Mom’s behalf. I felt like it was a special message from my Mom, proud that we are honouring her legacy. I truly do try to live up to her legacy and her dreams for me; they are such a directing force for me.

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

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Pump up the volume

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Pump up the volume by MARRS was a popular song in the late 80s, specifically, 1987. I heard it this morning on my drive into work and I had not heard this song in forever. It was a 1 hit wonder for MARRS and for me, it was a pretty memorable song.

Now you have to contextualize the time period. During that time, music in North America was pretty Western and did not have any international influences. Growing up, because of my South Asian and Caribbean heritage, we always had music playing from India and Trinidad. South Asian music was a mix of Indian, Calypso, Arabic, Russian; influences from around the world and this shaped my musical palette. There was a song that my Dad used to song, which was a Russian melody with Hindi or Bengali lyrics. Growing up, I learned that Hindi movies were popular worldwide, and especially in Arabic countries and Russia. It was not until this century, that South Asian music became more universally accepted in North America.

However, in the 80, there was Pump up the Volume. It was a dance song, which definitely attracted the ear of this middle schooler. But on top of this, it had this really cool break with an Arabic singer, which was innovative. Although kids at my school could not tell the difference between cultures and often asked me to translate what was being said, I honestly did not take offence; I was just happy to hear something different, yet familiar, in a song.

Now we take for granted the fusion we hear in music, but in the late 80s, this track stood out. On top of that, it was a well produced song, with a strong drum rhythm and listening to it this morning, I was still moving and grooving.

I love that today, our music has become more global. I love all of the influences and particularly enjoy the Afro Beats and Latin influences. To the embarrassment of my kids, I love K Pop and my fave song during the Holiday break was APT, about a Korean drinking game.

I hope that acceptance of global music can transcend in other ways…..

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

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Wicked, books and rant – oh my!

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I grew up loving The Wizard of Oz. I was fortunate to play Dorothy in our public school’s production and therefore, have known the entire script since the time that I was 9 years of age (we used the original MGM script). And so, I had another full circle moment, when I took my girls to see Wicked, the prequel, on the week-end. I had seen the Wicked stage production many moons ago, but there was something special seeing the new Wicked movie with my girls. We had a blast and I have been playing Defying Gravity non stop on my commute and at home.

The words really speak to me, because I have been dealing with an issue, and I find the words very inspiring. I pushed back against the status quo and instead of engaging in a healthy discussion, I was just immediately shot down and basically told to know my place. It was an upsetting exchange because it was not private. It stung.

And listening to the lyrics in Defying Gravity, make me feel understood:

I’m through accepting limits
‘Cause someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change
But ’til I try, I’ll never know

Because the exchange described above was draining, and I am at a place where I am mindful about conserving my energy and being selective on how it is used. And I now find that I have to give myself a pep talk going into a lot of meetings because although I would like to stay quiet, I cannot because that would not be true to me. And it would not be true to the future I would like my kids to encounter and the changes I would like to see enacted to make things better. And so I steel myself, because although we would like to think that we are at a time where diversity is embraced and the people are my mindful of others, at the end of the day, it is a live issue and I see more back sliding than forward motion.

Perhaps I will be playing Defying Gravity in advance of meetings, as my pep song? It will take the place of Eye of the Tiger; I will keep you posted!

However, the other thing that stood out to me about Wicked, was a particular scene, that caused me to quickly groan. If you are South Asian and have seen the movie, you will know what I am talking about. But for those of you who are not, when I was growing up, I was taught to be respectful of the written word, in any form; newspaper, book, magazine – it was to be respected. And in our culture, the highest form of disrespect would be to put your foot on a book. As a child, not stepping on books was instilled in me as a form of respect for knowledge, and it is a tradition that has been passed on to my kids. We do not steps on books!

So when I watched the musical number in Wicked, where they are in the library, and are stepping and dancing on books, I gasped and had a hard time watching it. And when I went on social media, and saw that it was a common observation of many South Asians, I felt a sense of community.

Oh well – you can’t please everyone. It still did not take away my enjoyment of watching Wicked.

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

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Navigating friendships at this stage in life

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Because my home life growing up was quite unstable, I took a lot of comfort in the stability of my friends. I was blessed, in my early tween years, to develop friendships with a core group, who remain close friends to date. I have always felt blessed to have this circle around me. During school, we had so many shared experiences and as we all went our separate ways post high school, we would always return and find time to hang out together. We have been to each other’s weddings, 2 in the group even marrying, the birth of kids, illnesses and dealing with aging parents – we have remained there for each other.

But I have also developed other circle of friends, as one does, throughout my life. And I have to say that I was spoiled from my initial group. I truly believed that given the precedent set, that friendships remain forever. How naive. And throughout university and while working, I have learned to navigate the loss of friendships for no other reason than these people decided or due to circumstances, to move on.

The drifting, to me, is natural. But there have been a couple of instances, where a person, has made the decision that our friendship, is no longer a benefit to them and therefore, it has stopped. There were no conversations or explanations, as one has in a break up, with a significant other. The friend just stopped responding to invitations and stopped communications. In those instances, it used to cause a lot of angst and a lot of internal questioning as to whether there was something that I had done. As I have become older, I honestly have come to realize (but it was a process), that the ending of friendships, was natural, a choice of the other person and likely had nothing really to do with me, but with that person and what they needed in their life. What persons or friends, were necessary for who they are now, as we all evolve and change.

In one friend group of 5, one friend made the decision to remove herself from the circle. We collectively kept inviting her to events, reaching out and having discussions about this friend. I was the one who finally said that I did not want to keep rehashing this topic. If the friend wanted to rejoin, they could and had all of our contact information. But if an event was being planned for me, then I no longer wanted an invitation sent to this person, because too much time had passed, and it seemed disingenuous, to keep making an effort, after years of no effort from this friend. The lack of reciprocity did not sit well with me. And so any discussions about this other person have stopped and I have to say, that this revised circle, has remained strong.

But I am now at a crossroads. I celebrated a milestone birthday this year and have been involved in self reflection about who and what I need, to surround myself with, going forward. And I have started to realize, that based on loyalty to the concept of friendship, I have maintained certain relationships, when they no longer enrich my life and in fact, just the opposite, they bring a level of stress and dislike to my life. And now I am at a point, for the first time, where I am deciding whether I need to start distancing myself from certain people.

It has been in the making for some time, but I am truly a Taurus, and loyalty is important to us. It is a key characteristic. And so this has been at times, divisive, but at other times, decisive. I am at a stage in life, where I no longer feel the need to fit in, but am proud of being my unique self. And I have started to speak more freely about things that I had previously been quiet about, because it did not reflect the collective of the friend group. And there have been moments of shock in response, where honestly, friends had never thought to see the world through my lens and when they did, realized, that I indeed, do have a different narrative from them. We have been so focused on our collective similarities, that the differences became muted. But that started to feel unnatural to me. If these friends are going to remain in my life, then shouldn’t it be because they want to be friends with the true me?

And I have always found that I have celebrated others wins and I strongly believe in lifting those around me, because, that brings me peace. However, I am starting to notice that those friends who relationships I am questioning, are (so uncomfortable using this word) jealous about certain aspects of me. Oprah has been talking about the fact that if there is jealousy in the dynamic, then there cannot be true friendship and I am really starting to see the truth in those words. Many of my friends have come from more affluent starts and have had opportunities different than mine. And although I recognized those realities, I never begrudged those opportunities. Instead, again, from my original circle, we just always celebrated each other. Simple and easy.

However, that mindset has not always been present with other friend groups and that feeling of being scrutinized and constantly assessed, is not a dynamic I want in my life any longer. I also don’t want a constant negative aspect in my life. I have a few friends who whatever stage in life they are in, report back the challenges and the negativity and it become the focus of all conversations. I understand the need to vent in friendships – trust me I do. But one’s life cannot always be at its worst and hardest. That level of negativity, is also a dynamic, I no longer want around me.

I want honesty, trust and comfort to be one’s self, but if one’s self is always focused on the negative, then I think that I am out, for now.

And so, do I drift away, or do I explain my decision, to those people, who I no longer see benefitting me? I am still working on this aspect.

Adulting is hard – I am waiting for it to get easier.

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

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Music Association

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When I moved to residence for undergrad, this guy on moving day, played the song, No Rain, by Blind Melon, on repeat. Whenever I hear that song, I remember what it was like to have my first taste of independence. Up until that time, I had lived at home with very strict parents and had very limited social experiences. And as I moved into a dorm, I knew that this would all change. I remember finding a grocery store, and buying food my parents had never allowed : Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Sugared Cereal, and bringing it back to my new temporary home, only to discover, that after the first few bites, it was not as good as I had hoped. That was the year that Snoop Dogg released his debut album, and throughout residence, we heard, Gin and Juice and What’s My Name. I had a good friend circle on our floor, and I remember one friend buying me a CD single of Whatta Man, by Salt N Peppa, featuring En Vogue. Such great memories.

When I left to start law school, I took the train. I was looking forward to the law school experience, but nervous on many different levels as well.

My brother, who is 7 years younger, was already a guitar aficionado, and had a love for British Alternative Music. And back in those days, there was no Spotify or playlists – if you wanted to share music, you made the person a mixed tape. And that is what my brother did. He made me 2 mixed tapes to listen to on my train ride to London and for law school. And that is just what I did on that train ride – I listened to the amazing compilation of music that my brother introduced me to – Oasis, Blur, The Verve, Bush – it was all great music. And different from the music I typically listened to. And as the various small towns zoomed by, and home sickness dawned, my brother’s music comforted me. I still have those tapes. That music is still very comforting to me. It still brings me back to the train, every time.

And in my first year of law school, I shared a townhouse with my childhood friend, going to Teacher’s College, her former roommate and a friend of that roommate. Our townhouse was beside a guy one year senior to me in Law School and his friends. This was the year when the Beastie Boys released, Hello Nasty and we heard the track Intergalactic, on repeat, through the walls. I became a fan.

When I was articling, my fellow student shared his Stevie Wonder CD compilation with me, and it was life changing. I had always been a Stevie Wonder fan, but having access to that enormous library of great music, was such a treasured experience.

Throughout my articles and early associate years, I listened to a lot of Jazz and female jazz singers. I remember hearing the song, Stronger Than Me, by Amy Winehouse in 2003 and I was done. I ran to buy her CD and listened to that non stop. I felt that I had discovered a new find and no one I knew, was into her, but that later changed, didn’t it?

And now? Now – I go out of my way to introduce my kids to music that have been such a part of my life.

My kids and I were watching a show and I quickly asked them to identify the classical piece, and one daughter got it – Vivaldi, The Four Seasons – Spring. My heart burst with pride. Classical music has always been a constant for me, through piano, band and choir. Singing Mozart’s Requiem remains one of my favourite singing experiences. I did not have a solo – just part of the ensemble, but the beauty of that composition and the emotions it invokes, is other worldly.

And that’s what I want for my kids – the music associated with great memories. For my husband, that song is September, by Earth, Wind and Fire and because my son’s birthday falls in that month, it just makes the song sweeter for him

I am looking forward to one day hearing the soundtrack for my kids and what songs they associate with special events. The power of music. And I hope mixed into their favourites, are some songs that they associate with me.

But that’s just one Diva’s view.