Goosebumps

TED Global is, as I expected, proving a mind-blowing experience. This evening was no exception: crammed into the (sweltering) Sheldonion Theatre, we were treated to a semi-improvised, live twenty-minute performance by Talvin Singh.

Talvin is single-handedly responsible for fusing Punjabi bhangra music with the synthesised electronica that I grew up raving to in clubs, parties and heaving aircraft hangars. The spine-tingling, life-affirming, goosebumps bit came towards the end; a rich, flowing, drum 'n' bass bassline kicked in (utterly incongruous given the chandeliers, oil paintings and organ pipes in the background), Talvin's tabla playing reached a frenzied crescendo, and something posessed me to look up. Sat right at the back, his face partly in shadow, was Thomas Dolby, one of the first musicians to realise the power of electronic synthesizers, more than twenty years ago.

It's an incredible privilege to be sat here with people that are genuinely changing the world, and I'm thinking a lot about what my legacy will be. What can I change? What can I make better? What will I push forward in the 438,000 hours (or so) that I have left on this planet?

— Filed under Rumination