Hamid Cocker

Life is Unpredictable

Can you relate to any of the following scenarios?

• You are driving on the highway to work and your car gets a puncture! What is your instinctual reaction? Do you become angry and frustrated? 
• You find yourself in the middle of war in your country, and you eventually end up as a refugee in a United Nations Shelter.
• One of your parents suddenly leave’s for the heavenly abode.
• You set out to achieve a profession you dreamed of and end up in a totally different one.

These are just a few…

Indispensable Guardians

18th May was my special day. I was celebrating my birthday at a great venue with my friends and loved ones, bonding and enjoying every moment. As expected, I sang and got everybody to do the same. We were in a total state of joy.

Later on as I pondered over the events, thanking God for such wonderful people in my life, it dawned on me that the positive feelings were also a major contribution of four other friends. S,D,E and O, lurk in the background, working silently and…

A Dilemma:

Do you realize we are doing less talking and also listening less? It is not a joke but a reality! We have allowed artificial surrogates to rip the essential fabric that united us and kept a healthy flow of communication, an essential tenet of the communal structure.

When was the last time that you sat down to have an uninterrupted dialogue with your teen, spouse or even a friend maintaining eye contact and enjoying a healthy debate? Let’s be honest, more often than not we have all been guilty of…

A wake-up Call

Just last month a friend of mine collapsed at the end of a daily three-mile run! He was almost gone in a minute! But thanks to the prompt delivery of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by our other friend which sustained him till the arrival of the EMS team. A life was saved.

Apparently, my friend had suffered a cardiac arrest due to clogged coronaries. He had been advised to follow up with a cardiologist, but the advice had not been judiciously  followed.   Sometimes we overrule timely advice or…

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” - Kahlil Gibran

Musicians and most artists have the unique opportunity to give of themselves! Whether big or small, charity is charity, a value deeply embedded in human nature and in most beliefs!

With that said, I will tell you about a couple of charities with which I was involved earlier in my life. My hope is to inspire new independent artists to get involved in this noble undertaking! I strongly…

Stage Fright

What would have been your reaction if you were in my shoes on a day back in 1961 December, a teenage schoolboy pushed by friends onto the stage in a hall full of fellow students and staff? They were yelling “Hamid, give us an Elvis number.” You would know what it’s like having cold feet!  

It was our annual school concert, and a four-peace school band was entertaining us. I was shy, though occasionally I sang in the classroom.

My heart was pounding, palms sweating, fingers numb and stomach…

In this article, I would like to share my life’s activities that have greatly benefited me and changed my life. “DECPSS”  is the acronym that best describes the six keys that have become my mantra for a wholesome life.  These six letters will unfold the secrets of longevity and replenish both your soul and body, renewing your spirits and providing you with a more meaningful lifestyle. 

So let us be good listeners and “hear” our body when it is clearly screaming “no more” to the “gluttony”, to the…