The Music Maker - Part 2

I was on the terrace of my mamabari (maternal uncle's home) when Deedun (my grandmother ) called me from downstairs, "Mamoni, come down quickly, your mother is waiting for you on the phone". The year was 1996, mobile phones had not yet revolutionized our communication process in India, we had the good old land line phones, which did not have the silent mode, when they rang, your neighbors till next three doors knew that somebody was calling you. I ran down the stairs, two at a time to take the call, "Mamon, Baba has got your GUITAR from the store today, when are you coming home? " I heard my mother say from the other end.

That same evening I was back in my home ( my mamabari is also in Jamshedpur) and for the first time when I laid my eyes on my HOBBNER ( a guitar brand ) I fell in love, there it was brand new, sleek  and shiny. It was as if for that moment I had completely forgotten the PIANO of my dreams, as if the Piano never existed. The guitar had completely shut the Piano out of my mind, like when you saw this really cute boy in school and you completely forgot about your crush on a movie star. And when I gently took it into my arms and strum the strings for the first time, our affair had already begun. The Guitar was now the center of my universe.

My cousin came down to meet me the next day, " Heard that you are on your way to become a guitarist ", he mocked me as always and I offcourse paid no attention. "Are you sure you will be able to hold it because you are only a few inches taller than the guitar ", he mocked again. I smiled sarcastically at him because he didnt know that true love can overcome any physical incompatibility and I had truly fallen in love with my Hobbner.

My guitar classes began very soon, every wednesday and saturday of the week , all my time at home was spent practicing. Now when I think of it, I realize how much of a pain I have been to my family and neighbors  when I started playing initially. I soon began playing pretty good and impressed my music teacher, since I learned classical music, the first raag that I learnt was Wilawal and the first raag that I played for an exam was Kafi and so many raags from then on but the one that I liked to play best was raag Desh ( to be played in the morning ), simply mesmerizing, from the first time I played it till today Desh has been my favorite raag.

Time really flies, before I knew I had played my guitar for three years, I was no longer a torture to my family, even my cousins started liking to hear me play. In the meantime I had performed in many functions, won some prizes also ( they are still there in my home ). I was slowly becoming more and more involved in my music, I was playing with students who were much older to me, some had even got their degree in music. I was really happy.

They say that love and marriage are not always the same thing, you may love someone with all your heart, with everything you have and yet you may not be able to marry them , maybe they are rite , maybe they are not, who knows.It was the year 2000 ( yes I know the year of Y2K, that scared the hell out of people ), but it was not Y2K that scared the hell out of me, it was my 10th board exam which I was to give in 2001 and for that I was expected to study diligently throughout the year.

The do or die question stood in front of me, studies or music? A good score in the board exam has its own importance and advantages, specially when it comes to getting admitted to University. I was in the worst dilemma of my teenage life...what to do? The music lessons were also becoming more intense, they demanded undivided attention, lot of effort and dedication, it was no longer playing just for fun, it was much more serious business now. My teenage head won over my teenage heart and my beutiful guitar, the first love of my life was packed into its box to be kept temporarily on top of the Godrej almirah in my study room.

Just as lovers console each other that their separation is short- lived, I promised my guitar that our separation was only momentary, we would be together again very soon, making beautiful music which we had always done.    (..... to be continued in final concluding part )

The Music Maker - Part 1

The hall burst out into applause as I finished hitting the last notes on my piano, the echo of the applause kept reverberating inside for some time. It had been an awesome performance and the reaction of the audience was giving proof to that. This was a dream come true for me , an auditorium full of audience applauding after my piano recital, what a day, one that I had waited for a long time". Mamon wake up quickly or you will miss your school bus and you will then have to run after it till the next stop." My mother's voice doubled up as an alarm clock for me,my dream was broken and I was back into reality, Where was my piano? Where was the auditorium? And where was the audience?

I started getting out of bed slowly, all the time thinking to myself why did I always have the same dream, the same grand piano, the same auditorium and the same loud echo of the audience applauding. Was it a mechanism my sub-conscious had employed to make me aware that I now wanted to be the owner of a Grand Piano. I had to tell this to my mother, but wait what would I tell? That I wanted to play a piano? The one that I saw in my dreams was so big, it would never fit into our living room...hmmm...wait a second....maybe if I could convince my mother to move all the furniture out of the living room, then we could fit a big piano. The problem now was how to approach my mother to buy me a piano....yes I knew what I would do....I would ask it as a birthday gift....smart isnt it.

I started dragging my feet towards the kitchen, my mother was standing with her back towards me, busy packing our lunch boxes. "Maa, I was thinking.....", I started, "there is no time to think now, hurry up and take the shower and get into your school dress, never seen a lazy bone like you ", replied my mother before I could complete. "Maa, listen please, I have been thinking and I wanted to tell you, I want a GUITAR for my birthday " ( WHAT?? I had blurted out a GUITAR instead of a PIANO, what was my sub-conscious doing? replacing a PIANO with a GUITAR).

"Get ready for school quickly and we will discuss more about this in the evening " was my mother's reply, the whole day at school I could not concentrate on anything , my mind kept jumping between PIANO and GUITAR, I could not decide. Well a guitar seemed more practical,I could carry it easily, I knew there was a music school teaching guitar near my home, and it would not need any furniture to be moved. But what about my dream ? Only time will tell :)

My mother was waiting for me at the door of our home when I came back from school in the evening. "Mamon, your Baba and I have decided that you can have a guitar for your birthday but you will have to promise that you will learn to play it till the end, you will not discontinue your guitar classes like you discontinued your classical dance class ".  I was thrilled,I am going to have my own musical instrument, I could not believe. "Maa, thank you so much, I promise I will learn till the end, I will play it beautifully you will see, I promise I will ". I had made the promise to my mother that day....but did I keep my promise....did I finish all my music classes?     (...... to be continued )

                                                                                                       

At the dining table

"Mamon, have you become deaf?" My mom's voice jolted me up at my study table from whatever I was thinking that Sunday afternoon. "Why what happened, I am not deaf, even though I should have become one by this time" , I replied back." I have called you three times to come to the dining table for lunch, how many more times should I call you?". " I have a lot of work to do and what is that you are so engrossed in reading? I am sure it is not your school book, must be one of the Alistair McLean thrillers you always read."

" No Ma really I was studying for school, not a story book thats why I didnt hear you call me, anyways I am ready for lunch where is Tinku? Is he still in the shower? One day he will beat all the girls in taking a shower." I could hear my brother singing in the shower. God how could a boy take so much time in the shower. I sat down in my chair, Baba was already there waiting patiently for us to join him. It was a sunday afternoon the only day of the week we four had lunch as a family at the dining table :)

 Tinku came out of the shower rubbing himself vigorously with the towel and all the time checking himself out in the mirror. Baba looked at me and I looked at Baba and we both smiled. Maa was telling "Tinku is just like your grandfather, just as good looking like him, tall and dark"." Yes Maa,you are right I hope he has got some of dadu's brains also not only his looks, I am sure he will need the brains more."

 "First you worry about your own brains, if you have any" Tinku replied back to me obviously not being able to digest the insult I had just hurled at him. "Yes I will definitely but can you please quickly finish your grooming session and join us at the table? We are all feeling hungry". "What is there for lunch Maa ? I hope you have cooked my favorite chicken curry and not didibhai's favorite fish curry. " Tinku asked.

 "I have cooked both because I have no choice, the two of you never eat the same thing, have you ever thought how difficult it is for me?". "Dont tell anything to me Maa, I am a true bengali and I love my fish , it is more healthy and I cant do without it ". "Tell Tinku to change his tastes, he can only eat Chicken, Egg and Paneer ". "Tell him to cultivate some fine bengali taste otherwise later it will be difficult to get him married ". "Why dont you worry about your own marriage for a change?" Tinku replied back angrily, looking deeply hurt because questions had been raised about his Bengali tastes.

 "Enough of fighting you two, eat quietly whatever your mom has prepared ". Baba spoke for the first time. "Mamon, how is school going for you, did you get to know your score in any of the subjects for the exam ?" "Yes, I scored 97 out of 100 in Maths ". I happily replied to Baba very sure of the appreciation I would get from him and Maa. Just at that moment Tinku interfered "What 97 out of 100, how did you loose the 3 marks? See Maa she must have lost the 3 marks due to carelessness."

 I was shocked at his audacity, I almost choked at the piece of fish I was eating, I almost felt like thinking out aloud, how much did you score in Maths, did you even manage to score 40? But I just ignored his comments choosing not to pay any attention to what he had said. Well every dog has his day, the day my results will be declared, his results will also be declared,I will also see where he will hide himself that day.

 "Tinku just dont eat the chicken, eat the vegetables too ", Baba was telling Tinku. "And after lunch try to study something for school dont watch any television and dont go outside to play in this hot sun wait for it to become evening at least ".

And on and on our conversations went during lunch time on a Sunay afternoon. I never realized I would remember these simple conversations so vividly after so many years. Well looks like I certainly do :)  that picture is still alive at some corner or my mind and it is almost like I had hit the rewind button while writing up this piece.

How much I miss that lunch now, why because now I have my lunch in a different continent :) But, I am sure the next time we four sit down for lunch again history will repeat itself :) :) :)