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 )
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