Different notes on different strokes

Although I am not a musician, my interest in music, and my close interactions with the people and institutions connected with music, added variety to my life.

In childhood, I was enrolled in a music class. During my college days, I took lessons on my mother’s Veena. My mother was pained by my lackadaisical attitude to my training. It was she who tuned the instrument prior to my daily practice, which hardly lasted an hour compared to the eight hours she said she put in every day.

Soon, I stopped my Veena venture on the pretext of giving in to academic demands. Of course, my mother backed my decision, recalling and perhaps regretting her own: when my father left for England, my grandfather wanted to enrol her in a convent school so she could learn English. But she had opted for music instead. This was in 1930. I now realise how progressive my grandfather was; 20 years later, in the 1950s, a few relatives tried to persuade my father not to waste his money on educating his daughters!

My pursuit of instrumental music was revived during my stay in the US. The violin class was a disaster. I briefly took piano lessons, the only takeaway of which was that I could identify Brahms’ Symphony No 1 and other classical compositions. My Italian professor in Michigan, who was impressed when I identified the composer of the music being played in his office, gave me several spools on which he had recorded Chopin’s Piano Concerto and other compositions from his collection.

On my return to India, I followed a schedule: after returning from work I played LPs of Indian maestros such as M S Subbalakshmi, and on Sunday forenoons I listened to western classical music. My music collection also helped in entertaining visitors.

On relocating to Bangalore, not the one to give up, I enrolled in a bhajan class, conducted by one Kitti Master, as he was popularly known. I invited my bhajan classmates and other like-minded people to hold a music session on Sri Ramanavami day in our house. Another group was invited to perform on the Gowri festival. Since mother enjoyed both events, the groups performed on other occasions including her birthday.

Joining the congregation at the Sri Ramakrishna Math was a unique experience. I interacted with the revered Swamiji Sri Harshanandaji Maharaj, the-then president of the Math. I once requested the Swamiji to include a bhajan by Samarth Ramdas in a programme on Saraswati pooja. My joy knew no bounds when he obliged and my request was rendered solo by the Swamiji himself.