Those days of innocence

Let us rewind our life by a whole decade...maybe half more......that's when we reach those beautiful days which our parents enjoyed more than us(hopefully ;) ) Anyway, yes, that is my handwriting. Supposed to be a birthday card for my 2 year old sis, so the four year old me had just started learning to write. I doubt I actually realized what I wrote then but when I found it while searching for something else,it brought this smile to my face and I was transported back to that age.

Ahh yes, my first memory, narrated by my mom. At the age of 2, totally inspired by seeing my mother washing clothes, I decided to wash my dear little soft toy Foxy by soaking it in a bucket full of water(which I filled myself :P ) and then putting it to dry on a dining chair. So when does my poor mom spot it? When guests come over that day and she offers the very chair..dripping wet...

And another one I'm still flabbergasted as to how I thought of such details. It was a simple lie . In the 2nd standard to a senior teacher. She asked me a simple question." What does your father do? " And what does the imaginative 7 year old say...."He is an astronaut. He has gone to the moon". My teacher was smart. She asked me back."When will he come back?". I thought for a second and said "2 months." Trust me, the answer wasn't a random one. I did think about the space ship and stuff and kind of knew that he won't be back in a day. By the way, when the teacher came back in the 3rd standard and asked me whether my dad was back from the moon,  I just fumbled and mumbled something realizing I shouldn't lie about things that can't be justified.

 I guess you are wondering how I can remember something that happened 11 years ago. I have a person who can vouch for it.

I have a classmate Aashish Mittal in engineering now who also happened to be in my school till the 2nd standard when he changed schools. He wasn't a friend of mine then. But, when I saw him on the first day of college, I sort of remembered his face and name and asked him whether he was in my school. He thought for quite some time and he looked at me and agreed but with a shocked expression. His question was expected. HOW DO YOU REMEMBER??????? ( P.S He actually went home and searched for the class photos to find me and yet he was unsuccessful in recognizing me in the picture :P )


Ahh yes, another story I remember and just can't help laughing at. My dad likes listening to the vedas. He would play them in the evening on the stereo. On one of these occasions when I was 9, my friends came to call me from below my 1st floor balcony. I don't remember why I didn't want to go down to play that day but I made up a reason. "Some brahmins have come to do some puja and I have to dance for them" . Dance!! I'm still going mad. And the "kid who had been taught never to lie" that I was, I actually danced some stupid steps to that rhythm because I felt guilty (:O). And really, I guess people see through my lies cuz my friends said they didn't see those people leave and you know how my face would have been. :P

Before you think my childhood was spent only lying,I also found a letter from my grandfather. I and my sister used to write (actual ones) letters to my grandparents and then decorate the borders with creepers and flowers. But when email came and it was simpler, you might think the essence was lost. But I really didn't let that happen. I used to draw designs using Paint and use them as background for the email. Also, I used to put some pic of ours taken using the webcam at the top and say something like "Hope this picture brings back those fun filled memories when we were there and make you smile the whole day whenever you think of it." at the end of the letter. My grandparents used to love those letters and actually read them twice!

How innovation arises out of innocence is just impossible to believe. Kids talk to their soft toys , make their own world with no fear of the world calling them mad. Although, I wasn't a soft toy enthusiast, I remember when I was 6, I used to assume that I was the daughter of the king of half of a parallel world exactly same as the earth and I can be transported to that world by mind. James Cameron may just have competition. :P I made up so many stories related to that world at that age. Now, I can do nothing but just wonder, where has all that gone?

Even love is unconditional at that age. You would never have thought what your sibling is gonna do for your birthday when you are preparing for their birthday. When I was in the 9th or something, I remember my sister made a card and got everyone in the Hindi marathi tution I go to and some of her schoolmates who were prefects under me to sign it, all done without my knowledge. It was so simple yet so thought of. It was one of my best birthdays really. Childhood, I can't but look back with admiration.

So, those were my days of innocence. Those care free days can never be compensated by anything. I really am awestruck (it really isn't self-obsession) at myself then. I really had a wonderful time living back the days of my first decade. Hope you had too. And yes, do share your childhood memories which might just light up the face of anyone who reads it making that smile last. :)

My first ever concert

                                              What a day! The maths exam had to be the last one to end as the best examination of the semester!! Also, what I experienced after that is something unforgettable and wonderful in its own way. I again thank Srinath for inviting me and Nisha for the concert, the main reason for this post.


So, I start with my association with Carnatic music.I have been born and brought up with carnatic music. Literally. Considering my father sang all the famous carnatic songs to put me and my sister to sleep till I was about 7 years old. Even when I started learning in the 2nd standard( although that teacher shifted her house in a year :( ) , my grandmother tells me I used to play the simple notes I learnt on the casio and sing along at that age. However, luck came my way and I have been able to continue learning something I am just so passionate about. Also, listening to music is always delightful , beyond doubt; but to discover the same peace, content and happiness in your own voice, it is nothing but pure magic.


So, listening to concerts which appear on TV is something I always do. But the same thing live!!. I had never imagined I would do that so soon. So Srinath told us about this concert which is a tribute to the great composer Thyagaraja on the day he attained samadhi which happens in lots of places, was happening at shanmukhananda hall and that his mother was a part of it. He invited us and we readily agreed. But we didn't know or rather realize how much that "yes" has an effect on us now.


It is pure bliss to listen to even one  musical instrument being played accompanied by a wonderful voice.But, we had more. We got to listen to 8 veenas, 8 violins, 2 flutes, 3 mrindangam( something like a dholak), 3 gatham (it is a pot used as a percussion instrument) and 50 singers together in harmony  singing the best composed songs with such devotion, that it cannot be expressed in words. One advantage of it being a live concert was I could see everyone's faces unlike on the tv where they concentrate on a select few. Each singer was lost in what they were singing; absorbed in their own world. There was this mridangam player who smiled throughout the concert when he played.The other player alternated between the ghatam and mridangam and was practically having a conversation through the instruments they both were playing. Two of the veena players sang so peacefully as they played. There was an almost 75 year old lady playing the veena!! Talk about loving music.


And me??? Oh well, I was taken back to the time when my dad used to sing these songs. I knew everyone of the 5 songs that they sang. But all the more , that was the reason I was so mesmerized. I was one with all of the people present in the hall, savouring every note that fell on my ear, every beat in company. It was a divine hour and I really couldn't clap after any song because I felt this music was way beyond something for which claps satisfy what I felt. I could have really cried with that overflowing emotion. I just didn't want it to finish. I was numb . And I can keep describing how I felt because words don't do the job.

I must say, it was the best thing that I could ever do in my life. ever. Gives me another reason to love the fact that I am learning this wonderful art. Something so divine just cannot be explained. You have to experience it.
So a big thanks again to Srinath for that wonderful experience and Nisha for accompanying me till Andheri station :).

 And so I am inclined to end this post with a thought that will never change; what we feel when we listen to music is just something we are blessed with. Cherish it as I go back to the reverberations of yesterday's peace.

My Space

                                        I have just personalized my blog into the place where I find solace. Thanks to my friend Sumiran who changed his blog's background image, I realized I could do it too. And I forced myself to wait( literally considering I come online way too often) till my never ending exams got over and I HAVE DONE IT AT LAST!!.


                And I love it so much that I keep looking at the blog not even reading what I have written , not even feeling like going to the "edit posts" section but just lost in the space. But then, I can't let you guys do that, can I? Lots of posts on their way, all waiting for this blissful time. Till then, Hope you enjoyed the walk down the imag(e)inary road full of trees till you get to read something . :)

P.S. A big thank you to Rucha for being the first one to see my blog's new avatar and suggest changes in terms of font( so that reading is easy for all of you, of course) and most importantly, her first reaction was "Whoa!" :)