The Music

“Bahot kuch life mein first time hota hai mamu” says one of the famous movie characters in one of the critically acclaimed movie. Something happened for the first time in my life this week and I was a total enthusiast to it. I was a part of a ganesh procession in a small but significant manner. My dhol playing antics got the most of me, where I participated in a procession and my joy knew no bounds. No thrill of whom I am playing with, no excitement of who are the people who are going to be around me, no thrill of whether the audience will like me playing it , just pure zeal of playing the musical instrument.

A parallel expression to explain the sudden rush of feelings in me would be like a child given a favorite toy which he is longing to get since ages.

All of the years before, I was being an ardent spectator for the ‘other’ dhol performers, always in awe of their capabilities to create music that was class apart. But this year, it was an elation to ‘being on the other side of the fence’, where I was a part of the troupe to ‘create’??? sounds the audience can gyrate onto.

Yesterday being the first day of the Ganesh festival, a celebratory mood was in the air since early morning where we got the idol of most revered deity at my home. After installing it with pujas and aarti’s, I headed directly to my friend’s place where we had to ‘perform’.

The dhol being the ‘traditional’ musical instrument, it is used mostly to celebrate the home coming of the deity. It is mostly accompanied by the infamous ‘Tasha’, another musical instrument that needs specialized skills to derive the soothing sounds. One has to be a master to get apposite sounds from it. Dhols form the base for the Tashas, where the two play parallel to compliment each other. Thus the duo-combination is called ‘Dhol-tasha’.

All of us – the dhol players gathered together, tied the pleasant-sounding instrument on our waists and headed to the starting point of the procession. With the slogans of ‘Ganapati Bappa Morya’, one of the Tasha players gave the salami with an impressive note. Respecting the Tasha, the dhols followed suit , thus creating harmonious beats. As the music flowed, new beats, new rhythms and new compositions followed. Slowly and steadily, the much empty street started having anxious yet smiling faces of the onlookers. They were being receptive audience for the show that was being put up in front on them. Within no time we were surrounded by a considerable number of people around us. It was a wonderful feeling to see people around you, who don’t know you, but are enjoying the way you are playing the musical instrument. ‘Being on the other side’ excites you sometimes!

The procession continued for an hour and half and the climax was no more of an enthralling performance. The whole experience can’t be penned down thoroughly, but captivated my heart to the maximum. A fitting experience for my passion for ‘the music’.