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Articles: My Experience | My Dream Trip
- Miss ches ches
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I was watching the Television in the 10th holidays .It was The then Honoured Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and some Festival in some stadium . Some group dances , National song singing were being shown. I suddenly thought ,only If I got a chance to perform in such groups, before my favourite Prime Minister, I would be very lucky.
I was learning vocal and veena since when I was 6 years old under Big gurus and had already performed on stage, TV and Radio. My sister was learning mrudangham then. My father too was learning mrudangham at home .
I joined college and on one Sunday the mrudangham teacher came and said that some selections were going on, to perform at the National Award Festival, Delhi.I went there and got selected. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was the conductor .
For the first time in India a National Orchestra was being conducted, few were selected from Hyderabad and few were selected from Bangalore all together, we formed a number of around 80 in the age group 5 to 30.
We already had a rehearsal here at Hyderabad. There were many students from Music college who easily became my friends. I almost talked to every body. There was one who is my father’s colleague’s sister, Padma. I became a good friend of her. I noted another girl called Madhavi who is a sitar player and who had been to Delhi-Kashmir trip recently through her college .There were Renuka and others who became friends later. There was another group a sitar-tabla set friends and who already had been to Delhi recently on NSS camps as artists. The other was my veena teacher’s son. Many of the others were my father's mrudangham teacher’s students and all others from music college. We had jokes with each other and also with Ustad’s disciples and enjoyed the rehearsal. There was a friendly environment.
We performed at the Raveendra Bharathi.We also had a chance for individual performances where only few were selected. I was happy about myself getting selected. I practiced like anything for the few minutes of performance. But the group orchestra was for 45 minutes or so If I remember .But at the time of receiving the rose from the great chief guest C Narayana Reddy, they somehow missed out my name which disappointed me very much. As usual my best friend accompanied me who helped out in communicating this to the organizer. I was given more roses which the chief guest called it as Bonus and gave it which made me happy .In fact I was almost crying for the rose. My friend got one from the mrudangam player who is a son of well known mrudangist.
We later on came to know that the guy expired. We felt very bad about that. It was Jan, We all were set go, assembled at the Music college and a lady lecturer was being sent as a guide. An and another guide was my father's friend's relative.My parents also requested the elderly girls ,particularly the one who was my friend to take care of me. That was the first time I was leaving Hyderabad.
Soon after entering the train, myself and Madhavi started becoming elders and started taking leadership .Soon we started taking care of ourselves. We all got a feeling that we are all one and are going for a good cause and quite an important trip.
The NSS people started narrating their experiences on their previous trip. And not to tell about Madhavi, all through the trip she was narrating stories about her previous trip. On the other compartment they took out their instruments and started playing every thing that comes to their hands.That was not to impress but for fun. Till then, to me Music means art, reputation, prizes and concerts .For the first time I learnt music is Fun.
Elderly people were asking If we took sweaters with us. In the mean time some friend circles were made, as Padma was quite elder to me, I made friends with Madhavi who already got two more friends. One was going to be an engineer ,the Senior ,music is not a priority issue for him .This guy started teasing me too. I was supposed to be the youngest amongst girls and I got pampered by every body there.
Some how we reached Delhi and we were taken to one of the stadiums, ladies in the ladies hostel and guys in the guys.
We daily went to the rehearsal and came back. Ustad's disciples became our friends. One fine day Mastroe’s wife along with the kids came there. She came and talked to us personally which made me very happy. She is such a nice lady. This was the first time ever in India that such an orchestra was being made. We were all aware of that.radhika and Madhuri from Bangalore troupe had become friends. There were too many violin guys who were playing very good and were as fast as our violin guys thou they were playing in Karnatik style and our guys played western. I could easily make out the bani. Particularly in veena I could make out the difference between Bangalore bani which is popular as Mysore bani. They played less of gamaks. Played it like harmonium with ease just touching the nodes which made them play with speed.
And at the stadium the breakast was sports men breakast. Had been very heavy or us. But first day at the dinner, he gave Dal roti sabji along with some rice. He kept on serving and we all ate only rice as we are all from south. The rice was finished and the supervisor apologized saying they didn’t know we are from south and we eat rice and next day he will make rice. Then I understood the food differences between north and south and some of them could not adjust to food.
And it was always the same Madhavi group at the dinner and breakfast to accompany me for dinner. Then the senior teasing me at the dinner table started. Madhavi being elder came to my support, then he used to laugh and say I don’t have confidence. I started feeling home sick, one of the youngest guy’s father had come. The boy even broke his nose in the excitement. Suddenly next morning at the breakfast one of the group member, the tabla guy (the good one among the two who always had it that I was the youngest ) was hiding something. After some time he gave it to me, It was a letter from home. I was very excited, even my sister had written her part in it. I came to know that my newly bought vehicle got its basket attached. I was very happy and every body noticed this. They started making me feel more comfortable. And then came site seeing and shopping, which we did and particularly the party that the senior forced me to give .Later he said he enjoyed the pastry particularly because I was crying to spend money on him. That was fun.
One day we were taken by Ustad to the Prime Minister's house to meet him exclusively at the lawn. We all took snaps. Finally came the day of TV rehearsal.A student of Ustad became my friend and promised to write to me after I reach Hyderabad. She was studying the same standard as I did.(The senior and Madhavi fought there.) And the performance was marvelous. It took whole day for the recording. It was telecast on January 26 1989(if I remember the year correctly)Later this was telecast many a times on TV which we viewed from Hyderabad with pride.
And Now we were to do final rehearsal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. We were practising and one of the Ustad’s disciple (not revealing names) spoke to us and encouraged all of us to take music as profession. I kept quite and was listening to others. Madhu, the senior spoke and said he is going to take engineering as his profession and took scoldings from the disciple saying he should make a choice. Though he took scoldings he became my inspiration, I wanted to do engineering. Two paths got opened before my eyes. One ends and the other starts from where one ends. The second is Engineering to become a software engineer.
At the rehearsal My cousin came and met ,I went running to meet him. After that he came once or twice to the stadium where we resided and watched the soccer that was going on during that time.He proposed to take me to Andhra Bhavan to make me eat Andhra food as I might be longing to, But as I was very used to north food from child hood I didn’t feel like that and we dropped the proposal.
Finally the day of dreams had come. All the arrangements were going on the stage. The engineers have come and were asking to move our instruments in order,I suggest there that this is the only convenient poster. I noted a camera at a distance, but did not hope to get captured in that mass.
Time came ,we started our concert. We Played with all enthusiasm and force ‘gagagagaga gagagagaga saga pada nida paga sanida”.My favourite PM came Zoom in and sat in his chair in a very Royal fashion. I had a glimpse of that. Janma dhanyam.(that was the craze I had at that age).
The awards were given away. At the back stage they were saying that next trip is going to be ToAustralia. Some didn’t believe. UnFortunately I believed it and suddenly went into swapna lok. Back in Hyderabad my family members were jumping, I was shown on TV, captured from that camera, out of all those guys . My Primary school principal sent a message home that she viewed me on TV and later on she gave us sisters the award WONDER KIDS. Many People came home and told my parents they saw that programme. That was the National award Festival.
That was a good opportunity, a memorable moment , what not I got plenty of roses and complements from guys which I missed in Hyderabad. Now the after effects, I started practicing like hell, I joined some of these Music friends and gave similar orchestra concerts on TV and on stage. Later on we gave Jugalbandis,prestigious concerts before King Philip and the then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. We became more popular here. Other popular artists in Hyderabad started identiying us. We started forming groups and started attending concerts and giving concerts. Then I became an Engineer and now a Software Engineer of a prestigious organisation, which took Rajiv Gandhi Award.
Whatever it was, the trip was a memorable, unforgettable and a marvelous experience to all of us. To some it was a turning point. Some of them got settled in music, became lecturers, some performing artists, some are doing other jobs and are running music organizations and trying to do something to music. One or two of them are like me are in some company as I am .This is about Hyderabadis. I only came to know that Radhika from Bangalore got married soon after the festival. No other News about Bangalorites, though I saw one of the mrudangist in Hyderabad in one of my guru's concert.
Hey I am not in touch with many of you. In case you happen to read this, don’t forget to mail me.
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