#MUSIC & #IAS 1960 - I was barely five years old. But a gramophone playing Akshyaya Mohanty or Mukesh was enough to make me jump out of the baby seat on my fathers English Raleigh Cycle. It was only after the gramophone developed a snag after more than an hour (it had to) that I could be persuaded to leave for home. At eight years somehow I took a liking to Hindustani Classical, which still remains well entrenched in my psyche. But Mama with a conservative mindset would take nothing of it and would do everything at her command to ensure I was kept off the nuisance of music. However come 1969 and Mama was kind. Do it right in your matriculation and take a pair of tabla. By then I had realised given Mamas dispension, I can never do singing and had already started torturing the poor table to rehearse, after relishing a number from AIR. Marticulation went off & Mama true to her words bought a pair for me from Sri Krushna Chitralaya, Cuttack for a princely sum of Rs 28.00. By early seventies I would accompany the college chorus and was a manageable percussionist. To my good luck I was invited to play in a school function with which I was associated with. This brought me in contact with a person who was a trained singer but a Principal by profession. One fine day Sir asked me if I could give some time for the practice session of his son who was preparing for the audition of AIR. No wonder I immediately agreed, even knowing pretty well that such a commitment would mean cycling a good five kilometers in the hot after noon. Bhai as I would refer him that time was a lecturer in Utkal University. Sessions went on for about two months with Sir on harmonium teaching the nuances of music to Bhai & I on tabla. Somehow the sessions ended abruptly as I had to go back to college after vacation. No body really told me what finally happened to Bhais audition. But after about a year I was pleasantly surprised to read a news item which said Bhai has cleared the IAS. Not only that, he had topped the list also. I was so happy. I made it a point to visit his place during my next trip to Bhubaneswar and congratulated Sir. He told me that Bhai those days was at Administrative Staff College. Days passed and after about three years I happened to see Sir at a religious congregation. He was with his entire family. After greeting them I discovered Bhai standing at a distance. With boisterous enthusiasm, I ran to him and said Namaste Bhai. He returned my greet with a stiff posture. I ventured again Bhai dont you recognize me? Aint you Bhabani ? And moved away from me in stiff smart pace. It was my first encounter with social class as an adolescent. Years have passed and I have bumped across him in many public places, from petrol bunk to daily market; but I have always proffered discreetness. The English wanted the ICS as a ruling class and trained them to maintain a measured distance from the objects they were supposed to rule. But after the independence when the objects have turned subjects, precious little seems to have been done to orient these bright youths to contribute effectively to nation building. The only acclamatization the independent India has gifted them is the change in name from ICS (Indian Civil Service) to IAS (Indian Administrative Service). So to me given our mindset, the present chaos about the English Hindi conflict is quite understandable. Its nothing but an expression of latent hatred of the ways UPSC adopt to compound a population of elitist. But my frustration of not been able to do music was in for a pleasant surprise in my late fifties when children pushed me to the stage to sing with the orchestra for the first time in my life during my daughters marriage. Its for you to appreciate the mess I have done to music. Thanking for your patience in advance.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:01:13 +0000
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