Best seats in the house..

7th February, 2010. 09:35 hours IST.

I am having a fantastic morning. Absolutely splendid. Around half-an-hour earlier, my mother and I heard this voice begin to in our gully and raced out to the verandah to get a closer look. The owner of the voice turned out to be a baul, clad in whites and an ektara cradled like a child in his arms. We listened with rapt attention (and open-mouthed awe, I must hasten to add) as he sang “Paakhi kyamne aashe jay..” (a song which, incidentally, is a firm favourite of both my mother and myself) like no one has ever sung it before, making every line, every word breathe. When he finished, my mother requested him to grant us audience for another song. It was “Tomaay rhid maajhare raakhibo..” next and, needless to say, this too was beautifully sung. His voice had this unpolished quality and yet was so perfectly melodious that we couldn’t help but hang on to his every word.. My mother and I would have liked nothing more than sit him down for the entire day and listen to him sing, but “A poor life this is full of care, / We have no time to stand and stare..” and I had an examination to sit for. So, we requested him for one final song, and out he came with “Bhalobeshe aami bhikari holaam, tumi hole raani..". Those who have had the pleasure of hearing this song earlier, know how beautiful the lyrics are and this man did a most commendable job of presenting it. We gave this man some money at the end, knowing full well however that whatever we paid him, it would be a gross underpayment. We requested him to visit our locality more often, to which he said that he stepped out of his house on the outskirts of the city very early every morning and went wherever it was that his feet took him, and it was thus not possible for him to guarantee a return. But he did say that like all artistes, he liked singing for people who appreciated his talent and that he would like to come play and sing for us again sometime.

It was a half-an-hour very, very well spent. I do hope to hear the man again.