The morning melody

After each and every hectic trip one needs to sit down, recapitulate and let the memories and associations  crystallize and  fall into their  proper  grooves. If I were asked to choose one reason  for a second visit to  Rajasthan, it would  be to meet  Bhanwar  Ram at Jodhpur. From the day I had chanced  upon the man, my  Rajasthan  trip  had  turned  completely  different. Though  I was visually awestruck  by the  glitter, pomp  and  opulence  of  the  forts,  palaces  and  havelis (and yes,it was a surfeit of these), it was a singular  auditory experience  that  has and will remain with  me  for the rest of  my  life. As we all know, Rajasthan  along with  all other  things,  is a  land  of  music  and  dance. It  is  the spectacular  dance movements of the  local  folk in their colourful  attire and  their  beautiful   melodies which  have attracted  tourists from across  the world. But  what  I encountered  that  morning  in  Jodhpur was something  I was  not  prepared  for.

        A  bright  sunny  morning  had dawned  over  Jodhpur. We  were  on  our  way  to  Mehrangarh  Fort. On  the  way  there  was  a  stopover  at  Jaswant  Thada, one  of  the  tourist  destinations. Initially I didn’t  feel  much  drawn  towards  this  place  when  we  were  told  that  it  was  the cremation  ground  of  the  Rajas  and  that  a  huge  cenotaph  had  been  constructed  there  in  memory  of  the  dead  kings. Still  we  decided  to give  it  a  try. It was early in the morning and  we were the  first  visitors of  the day and were warmly  greeted  at  the  gate.  It  was  a  huge,  sprawling  structure  marked  by  the  characteristic opulence  of  Rajasthani  architecture and  it  was impeccably clean  and well-maintained.

              There was absolute silence  when I was startled by a strain of an exquisitely sweet melody wafting all around. Following the sound I came out to the ground .There sat a man in a white dhoti and the typical Rajasthani `safa` or pugree,with his back towards us,playing the traditional  Rajasthani string instrument Ravanhatta.I tiptoed farther and stood silently behind him.A simple,most unassuming man,he continued to play his music.I had rarely come across anyone so engrossed in his own music! I stood,as if enchanted.It was ethereal!The complete stillness of the surrounding, the cold breeze and this lilting melody  blended together and created magic. Having finished his number he looked at us with a faraway look in his eyes.We struck up a conversation and were surprised to find such humility in someone so very talented! As we were in a little bit of hurry we had to cut our stay short  though I could spend the whole day listening to such mesmerising music.

As I took his leave I felt such a sense of waste....this man has to eke out a living by entertaining stray tourists in this fiercely competitive market

.As our car sped through the outskirts of Jodhpur towards Jaisalmer I could  hear the music resonate in my ears....remembered the words of the poet...."The music in my heart I bore,/Long after it was heard no more."