Talking
of music, when Srivatsa was on INS BEAS, he used to sail often. I joined a
music class run by a Naval wife. She thought I was pretty good and persuaded me to suing at
the Durga pooja celebrations in the colony. This was a big event attended by
all officers, sailors and their families. Mrs Biswas, my teacher, made me a
practice a film song and I was excited. Kalyani Menon was going to sing the
famous song from Guddi and I was to sing
one from Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Kalyani
and I were excited about our performance. Except that she was a professional
singer and I was a novice.
D Day
arrived. I had told Srivatsa to be home on time so he could bring the children
while I would go earlier. I wore a bright saree that would twinkle on the
stage, arranged my hip length braid on my left shoulder with a flower tucked
behind my ear. It was my debut as a singer and everything had to be right. I could
see the packed grounds from behind the curtain and spotted hubby and kiddos in
the front seats. I settled myself comfortably on the stage with my teacher
tuning the harmonium. My name was announced and the curtain was to go up. At
that moment, I blanked out and forgot the song I was to sing. Before the man
could draw the curtain, I ran from the stage into the wings. Mrs Biswas thought
I had gone to fetch a hanky or something but she soon realized it was worse
than that. The announcer apologized for the delay and said that since I had lost
my voice, the next singer would come on stage. That was the beginning and end
of my musical career. It was the talk of the town in the Naval flats for a
while and Mrs Biswas never forgave me.
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