Raaga Kumbhakarnam

After a long time, I was reprimanded, shouted at, and told that my actions would have consequences while I struggled to stifle my giggles. I was also told to go stand in a corner, and that I would be separated from my (fictitious) class.

It is hard to keep up with the energy of an 8-year old. Baby Kalyani is not only a music geek, but also decided to make me her student for the next few days the first time she visited me. So she spent the day teaching me her notes, sa ri ga ma, the arohanams and the avarohanams, the gamakams and the aakarams, and what not. I was expected to sing, so I sang along, sometimes repeating with devotion, and sometimes humming half-heartedly or inserting my own funny lyrics. I was patiently corrected, and, just like GRE questions, given easier or harder notes based on my previous performance.

I got my first warning when I was asked to repeat Raag Malahari. In my lack of imagination and control for poor jokes, I asked if Malahari meant green poop (mala + hari). I was asked, by the same Baby Kalyani who would hum sa re ga ma with me as a baby, to behave myself. So, I did.

I tired myself eventually and my battery ran out. So I told her that I would love to teach her a new raag and call it a day. She got all excited and perked up.

"It is a new raag. It is called Raag Kumbhakarnam. Puriyarda? Do you understand" I asked.

"Puriyarde. I understand. And how do you sing the aarohanam and the avarohanam? What about the taalam?" she asked.

And instead of singing, I started to snore. Loudly. Seriously. In different notes. High notes and low notes. Fast notes and slow notes. I snored like I was Kumbhakaran, and that was Raag Kumbhakarnam for me. I lay down, closed my eyes, and encouraged her to snore along.

That's when she lost it. She reprimanded and shouted and told me that my actions will have consequences. That once she goes back to Seattle, the first thing she would do is call her mom's music guru and tattle on me.

sunshine