Hindola

It was a night journey by bus. He was heading towards Udupi. The mountainous terrain seemed endless. It was totally dark and it was drizzling. The lights inside the bus were lit and the bus came to a halt. The passenger seated next to him dragged him into a conversation. He was in no mood to talk. He was proceeding towards Udupi where his wife’s parents were living. He was travelling alone this time.

“Are you going to Udupi for the first time?” the co-passenger asked him.

“Oh! No. I have come here a number of times. My wife’s parents stay here.”

“I am Rao, Govinda Rao. I am a doctor by profession. I had come to Bangalore for a seminar. Tell me something about you?”

“I am Aloknath Vyasathirtha. I teach English in a college in Bangalore.”

“Alok, a beautiful name. Isn’t, it?.. What brings you to Udupi, … alone?”.

“I am an English teacher by profession. Writing is my hobby. I published my first novel. It was a moderate success in the literary business. I thought I would have to do more research before I start writing the second novel.”

“But why Udupi”?

“My wife is busy with the children; in making them study, helping them to prepare for the examination, things of that sort, you know. My summer vacation is about to start. My father-in-law fell down and has fractured his leg. He needs a support. Somebody who can lift him and try to support him and make him walk, help him to the toilet etc. My wife wanted to appoint a male nurse. Since I was free, I offered to help.”

“It is very nice of you to show so much concern in your wife’s parents. These days, people prefer to keep their parents in old age homes.”

As the bus started moving, both of them slept.

The next morning they landed in Udupi. Alok managed to get a cab. He reached to his wife’s house. As he was about to knock the door, he heard a melodious humming voice from inside. It was a beautiful alaap. He stood there motionless, spellbound by the melody of the voice. He was simply standing there, with his eyes closed. The alaap was divine. After a few minutes, he knocked the door.

She came near the door inside the house.

“Please do come in. Is it Alok?”

“Yes. Who are you? Where are Vasundhara’s parents?”

“They will be here shortly. They have gone out for an early morning walk….

…See they have already come.”

An aged couple got down from a luxurious car.

“Hey! Alok. Thanks for coming. It is being a big help to me.” Alok’s father- in- law Krishna greeted Alok very warmly.”

“How are you Alok? How is Vasundhara? How are the children?”

Vasundhara’s mother Rukmini was very happy to see her son-in-law.

“All are fine.”

Alok got freshened up in the room he usually stayed. This room is more luxurious than his room in Bangalore. Krishna was an influential person in Udupi. He was quite affluent. Krishna’s efforts in getting Alok moved to Udupi were futile. Nevertheless Alok liked Udupi because this house was a huge one in the middle of a small town. The atmosphere was calm. Nature was in its purest form; tranquil and serene. The sea was close to the house. He could walk to the seashore in the evenings.

The next evening Alok and his father-in-law were seated outside, in the lawn in two chairs.

“So, how is your literary activity coming along?” Krishna asked.

“My first novel didn’t do quite well as you know. I am trying to work on an interesting story. I am trying to do some research. I want to choose a new place, different types of characters, different situations. A particular raaga is haunting me. I want my story to revolve round it.”

“You mean a musician’s story?”

“Oh no! I want an undercurrent of a musical raaga to flow throughout the novel and that should be based on the emotions that this raga can manifest. So I want to study about this raaga in a greater depth. I want to do some research on this. By the way, who is that girl in the house?”

“That is Revathi. She helps us in the mornings. She prepares breakfast for us in the morning. Vasundhara’s mother was very proud of her fitness. Nowadays she gets frequent knee pain and can’t strain herself. The doctor attending to her suggested this arrangement. Because we can’t expect Vasundhara to be present here all the time. ..

….But you have substituted her. It is very nice of you.”

“Who is the doctor attending to you?”

“Dr. Kalyani. I would like to call her my sister. She herself comes to our house. She talks to us very affectionately. By the way, Dr. Kalyani is a great musician herself. About fifteen years ago she used to give musical concerts. She had a melodious voice. She was attracted by this girl Revathi’s voice and offered to keep her in her house. Revathi was undergoing a Nurse training then. But she had discontinued her studies due to financial problems. Dr. Kalyani persuaded her to complete her training. She is a nurse working in Manipal hospital

But the girl seems to be more interested in music. I think you should meet Dr. Kalyani. She may be helpful for your research.”

“That is interesting. I should meet Dr. Kalyani”

“I will call Dr. Kalyani and tell her that you will be meeting her.

“The next morning, Alok was ready, dressed up neatly in his informal attire. He was waiting for Revathi to finish her work.

“Come, sir. We will go to Madam’s house. She will be waiting for you”.

“Please call me Alok. Please don’t call me sir.”

“That is very nice of you Alok. I simply love this name.”

They walked all through. They walked on the sands of the sea shore. There was greenery on one side and the sea on the other side: it was the sea permeating endlessly with the clear blue water sometimes changing its colour to greener shades. Revathi was walking along with him holding the handle of her cycle.

“Do you know which raaga you were humming when I entered?” Alok asked her.

“The alaap is so melodious and I keep humming it very frequently. That is Malkauns.”

“Can you sing songs based on Hindola?”

“Of course, I can. That is my most favourite raaga.”

“What do you know about that raaga?”

“That question, you have to ask madam, of course.”

Dr Kalyani led her guest inside the drawing room of her huge beautiful house. The drawing room was very tastefully decorated with some beautiful paintings, some rare antiques and artistic objects.

Revathi went out to fetch some provisions and vegetables.

“These paintings are awesome Dr. Kalyani. I presume that these are your paintings.”

“Painting is my hobby. Most of my time is spent in the hospital and college. I like teaching. My time in the house is spent in singing, listening and sometimes painting”

“I had the chance of listening to your student Revathi’s alaap as soon as I entered the house. She has a melodious voice”

“She truly has a very sweet voice. She wanted to become a doctor. But her guardians could not afford to pay the fees. She had joined the Nursing course when I met her. She had to discontinue that course. But I persuaded her to complete the training. She is a qualified nurse and works in our hospital. Her guardians were more interested in getting her married. The husband loves her, but is never available to her. He is a cab driver. Recently she lost her five year old son. The boy was playing in the beach. She was sitting absent minded on the sands of the beach. The child’s dead body was the only thing they could recover the next morning. She was in a state of mental trauma that had driven her into depression. I managed to bring her home, divert her attention to music. She has a melodious voice.”

“Oh my God! That is the reason why that alaap was so soulful.”

“She sings the Hindola very beautifully. You should listen to her devara naamaas ( devotional songs).

By the way, you wanted some help for your next novel from me. Krishna rang me up and requested me to help you. Tell me what I can do for you”

“The raaga Hindola has fascinated me very much. I don’t want the musicology part of it, the notes, the missing notes, aarohana, the avarohana etc. I just want you to tell me something about the mood it can create, the emotions it can manifest.”

“Hindola is a very beautiful raaga on the pentatonic scale. It does not make use of the rishabha and the panchama. It is a very soothing sweet raaga used generally to carry the feelings of melancholy, devotion and submission. When sung, it produces a feeling of pathos, a sweetness , a feeling that keeps you haunting. It is mesmerizing. It is hypnotic. I like “Saamagaana lolane”, “Saamajavaragamana”, sung by eminent musicians like Bombay Jayashree. I like a beautiful Kannada song “Bhameya nodalu taa banda brundaavanadinda”, “Chandramukhi PraNasaKhi” .etc. I like “ Marghali poove” a Tamil song. I like “Rajahamsame” a Malayalam song sung by Chitra. Some of these haunt me to such an extent that I can forget that I am alone here.”

“Very true. This raaga haunts me for its sweetness.”

“So, how are things at Bangalore….? A vibrant city”

“It is fine. But you can’t find this tranquility or serenity there. Life is very mechanical in Bangalore”

’Hmm” ..Dr. Kalyani seemed to agree with Alok’s view.

“Okay.I will take your leave. It is lunch time. I don’t want to keep my parents waiting.”

He bade good bye and returned home.

Krishna asked him “How did you find Kalyani?”

“Oh! She is fabulous. She is graceful and talks very nicely. May be, I would be meeting her on a few more occasions”

The whole night Alok was thinking about Revathi’s life. She appeared to be more beautiful as he thought about her. How could life be so cruel? Her child’s death had driven her to depression. The power of music has brought hope in her life. She has such a sweet voice. The beautiful Malkauns alaap was reverberating in his ears. He dreamt of sitting with her on the beach and her singing that. He decided to ask her this favour.

The next morning Revathi was there. She appeared like an angel. He asked her,

“Can we go together and spend sometime in the evening in the beach?”

“Why?” she quipped.

“I want you to sing that Malkauns raaga just for me.”

“I can give you the recorded version. I will give you the pen drive.”

“Is it your voice?” he asked her.

“No. it is sung by two sisters. One sings in Hindola. The other sings in Malkauns. Somehow the alaap sung by the younger sister captured me. I recorded it. Played it over and over.”

“I think I am in just love with that raaga and because of that I have fallen in love with you.”

“Hey. Be careful. You are a married man with two children. I am a married woman just recovering from the loss of my son after a depression. To be honest, I did get such feelings with you. But I have controlled my emotions”.

“Sorry. If I have hurt your feelings. I do respect your feelings. But it just came out. I am a little extrovert.”

“Very nice of you. We will remain good friends. We will keep our relations to just that. We will not carry this any further.”

“Surely”.