Being born into a Brahmin family, not being associated with any form of art is considered the biggest sin. To escape the disparage, my parents tried to push me into classical carnatic music at an age when I was hardly able to say a few words comfortably without any hesitation.
My dad strongly believes in "see yourself in your child". Probably that was one of the reasons he volunteered for my music classes when I was absolutely passive about the whole deal. Music is my dad's passion and enrolling me for the music classes was the duo's joint decision, filled with all the usual hopes and promises that never turned out quite as they planned, and too often brought out to be disappointing.
Undoubtedly music has always been a part of me - I should say in my blood. My lineage is packed with music heads whose prime hobby is to discuss the intricacies of music over a cup of coffee just as I would update V with the latest cinema gossips. It is quite a norm that at least one soul in every extended family circle has been making it reasonably big in music in their own territories and we (read me and my siblings) are probably the only ones who were not known for the music but everything else. A few of my kith and kin breathe, speak and live music, sing raga alapana, neravals and kalpana swaras so effortlessly when relaxing or calling friends over for a dinner.
This was the profile my parents had dreamt for us and did everything possible to get us there. Remember the proverb "you can take the horse to the water, you cannot make him drink"! Well here we are the horse and the mares. My parents did their parts fine on the nose - manage to hire a teacher in a town where music was a luxury, pay the fees they demanded though they were well aware that it would take a hit on their monthly budget, shepherd us diligently to the classes every week on time and in all excitement failing to see that their efforts alone will not help in the making of Chithra's and Susheela's at our household.
We were not even in the tolerable limits of singing though we ended up wasting dad's money for 7 full years:) It is "us" because dad didn’t want any disparity between his girls - so wherever we went, we went in 3's, a custom in my house that I hate till today.
Honestly, I was inclined more towards dancing and better off with it until recently when I have started thinking myself as a better singer. Well, this is only my thought and people who have heard me sing, feel it’s a nightmare worse than their worst nightmares.
To pursue my singing interest, I started on a music teacher hunt and tried my hands with several ones in town. A few of them did enroll me but for various reasons I couldn’t continue to be a part of their music school. Finally my dutiful search has paid its dues and come to a fruitful halt - I have found a teacher who to me is more than a teacher.
Gone was the era when people taught an art for the art value of it. In a world that is extremely commercialized, the only factor that keeps people still interested in imparting skills to the next generation is the almighty dollar. Interestingly art costs you an arm and leg - it is easy to provide an education but not an art. So, indubitably it is mighty tough to resist the lucrative temptation associated with this deal.
Am not blaming anyone here as commercialism seems to be the way of life. Amidst this economic crowd that exploit every possible means to spread the art right from voice chat mediums to in-person classes, Mrs.Gayathri Govind is everything that defines dedication and commitment without any monetary expectation.
I have never known my art classes back home that started on time - either we would be late to the class or the teacher would be heavily back logged due to an unexpected neighbor making an appearance for a quick trivial talk or borrow a spice that she forgot to add to her grocery list the day before or share a dish that she had made, not with an intention of sharing but to fish for compliments so that she could be the talk of the town for the next few days - sheer attention seeking gimmick. Won’t they even know that the teacher has students waiting for something slightly better than their agenda??
Old habits die hard - so accustomed to a convenient custom defined promptness, it never even occurred to me that music classes can also start on time and that I should be there on the dot. Gayathri's music classes always start on schedule. If am 5 minutes late I can be sure-enough to miss the first song. She emphasizes on being sensitive to other people's time, a lesson that I should have learnt in one of the Moral Science classes in my 5th Grade but then who took those classes seriously:) She can never afford a delayed start even if it means there is none in the class.
She not only teaches the songs but also treats you to plenty of impressive information right from the history of the poet, the meaning of the song/shlokas, the significance of the composition and much more, that let alone to myself I would hardly go in search for. Her zeal and enthusiasm for music when she wears the teacher hat needs a special mention.
She cherishes every moment she is with her students and relishes when her kid students walk into an alreay in-progress class reciting the shloka rather than having a fit over losing their favorite spot or express avidity in extracting more details from her like the hungry little sponges soaking up every drop of learning and gobbling every morsel.
It is a blessing to be acquainted with this lady and I consider myself fortunate by all means!!
