“We can work something out when you get to India” was a refrain I heard over and over again while trying to firm up plans. So when I finally connected with Bidisha Das, a singer and artist in Delhi, I really didn’t know what to expect. And when I was told to “Go to my mother’s home today and she will talk with you” I just thought that I’d be listening to a nice woman discuss music. I certainly never expected to meet the dynamic and passionate musician that turned out to be Rita Roy.
“Don’t just sing the syllables, feel them. Think about them as if they were something sweet to taste or beautiful to see. Each one is unique.”
By the end of our first session, I had learned the first section of Raag-Yamen, an evening raga and was told that I needed to buy a digital drone machine called a Raagini to accompany myself and my students back in the states. I told Rita that I was hoping to buy the acoustical instrument, the tanpura, but she dismissed that with a wave saying that it would just sit around looking pretty but never be used (did Keith tell her about the mountain dulcimer from Tennessee that I bought 4 years ago?) and that this would allow me to concentrate on my singing. “I will arrange for one to be brought to your hotel tonight and you can pay for it there. You won’t make it to the store before they close.” And with that she grabbed the phone, called Mr. Jeevan at Rikki Ram Music and made all of the necessary arrangements. Turns out than one does not argue with Madame Rita; I wasn’t going to even try.
It was obvious that she was sizing me up just as much. “I don’t understand what you are wanting to learn.” Turns out I didn’t really understand either. “You see I have some books” I began. “Books won’t help you learn about Indian Classical music. You must FEEL it. Yes, you might be able to sing the sounds, but something higher has to have a hand for it to be music.” And at that moment, Rita Roy became my guru – however much she felt at that point that she wouldn’t be able to do much for me in such a short time.
“You will have a lesson today then you must come back tomorrow and Monday.” And after that command, Rita began to talk about the music of northern India – Hindustani Music. She spoke passionately and deeply about the music, stopping every few minutes to say, “you write that down” while she rattled off the spelling of another Hindu word. My notebook is full of exotic-sounding words like swar (notes), saptak (octave), teentaal (16 beats), bandish (song), dhrupad, dhamar and kheyal (original classical musical forms.
Rita decided that I was to be taught two ragas (melodies) – one morning raga and one evening raga. As she accompanied herself with a harmonium, Rita started singing on syllables, similar to do, re, mi system but each note had a different ornamentation to it and it was clear that I was going to have throw out most of my western European classical training in order to get the timbre required to sound even semi-authentic.
“Don’t just sing the syllables, feel them. Think about them as if they were something sweet to taste or beautiful to see. Each one is unique.”
After a few minutes, Rita stared at me for a moment and pronounced that I could sing (phew!) and that if I could come back to India and stay for a couple of months, she could really teach me something. I took this as high praise!
By the end of our first session, I had learned the first section of Raag-Yamen, an evening raga and was told that I needed to buy a digital drone machine called a Raagini to accompany myself and my students back in the states. I told Rita that I was hoping to buy the acoustical instrument, the tanpura, but she dismissed that with a wave saying that it would just sit around looking pretty but never be used (did Keith tell her about the mountain dulcimer from Tennessee that I bought 4 years ago?) and that this would allow me to concentrate on my singing. “I will arrange for one to be brought to your hotel tonight and you can pay for it there. You won’t make it to the store before they close.” And with that she grabbed the phone, called Mr. Jeevan at Rikki Ram Music and made all of the necessary arrangements. Turns out than one does not argue with Madame Rita; I wasn’t going to even try. Today I go back for my second lesson – with my new Raagini in hand. After the lesson, Keith and I will be going to observe Bidisha, Rita’s daughter and wonderful musician in her own right, as she works with some students who will be traveling to the US soon.
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