‘T.S. Subramanium? Whose is it?
‘Mine.’
‘What?’
‘I’m trying to develop a taste. I’m learning , but it’s hard. There’s the swara, the
raga, the shruti.’
‘You know about shruti?’
‘Only the basics. I am not an expert like you.’
She returned my CDs and gave a wry smile. ‘In Chennai I am a nobody. Even
Chitra is better than me. Though people say she knows the corporator of
Chennai, who asked Guruji to take her on. The corporator is in charge of the
kutcheri venues, so Guruji had to oblige her. Can you imagine how shallow she
is?’
‘There have ot be other gurus,’ I said.
‘I was ready for an advanced one. Anyway, I am sorry I overreacted that day.’
‘No, no, you don’t haave to spologise. I came ot apologise. And for a little
request.’
‘Request? What are you requesting me? You young people do whatever you
want, anyway.’
‘Nothis isn’t about Ananya and me. This is about our Citibank concert.’
Over the next half an hour I explained the upcoming event. I told her about the
Fisherman’s Cove venue, the who’s who of Chennai that we expected to be
present, the popular music concert for two hours divided between three singers,
and that I wanted her to be one of them.
‘Me?’ she echoed, shocked.
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘I’ve never sung popular music,’ she said.
‘You have a trained voice. Switch on MTV and see the latest chartbusters.
Three Kollywood, three Bollywood. You are done.’
‘Why me?’ she asked, still bewildered.
nora
(Nora)
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