Pushing the bushes away with his hands, Pandit K made his way through the jungle. A renowned master of Indian classical music, he was also an experimentalist who was trying to blend the traditional and modern influences on music. That’s why he was alone in a forest with a heavy backpack. He wanted to be closer to nature to practice his new music. Artists!
But it had been a long hike already, and he was losing his patience. He was headed towards a sublime waterfall in a secluded forest. It was the same place where his guru and his guru’s guru would come for their most glorious moments in music. Pandit K had been there just once, many years ago, with his guru.
After an exceptionally difficult hike and with some leeches on his feet, he reached the spot. It was magnificent. A huge waterfall and near its top, a small cave with a tall tree outside. There was just enough space for around 3 people to sit.
Pandit had brought his iPad and multiple power banks to charge it. That was the main reason his backpack was so heavy. He wanted to experiment with adding electronic beats to the classical raga Megh Malhar. It was his fusion experiment. If it was just adding beats to the raga, he could have done it in his studio at home. But he was a true master. One who could make it rain by singing Megh Malhar. And that’s what his experiment was about.
Once he settled into his cave, he came out, sat under the tree, and started his practice. It was late monsoon. There were a few clouds in the sky, but not enough to make it rain. He looked up at the sky, put his hands together to pray, and smiled as he started singing.
30 minutes passed, he was just warming up. A couple of hours went by, Pandit K sang like he had just started. Five hours later, the clouds still didn’t bother. But he went on. After 6 hours of singing Megh Malhar, he took a short break. He knew it wouldn’t be easy. But his impatience had started dripping into his practice.
When he sat down again, he repeated his ritual of looking up to the sky, praying, and smiling. Another 6 hours went by. It didn’t work. He decided to continue the next day.
The next day, he started at sunrise. His smile was a tiny bit duller than the last day. He was singing at his best. The way he had never sung before. Tears would have rained from the audience’s eyes if there were any. It was that powerful. But the sky demanded more. Following his routine, he took a short break after six hours.
The fourth session started with the ritual of looking up to the sky and praying. Pandit didn’t bother to smile. He had started getting angry. Angry at himself, angry at his inability to call the clouds. But he started singing nonetheless. It was his best performance in those two days. By the end of his singing, the waterfall had become louder and more violent. And the evening felt darker because the clouds had populated the sky. But it still didn’t rain.
Pandit was tired from singing for 12 hours. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep if it didn’t rain when he sang. He decided to start a third session. It was almost night. The sun had set and dusk was fading to black. The clouds were there, but some of them had drifted away since his last session ended. He had to start singing as soon as possible.
This time, he just looked up at the sky. He was in no mood to pray, forget about the smile. He started. An hour into his practice, a drop of water fell on his forehead. Pandit’s eyes were closed. He didn’t open them. After another hour of singing, the waterfall became louder. It still wasn’t raining. That drop didn’t fall again. Pandit was singing beautifully, but inside, he was getting restless and angry. He knew his practice was soon going to be fruitful, but he just couldn’t wait any longer. Still, he kept at it.
When the third hour of his third session of the day was completed, another droplet descended from the sky. The waterfall had become so loud that it was hard for Pandit to hear himself singing. And then another droplet fell on his hand. Then another, and one more. It had started raining. Tears rolled out of Pandit’s eyes as he continued singing raga Megh Malhar. He was completely drenched in rain when he collapsed on the ground after completing six hours of that session.
The next morning, he woke up a little late. The last day had been very taxing, both mentally and physically. But the first part of his experiment was a success. He could actually make it rain when he sang. Pandit wasn’t happy though. He knew the second part of his experiment was a lot more challenging.
He took his iPad out of the backpack and played electronic beats music he had already composed. Those beats would make even a dead person sway and dance. Pandit was a real master of music. The second part of his experiment was to combine these beats with singing raga Megh Malhar to create an ultimate fusion track.
That was the reason he had come so far from home, to see if it really worked. Pandit decided to take it easy on that day. He needed to recover.
On the next day, he woke up early. It was his fourth morning in the cave. The weather was cloudy. It had been the same last day as well. It was as if his spell on the clouds was not yet broken. He set up his equipment — iPad and a power bank under the tree and placed a plastic sheet over it for rain protection.
It was time for his sixth singing session of the trip, and he was ready. Last day’s rest had helped with his mood as well. He looked up at the sky, prayed, and smiled. But he knew he would’t have the same patience as in the earlier days. With that, he played the electronic track on a loop and started singing.
As the time went by, clouds started rustling. The day became dark as a night. And occasional blazing in the sky felt like a flashlight of a camera to his closed eyes. Winds started blowing aggressively. But it didn’t rain. Not a drop. The first session ended.
Pandit took a short break and changed iPad’s power bank and placed it safely under the plastic sheet. His anger, restlessness, and impatience were at their peak as he sat down for a final session. He had decided he wouldn’t continue the experiment if it didn’t rain during this session. He had already given it more than he was prepared to give.
The session started. He didn’t look up at the sky. The darkness around was enough. He didn’t pray nor smile and went straight to the business. The atmosphere was changing drastically. It was getting more violent — as if Pandit’s anger was getting transferred to nature. The waterfall overflowed, and the chilly wind carried broken branches with it. A thunderstorm took over the sky.
Pandit gave his all to the session. It was even better than his best performance a couple of days ago. The electronic beats from the iPad fused with Megh Malhar from a master was a deadly combination. Halfway through his last session, just over the three-hour mark, Pandit sang so well, that a lighting bolt landed on the tall tree, under which he was practising. The lightning was huge. The tree was burned in a flash. And so did everything around it. And as the burning tree stood there, the next moment brought rain. Heavy rain. Electronic beats with Megh Malhar was a successful experiment. But no one would even know.
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