A flute for the summer

Yesterday was a special treat.

Another friend from Calcutta landed up in Mumbai. And the simplest escape that we 3 friends had in the evening was to go to the Juhu Beach, barely 10 minutes away from my house. So, go to the beach we did.

Of all the wonderful things that could've happened to me at the beach, I happened to buy a flute!!

Now, I've never had anything to do with any musical instrument ever. I've always been fascinated by the piano and the violin, but couldn't ever manage to find the time to go to music classes. And neither am I a novice flautist, let alone an expert one.

So, I well and truly surprised myself with the force with which I convinced my friend that I should pay 60 rupees to purchase a piece of bamboo with 6 holes in it. Sheesh !!

And what did I do with it?? Played nonsensical tunes all the while we were on the beach, while we were walking on the road, while we were waiting for the coffee to arrive at Barista (ok, I 'played' the flute as softly as I could) and also while my friends tried to prepare a midnight snack back at the house. Finally, my friends could take it no more and the budding Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia had his flute snatched away from him at 4 in the morning; to his utter annoyment, may I add.

Well, the story doesn't end there.

I was all alone at home today as one friend was already on a flight back to Calcutta and the other had gone off to meet his relatives. So, I decided to catch up on my summer project work. And, at the end of a good 2 hours of staring non-stop at the laptop, I just collapsed on my bed.

I had kept my eyes closed as they were feeling strained after all the comp. work. I was wondering what I could do to keep myself busy. Reading a newspaper or an e-book was out of the question, and so was solving a Sudoku. And then...voila !! It hit me.

Why not play the flute?

So, I played the flute for a good 1 hour, trying different notes and different finger combinations. Although I didn't manage to bring myself anywhere near the standards of the revered Pt. Chaurasia, I'm sure even he would've smiled had he seen my persistence to keep playing tune after nonsensical tune.

Boy, is my next roommate at the hostel in trouble, or what?