flip video camera,
5)A digital audio recorder,
6)Radel Sunadamala, an electronic player of melody lines of talas (rhythmic cycles),
7)Two I-phones with chargers,
8)Batteries,
9)Two pairs of eye glasses,
10)Six notebooks and a pen.
Study materials:
1)Cassettes from lessons with my two Gurus Amalesh Chatterjee and Shyamal Bose,
2)Copies, notebooks and diaries with written compositions from the past.
Alexander had already stacked up a lot of water. Magdalena set up one coffee maker and one tea maker on one of the tables with some tea bags and tea leaves. I am all set in half an hour. The set-up is so perfect that I changed my mind and decided to start from tomorrow.
Before Xander and Maggie left, we chatted a little over a cup of tea. I related to them the recent episode about the split kurta (long shirt). What happened is this:
A few days ago on July 2nd and 3rd I was a joint-convener and performer in a music program held at the Penntop Ballroom of Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. There were simultaneous programs going on at the Madison Square Garden and Hammerstein auditorium of Manhattan Center. Chhandayan, the not-for-profit organization I am president of, was collaborating with North American Bengali Convention in presenting the classical music programs on those two evenings.
On July 2nd I was only organizing and presenting. But, on the 3rd I was scheduled to play with two maestros – violinist L. Subramaniam and vocalist Ulhas Kashalkar. Both of them usually dress white or off-white. In order to put an accent to the eyes of the audience, I decided to wear an orange kurta. After dressing up, I was on my way out when the left pocket of my kurta got caught up in the door knob and split. I felt a bit sorry and embarrassed for my carelessness, but very quickly changed to another kurta and went out. Before I left, I showed the split pocket to my wife Sanghamitra, wondering if she wanted to give it a shot. She has a special talent in mending. But, for this type of injury, she recommended taking it to the hospital - my tailor in Kolkata.
Three days later, on Wednesday, I was doing a routine scroll down through my personal Facebook page, just to make sure that there was no junk in there. Suddenly my eyes got stuck on a picture from this year’s Saraswati Puja, the day when I initiated Alexander, Todd, Tripp and Aditya. They were all there in that picture with me, my son and another disciple Nano. To my utter surprise I see myself wearing that orange kurta, which I was trying to wear on July 3rd. Before wearing a kurta I usually do a final press to even out the crease, if any. On this occasion, I had noticed some crease indicating that the kurta had been previously worn, at least once. As revealed in that Facebook picture, I wore it on that day. For the initiation I try to wear something new, never worn before. So, I chose this kurta because it was new. I realized that the split pocket was clearly an interception from my wearing it for any other purpose.
Going back a few summers, I was invited to accompany Swami Tejomoyananda, who at that time was holding the highest position in the order of Chinmoy Mission, a worldwide spiritual organization. It was to be held at the Raritan Convention Center in New Jersey. Swami ji was scheduled to do his Bhagavat Katha, the discourse based on the miraculous deeds of Lord Krishna as described in the Bhagavat Puraana. During his discourse, he also sings some Bhajans, devotional songs. He is not a ‘singer’, but is tuneful and has a beautiful voice, rich with emotional quality. Being persuaded by two elderly friends, I agreed. It would go on for a week. Every day, after his discourse, there would be worship and chanting followed by a classical program featuring maestros like Vilayat Khan and Jasraj.
On request from Swami Tejomoyananda, I arrived a little early on the first day. We found a room to tune and practice a little. I knew he would be singing from the key B and I took a tabla set accordingly, almost tuned. Within a few minutes of rehearsal he became satisfied and confident, ready to go on stage. There were about five thousand people attending the convention every day. Half way through the first session of his discourse, Swami ji started feeling connected with me. There was a personal touch of genuineness and freshness in his deliverance, which drew my attention to him. Such mutual connection brought us together. Rest of the week it seemed like it was just the two of us; others were only witness.
On the seventh day as he was wrapping up the discourse, I was waiting for his indication to pack up my drums. He realized that and gave me the signal. I picked up the cover for the Dahina (the right-hand tuned drum) and, to my utter shock and surprise, noticed that the Dahina was split in the middle. There was no such indication until the last note I had played. On the contrary, the Dahina had perfectly settled after a little bit of tuning on the first day, never needing an additional tuning. Every day it continued to open up more and more, almost singing. Swami ji was making announcement about the rest of the proceedings scheduled that evening. When I was able to draw his attention to what just happened and show him the split Dahina, he shivered in reaction and spontaneously murmured “It is not the will of the Divine for the Dahina to be used for any other purpose”. Thousands of people witnessed and heard that.
This happened on a Sunday. On the following Wednesday I received an envelope from Steve Gorn with a postcard in it, a picture of Lord Krishna. He had also included a note saying that he had picked it up during his recent trip to the Vrindavan, the holy city in India associated with Lord Krishna’s early life activities, and thought that it should belong to me. It was happening all out of the blue. That weekend I had a Jazz gig. I decided to wear the same off-white raw silk kurta I was wearing through the week of the Bhagavat Katha. The kurta was fine, even after being worn for a week. There was no sweat or stain. We were heading out for the concert, all loaded, Sanghamitra is in the car. I came upstairs only to turn the alarm on. After turning it on I was stepping out, and the left pocket of the kurta got caught in the door knob and split. The split on July 3rd this year was identical to its precursor.
I try not to make any immediate conscious effort to connect such incidents and draw inference from them. Yet, they do draw my attention and make me ponder upon. Dr. Magdalena Naylor pointed out this important aspect - that I notice. There is a stand on the north-east corner of my office room in Nutley with the split Dahina and the picture of Lord Krishna sent by Steve Gorn.
After Xander and Maggie left, I came to my room to change. At 7 pm I went downstairs for dinner. It was clear daylight. Magdalena took me around her garden, we were walking barefoot. She recently cleaned up a lot of bushes and uncovered an interesting circular rock formation under some tall trees.
We chatted more over the dinner. The topics were quite a few, all very interesting and meaningful. She was open and frank in telling me about her miraculous recovery from the fourth stage of uterus cancer. The doctors were uncertain about the effectiveness of the treatment they were applying on her. They didn’t see her responding even after two weeks of radiation. But, from the third week she started responding. Feeling a little better, she left for her projects in the villages of Uganda and came back in a better shape, physically and mentally. During her treatment she made another trip to Tibet, Nepal, Mustang and a few other Asian places and returned with her lungs cured from metastasis. She is a psychiatrist, focused on pain management. To be more specific, she is right now preparing to research on human ability to self-produce morphine in overcoming pain. She has a trip to Uganda from July 15th through the 31st. In Uganda she is working in a project called Imaging the World, launched and carried on by her friend. They help local nurses and midwives to use modern imaging equipment, such as ultra-sonography, and electronically communicate with the centers with better diagnostic facility.
She
