Music For Sole!!!

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We have all heard of music for soul…But I have experienced the music for sole!!!

I have never been good with musical instruments even when I am a die-hard fan of good music and love listening to those known to me having a hidden talent to sing well or play an instrument well. But fascination of possessing such instruments has always been my passion, even if I could never learn how to play and no one in my family was ever a good musician (though my dad sings well).

From possessing a flute to a mouthorgan, we had it all, but I can never forget the foot harmonium which was a real masterpiece! I still don’t remember from where we got it, but was definitely a gift from our ancestors. My sister could play it well, though she could never go beyond the much known and easiest Sa Re Ga Ma tune. I learnt it too, and we both felt a pride of being able to play that and nothing else.

But the worst part was the strenuous effort it involved in using the foot to press the harmonium pads as if trying to sail through a heavy tide on a paddle boat. It would even fold and turn as compact as a normal harmonium but was one of its kind as we both struggled hard on its keys to devise some good music, which we never could, yet trusted our capabilities.

And in our ‘sincere efforts’ when some absurd notes would emanate, we would sing along so that ‘mindless’ music could not be heard amidst the din of our futile experiments with our vocal cords. For both of us it was learning music, though I am sure it must not have been so appealing for mom and dad’s ears.

A day came when mom finally decided to do away with it by selling it to a junk dealer. I and my sister never went beyond just one tune, which we had mastered so well. We might not have bettered our skills in our tryst with harmonium keys, but this foot harmonium surely left us with worn out shoe soles and helped us build our leg muscles if not playing good music!!!