The Raga, The Melody

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The bell rang. It’s been two weeks since 11th grade started. I’m already tired of school.  While the teacher took roll call, I was beginning to doze off.

 “….Number fifteen?”

“Fifteen?”

 I snapped out of it “Yes! Here!” The teacher sighed and shook her head.  She turned to the board “So, let’s continue with last class. We’ll solve problems based on the principle of mathematical induction today.” The class groaned. I groaned.  Math and I just never got along. But if I struggled enough I could get a decent mark. As I lazily pulled out my text book from my bag, the headmaster walked in saying “Sorry to interrupt your class.” He smiled brightly and almost squealed excitedly “You have a new classmate!” He looked around for reactions and dropped the smile seeing that no one gave a damn.

“Come in and introduce yourself please.” The student entered. Rather than looking at him, I was looking at the giant case on his back. It looked like he could fall over anytime with that thing on his back. I could relate to that feeling very well. When he started speaking – “Good morning…”- was when I paid attention to him. Not too short, not too tall. Not too built either. He was more on the lanky side but definitely not underfed.  Black, curly hair covered most of his forehead. The most striking things about him were his green eyes. 

“I’m Rudra Grenier, but I prefer Rudy. I’m part Indian and part French. I’ve lived in France till now. I came back to India with my mother. I like a lot of things. I dislike a lot of things.” He noticed everyone staring at the large case. “I play the cello.” Something about him really intrigued me. Our eyes met and I immediately looked away, feeling awkward. Good time to look for aliens in the sky.

“Alright” said the headmaster “Please continue with your class” and left.  Before the teacher could say anything, he had already occupied a seat across the class from me.

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We had organic chemistry before lunch. It was a period that put everybody to sleep mainly because the teacher was painfully slow. I looked across the room. Grenier was missing. Way to go skipping class the very first day, Grenier. Actually, how did he escape with his cello?  The lunch bell rang and I grabbed my things and headed towards the cafeteria.

I stopped in my tracks. I heard music. I was faint but I walked closer to the sound. I could make out that it was ‘Hey Jude’ by the Beatles. I loved that song. It was coming from the chapel. Someone was playing it. I stopped again. It was a cello. Don’t tell me…!!

I opened the door to the school chapel. It was him.  He looked at me surprised. I was panting.

“Well.” He said “Looks like people actually come here.”

“No. Yes. I don’t know!” I stuttered. He just stared. “Look, I heard you play and I came!” I blurted out.  Realizing how embarrassing that sounded, I immediately spoke so fast that he probably wouldn’t register anything that I said “Well…I um… think you play well and I really, really, REALLY like this song so I couldn’t help myself so I came okay?!”

There was an awkward silence and I was about to blabber more when he said “Thanks.” Surprisingly, his accent sounded Indian but it did have a French touch to it.  “Is it okay if I listen to you?” I asked.  He nodded.  He played from the beginning. The music filled my head and I got lost in it. I opened my eyes when the music slowly ended.

“That was amazing!” I said with stars in my eyes.  He had an amused look on his face. “Are you a musician by any chance?”  I was a little annoyed by that. Annoyed because he hit the right chord.

“I am…well, actually was but that’s a completely different form of music.” 

“Carnatic music?” he asked. I was surprised “How’d you know that?” He wore that amused look on his face again “I can tell.”

“No, no. You know what it is?”

“I have no idea what you mean by that.”

“Well, since you’re from France and all…” I said trailing away. “Why shouldn’t I know about Indian classical music?”  “I didn’t say you shouldn’t. I just didn’t expect you to know.” He chuckled and said “I couldn’t help but notice that you say you were a musician. You’re not now?”

“It’s not something I can explain but it isn’t like I’ve completely stopped music or anything… I just don’t sing or play all that often these days.”

“I think you should continue.” He said. “You think that without knowing me…” I mumbled.  “Anyway, thank you for letting me listen to you play. I should be going now.” I turned to go but he asked “What’s your name?”

“Madhumitha  Kannan.” I said and hurried out. The last thing I needed was someone asking me about my music career.