Looking back, 2017 brings a lot of fond memories. It was a happening year for us. Subhadip's family from Kolkata visited us in Hyderabad in March. And thus began "HoiChoi", our music channel. We made "The Thirsty Crow Song" (Blog page) to keep the kids (Shoumodip and Srishti) away from the TV and phones.
Subhadip and his father kept the kids busy. They wrote the song and practised singing. But slowly, all other family members pitched in. Subhadip's mother, uncle, aunt and grandmother too! And me, of course. What a wonderful time we had!
But, happy times don't last long. This year, we lost Subhadip's mother. Never imagined this day would come so suddenly, so soon.
It all started when our family from Kolkata visited us in Hyderabad. Srishti was literally counting the days, “Kakai (Shoumodip) is coming!” When they arrived, it was too hot to go out. But this didn't seem to bother the kids at all. They spent most of their time playing games on the mobile/laptop. It is amazing how they can play mobile games for hours without fighting.
Since they were spending too much time with screens, we tried to divert their attention elsewhere with this and that. Subhadip took them to the music room and asked them to sing songs, while he played the piano. Well, it turned out that the only common song both of them knew was the national anthem of India. After singing that for a couple of times, they were more than ready to go back to play games.
“What else can we sing?” They tried a few more new songs. “We've sung all the songs in the world!” declared Shoumodip. “Learning new songs takes ages. Can we do it tomorrow?” “Okay, then let's make our own song,” suggested Subhadip. “Really? What song can we make?” That seemed to arouse their interest. “Anything. Let's try this - এক দিন একটা কাক উড়ে বেড়াচ্ছিল (one day a crow was flying).”
“Can you make a song from that?” “Yes. Why not?”
Subhadip's father suggested, “You could write a song on the thirsty crow story.”
“Okay, let's try.” The seed had been sown. The kids took the job seriously. Pen in hand, they started writing with knitted brows. But, even before five minutes had passed, they started - “Mine is way better than yours! You write like a kid!” After some more competition and with some help from Subhadip and his father, it was ready.
On a summer day, a crow was flying. “I need water.... Where is water?” It was crying.
Suddenly it saw a round pitcher. “At last,” it said, “there is water.”
But the pitcher was too narrow, its neck too long.
The crow tried hard, but it all went wrong.
Then it saw some pebbles, round and small. “There may be a way to drink it all.”
Plop! Plop! The stones filled the pitcher.
Slowly, (and) slowly up came the water. “Yipee! Yipee!” It cried with delight.
Drinking all the water, it took a happy flight.
Subhadip quickly came up with an easy tune and they picked it up pretty fast but not without more fighting.
“You are not singing properly! Look at me! This is how you should say ‘there is water’! This should be sung with more strength.”
“Don't teach me. My voice is better than yours! ‘Water’ sounds better if you sing it softly ....”
But even among all these quarrels, one thing was plain – the urge to do it as best as they could; they got so involved that all other activities became secondary – even mobile games. They would practice for hours for the next two days!
Finally, we decided to record the song. The recording was another event! After a few practice rounds, there was a new complaint –
“My voice is not audible at all. You are too loud!”
Slowly they realized that singing together is not like singing alone and it does not matter if you cannot distinguish your own voice all the time.
Meanwhile, the other family members were enjoying the change the kids were going through. The whole house was humming the tune. It wasn't too difficult to convince them to participate in the chorus. Even our Dida (Subhadip's grandmother) didn’t want to miss the fun and wanted to be a part of the chorus! Considering she is more than eighty, her spirit is amazing.
Then came the video recording. This was again a tedious job as everyone had their own suggestions and opinions. Also, they were to return to Kolkata the next day and so we had very little time to record. Subhadip’s uncle helped us with the camera.
Now, everybody is back home relishing the memories of the making of this song and eagerly waiting for the next opportunity to get together and create more magic.
