The Tabla Player

On my flight from Dubai to Kolkata I befriended this vivacious  young Indian man who helped me put my bag up in the bin (“can I help you with your bag, mam?”) making me feel my age.  Turned out he is a tabla player who travels and performs around the world and was just returning after preforming in London.  He told me that he had performed in almost all the major cities in the USA and Canada.  He invited me and my travel partner to a performance the next day in Kolkata. He reminded me of my tabla playing nephew.  I was not  going to miss this-in any case we weren’t going to be sightseeing in the evening- so we exchanged cell numbers before parting ways. He was going to call me regarding the venue but the next day came and went without a word from him.  He was not real, I figured…   It turned out I was wrong, my travel partner’s phone was turned off when he tried to call (I had not acquired a cell phone by then).  He sent me a utube clip of the performance we missed. In this performance he (Aniruddha) is accompanying Sumitra Guha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXyrkvHga6s