Musical memories

 

The girls sat lazily in the whitsun by the poolside after an extremely energetic swimming afternoon and wished the castle footman would return soon with the lemonade. Pam turned to her friend Parineeti and raised a quizzical brow as she asked – “Did you enjoy your time here?”

“Yes, the songs though are very different from the ones I am used to, though it reminded me of the music season back home.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“Margazhi Utsavam, an annual musical festival of sorts, draws all musicians and singers to participate like moths to flame.”

“I must come and watch it this year!”

Written for Friday Fictioneers for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.

Author’s note: I deliberately chose to write a non-dramatic tale for this week’s prompt and add a bit of local flavour. Margazhi Maha Utsavam, is a celebration of carnatic music generally held in the December month of every year. This is a music form distinct in style from hindustani music which is popular in north India. Popular folklore associates carnatic music with divine origin and was patronized by the south Indian kings for centuries before the advent of British in India. An avid music practitioner and veena instrumentalist myself, I can attest to the soothing properties of carnatic music 🙂