Part 11

She showed us the sheaf of papers and I saw that I could sing most of them already as I had heard them and even sung along with a few off the radio. She then told us that she would organise a take-out to be delivered at midday.

We all said that we would do what we could and that we thought we could carry the show tomorrow evening. She then said “Geet picked up on a bit of discussion I was having with Salman at the reception the other night. He is a bit of a promotor and has a cousin who is quite a well-known singer in India and has even been in a few Bollywood movies.”

She showed us his picture and he looked like a real dish if you liked older men. She then carried on “Salman wants to bring his cousin here to do some shows around the country but had not thought of a backing band until he heard you girls play and he was hooked on the spot. There are no dates yet but he has told me that he would organise a CD recording at a local studio which would be released to promote the shows.” We were all rightly excited at the prospect and there was much chatter as cups of tea were brought around.

We talked about the likely tour and asked Janet if she could organise a CD of his greatest hits, if he had any, so we could pick up on what we needed to do. It was Tavleen who said “We have just been known as ‘The Indian Girls’ in the past but with Geet out there singing I think it is time for us to get a new name, something that will define us.” Of course there were lots of suggestions, each more silly than the last, until Janets’ husband said “What is the name of this visiting star?” Janet looked at her papers and said “He is called Anudeep Dhawan.” “OK” he said “what about calling you the ‘Dhawanees’ so that when you do the tour you will already have a name that fits in with his and the tour will look a lot more professional. Dhawan is also Salmans’ surname so he would be very happy if you had that name. He may even be able to get you a tour of India in the future. Actually, Dhawan means the messenger so it would be quite good for you to become known as ‘The Messengers’.”

We all agreed that we were now ‘The Messengers’ and the meeting became us looking at the songs Janet had chosen and singing them acapella, much to her amazement. By the time we left we had nailed most of them as far as tune went, all we had to do, or all I had to do, was remember the words. Luckily it was one of my best advantages as I think that I could recall almost every song that I liked and I did like most of these. I had one that I wanted to keep up my sleeve for the next time Gaurav watched us play.

Janet locked up and gave the keys to Tavleen and told us to get there as early as we could. It was not a problem to walk across the park in the early morning with our instruments. She took us the couple of minutes back to the block and we all went to our rooms to get our beauty sleep. I sat by the window for a while and watched the lights of the cars going by and wondered about how the future would evolve – recording, tour – what on earth would happen next.

I woke early, showered, dressed and breakfasted and Tavleen knocked on my door. I carried my dholaks in their bags and followed her to the lift where the girls were keeping the doors open for us. We went down to the lobby and walked in the morning light, across the park. It was quite beautiful and restful and we were in good spirits when Tavleen unlocked the door and we went in. She latched the door behind us so we were not disturbed and we set up our kit to get the new songs working with the right sounding music. It was not easy to make a western ballad sound good using traditional Indian instruments but, by lunch time we thought we had got more than half into shape.

Tavleen unlocked the door and we rested until our promised lunch turned up and we had a break in the lunch room and put the kettle on. In the afternoon we went through the ones we had nailed and played them, interspersed with our usual love songs so that we could finalise which ones fitted with the flow. We were very happy about things and packed up our kit to wait for Janet. While we waited we talked about the prospects and all of the girls came to the realisation that if we made it big, they would be giving up their day jobs. Actually, none of them had any qualms about that as they all did somewhat menial work in cafes or shops.

Janet picked us up and she had our earlier stage dresses hanging on a rack in the bus, now nicely cleaned. She drove us across town to a hotel that had a ballroom. She warned that this show would have easy access to drink and to be very careful keeping out of the way of intoxicated guests and to make sure we went to the toilet en-masse.

Luckily it was a raised stage that we could use so we would be out of the way. It was another where we needed the mics to be set and a hotel tech worked through that with us and then checked the balances as we did a song or two.

We then retired to a room behind the stage where we were given a nice dinner before getting dressed in our stage clothes. By this time we could hear the crowd in the ballroom and there were speeches and cheering. Then Janet told us it was time and we went out on stage and set up to play. We started with a slow raga that could sound, at times, like a jazz number and we managed to get some of the guests dancing. The raga morphed into a love song and there was a general movement to the dance floor which increased when we sang one of the new numbers.

Our last tune of the set was to be the bridal waltz which I thought we did well with. We then had a break while the bride and groom left the building in a shower of confetti and a clattering of cans. I was getting a drink for myself when I heard a voice behind me say “Well, I don’t have to worry about you any longer. I must say that you have changed for the better.” I turned to see Balnoor grinning at me. He then said “I knew that I was watching my old pal when I saw your smile while you played the dholaks, it was the smile you always had when you were enjoying yourself.” I held my arms wide and said “Balnoor, old friend, you have not seen me like this before and you stand there without giving me a hug, I am devastated.”

He laughed and gave close and hugged me. He then said that he had seen the girls before but had never heard them play as good as they were playing tonight. He dropped his voice and said that he had always had a soft spot for Tavleen but was sure that she was way too good for him. I grabbed his hand and took him over to where the other girls were getting ready to start the second set. I pulled him up to Tavleen and said “Tavleen, meet Balnoor. He has a crush on you and I thought that I must introduce the two of you because he is a good guy.” I looked her in the eye and said “we used to play together in the same band.” She latched on to the fact that he knew who I really was and immediately started looking at Balnoor in a new light, I said “We can do a few of the next set without you, why don’t the two of you have a few dances while the rest of us play.”

She nodded to me and said “Geet, I bow to your greater wisdom. It would be nice to have a dance at our own show.” The rest of us got up on stage and played a slow raga followed by some of the new and old love songs. When Tavleen joined us on stage she looked flushed and we got going on a long and complicated raga that had everyone on the dancefloor gyrating wildly. I saw Balnoor looking on with amazement in his eyes and a look of admiration on his face. When we finished, to a cheer and applause, we bowed to the audience and went into the back room.

Balnoor knocked on the door and told us that he had never seen, or heard, us play so well and that he was very pleased to have been here. He helped us put our kit together and quietly thanked me for introducing the two of them. He was taken to one side by Tavleen and they had a short discussion before he gave her a kiss on the cheek and went to his car. When Janet let us off at the block I saw him park in one of the vacant spaces.

Tavleen winked at me and said that she would see me the next morning and waited for him while the rest of us went up in the lift. At my floor I gave everyone a hug before I got out and went into my room to undress, shower and get into my nightdress to go to bed. However, I put on my robe and sat by the window looking at the lights again and smiled to myself. I was sure that Tavleen and Balnoor were ‘connected’ by now and wished them well. I could trust Tavleen to make sure that Balnoor didn’t broadcast his discovery to the rest of his band.

I thought of the western songs we had sung and realised that, once again, my fado voice had turned them into something else. Janet had been very quiet when she drove us back; I wondered if she had felt the same thing I had.

Marianne G 2021