Part 2

Just then, Taranjit had arrived with a tray that held tea and cups. “The boys call him Gitaz, sir. Because he supplies the melody for their playing” he said, setting them down. “Not any more” I told him “I have been disposed of for a supposedly more authentic and bearded model.”

“That is bad,” he said “those silly boys will come to miss you.” Guptar looked on with a small smile. “So, young Gitaz, how did you come to be playing and singing so beautifully in the mall this morning?” he asked. I said that my actual name is Gavin Fooks and that I busked to augment my income. I then told him that it may be my only income after next Friday as I had been a victim of ‘downsizing’.

“Interesting” mused Guptar “I suspect that with your colouring your ancestors would have spelt Fooks with a ‘q’ a ‘u’ in the old days. It does go a little way to explaining your distinctive voice. I have been to a lot of places and you sing slow songs in a style, known in Portugal, as fado. I am sorry to hear that you have lost your job, but, on the other hand, it makes it easier to explain the offer I have for you.”

Our meal had arrived and it was a bowl of Madras curry with chicken for him and a bowl of beef korma for me, something I had eaten there before. I thought about it and realised that neither of us had uttered a word to order anything. That meant that Taranjit had a good memory and that Guptar was a regular. While we ate we chatted about things that were happening in our society and Guptar said “I think you have realised, by now, that I am a traditionalist as far as my faith and my lifestyle goes. It makes it simple for me most times but I find I have an increasing sadness at the way my people are embracing the modern world, leaving their tradition behind. This is the crux of my problem.”

“I have a daughter who is going to be married in a month. It will be a full traditional wedding as her husband comes from another traditional family. As such, the ceremonies are long and follow the patterns that are centuries old. It will take several days but one of those days will include a sangeet, our version of a ‘hens night’. Those who have left our ways behind now entertain themselves with too much drink and electronic music played far too loud. My daughters sangeet will be in the old ways and much more refined with a small band playing folk songs and some dancing. After the wedding has gone its course there will be a reception and that small band will play there as well.”

“The small band consists of a player of the sarod, the fretless lute; the tanpura which you may not have seen, as it is a big gourd-like stringed instrument and not used by street bands like your own; and the two main wind instruments are the bansoori flute and the shehnai horn.” I nodded and said “So the only thing missing is the percussion and, maybe, a violin?” “Just so” he said “they did have a percussion player but she went and broke her arm last week and the band is now without one. The sarod player does also play the violin.”

We ate some more while I took in what he had told me. I said “Do I understand that you are considering me as a substitute dholak player?” He nodded and then said “I will pay well if you can fit in with the band and do well. It is my own credibility and pride on the line to make the whole affair go as seamlessly as possible. Everything must be right, as well as following tradition. It will mean you learning some new songs fairly quickly but you do have the basics in your grasp already.” He thought some more and then said “the band is already pretty well known around the place and does a lot of weddings and private events. If you fit in you may well become a permanent member and your income would be assured.”

Now that, as they say, was music to my ears. I said that I was free for the rest of the weekend if he could get the band together to find out if I came up to scratch. He said that he would arrange it for Sunday afternoon and that he would pick me up at the tower block at two. Then he said “There is just one thing you need to know before you agree to this. It is hard for me to ask of another man but if you knew what a traditional sangeet is, you would know that there are no men allowed. The other events do not matter but this one is traditionally women only. The small band is all female and that allows them to have an edge when it comes to traditional weddings. If this is to work you will have to appear as a woman when you play. It is not very far from your appearance today as the loose trouser with your kameez made me think you were one when I saw you. It was just the fact that you did not wear the chunni scarf over your hair that made me realise that you were male.”

I didn’t know if I should be offended but I knew that a lot of people had taken me for a woman when we played. Maybe my bad luck in being beardless would now be in my favour. Regular wages from playing music sounded good to me, good enough to wear a scarf if that was what it took. I said “I will like to try out with the band, tomorrow, and we can see if it goes further.” He asked me if I had a keski at home and I said I had. The two to three yards of turban material could act as a chunni at a pinch if I wore my hair down. Looks like I will need to have a shower in the morning.

We stood and shook hands and left the café after I had retrieved my pusher. Taranjit just made notes in a small book that he pulled out from under the counter. Now that is pure class; no need to order, no need to pay. Just eat and take care of the account later. He smiled at me and told me that he would see me later as I may have just turned the corner that led to a good life. I suppose he had heard pretty much everything as it was a small café and we had been the only ones inside. Now that was another interesting point, I wonder why everyone else ate on the pavement tables while we were there.

I walked home with my pusher as I was no longer in a busking mood. In my room I stowed everything away and counted my takings. With the notes I had earned enough to live on for a week so it had been a good morning. I counted out and rolled the coins in paper that I had got from the bank and made out a deposit slip. I would take these into the bank near my work Monday lunchtime and they would weigh the coins before entering up the amount in my account.

I went up one flight and knocked on the door where Balnoor lived. He answered it and beckoned me in to join him in a drink. “I’m sorry about the band” he said “it is such a good offer it was too good to pass up. We have practiced with the new dholak player and he isn’t anywhere near your skill but we have to put up with him as he is the promotors’ cousin.” I told him not to worry about it as I was happy they would be getting better gigs. I told him that what I was after was a listing, or better still the words and music, of traditional wedding songs as I may have a place in another band. He stood up and said “I may be able to organise something, wait here.”

He came back with a book which he put in front of me. “It is my sisters’” he said “and she will want it back but you can borrow it for a couple of weeks.” The book was ‘Traditional Indian Wedding Music’ and did have everything I was after in one fell swoop. I thanked him and we had a few more drinks before I went back downstairs to study hard. I spent that afternoon and much of the evening reading the book, memorising the rhythms and even learning some of the words. The chapter on a proper sangeet opened my eyes on how restricted it was but the words to the usual songs were so beautiful they almost brought tears to my eyes when I sang them quietly to myself.

I had an early night and a good sleep and, in the morning I made myself some tea and toast before getting into my shower cubicle to have a proper wash of both me and my hair. Today, instead of putting it in a pony-tail or up, I brushed it out so that it fell past my shoulders. I found a clean pair of kach underpants and a better pair of loose pants. Over the top I put on my best kameez and then draped my keski over my hair and around my neck in the style of a chunni. When I looked in the mirror I looked like a very plain teenage Indian girl.

This morning I concentrated on learning the proper sangeet songs as most of the ones at the reception would be ones I had played before, unless there were particular requests I was content to leave that in the lap of the gods. It was the sangeet that would be the clincher in this afternoon session. I had a light lunch as I was too wound up to eat much and then tuned my dholaks before putting them in their carry bags. I thought that I would also take the frames for them as well.

At two I was on the steps out front with my gear beside me. Balnoor came out to go to practice and greeted me as he passed and I wished him well. It was only after he had gone I realised he had spoken to me as he would a woman and had not called me by my name. A car pulled up and Guptar got out and loaded my kit into the boot and then opened the passenger door for me. I got in and he went around and got in the driving seat. As he drove away from the block he said “Good afternoon. I think that I will need to call you Geet from now on. That is the feminine version of Gitaz and also means melody. You already look the part and we have not even set the women on you yet. I am feeling better about this already.”

He was feeling better, what about me!!!

Marianne G 2021

Part 3

On the way he gave me a run down on who I would be meeting this afternoon. “First” he said “there is the band. There is Husnia, Jenianna, Kajari and Tavleen. They are all in their twenties and you should fit in well. Then there will be my daughter Grette, well named as she is a pearl among the stones. My wife is Birgitta and my mother is Aganee. Her name means fire and it does fit well as she can turn the blowtorch on us with her scorn if we do wrong.”

I tried to set these in my mind so that I would not call any of them by the wrong name. He then said “I will leave you with the women. My family have been told who you really are but the band just knows that I have found a replacement percussionist. If you can get through the afternoon without them finding out you will be well on your way. My mother has the final say on your employment as she and my wife are organising the sangeet.”

We arrived at his mansion in the best part of the town and I was led in to meet the family first. A maid took my kit away to where-ever the practise was to take place. I was on my best behaviour when I met the three women. Grette was one of the most exquisite girls I have ever met but greeted me in a down-to-earth way that belied her looks. Birgitta looked as if she was just putting up with another of her husbands’ strange ideas while I could certainly see the fire in Aganee.

She looked at me and said “When my son announced last night that he had found a possible replacement for one of the girls in the band but that it was a boy, I almost fainted. However, with a bit of preparation you would go a long way to filling the shoes. All you need to do now is show us how you can play.” Guptar excused himself and I was left with the three women to lead me to a music room where four other girls were waiting for me, idly playing snippets of a raga as we walked in.

Aganee took the lead and introduced me as Geet, who she had been told was going to try out this afternoon. The shehnai player, Tavleen, was the leader of the group and she asked me how much grounding I had in the music and we decided to start by playing a standard raga. The three judges went to the back of the room and sat down. Because the room only contained women now I took off my chunni to let my hair flow free. My dholaks had been set up so I played a few notes to make sure they had stayed in tune.

Husnia started with a simple melody on the sarod and Jenianna took it up with the tanpura. I followed on with a steady beat and then the other two came in with the wind playing. As we got used to each other we started to complicate the melody and, after about fifteen minutes, we were going along like a relentless wind. The bride and her mother were up and dancing and the grandmother sat there tapping her feet.

Playing along with a tanpura was like a rock band suddenly getting a rhythm player as far as I could see; it was great and allowed me to stray from just a steady beat because the two of us laid down a foundation that the others could build on. The tune turned into a song that I had played with the other band and Husnia started singing it. I couldn’t help myself as I joined her in a duet and then I was out there singing it alone.

When we finished there was polite applause from my judges and the girls all smiled while Kajari and Tavleen came over to me to give me a hug. Tavleen said that we needed to see how I went on the sangreet music so we played a few standard songs for genteel company. Tavleen asked me if I knew any of the more special ones and I said that I had learned one just this morning that had brought tears to my eyes and told her the name. She said that it was one that was hard to play properly and none of them had the voice for it so, if we did it, I would have to be the lead singer.

It started with all of us playing for about thirty seconds and then I could stop playing as Jenianna held the beat. I sang it in my quieter voice which Guptar had labelled fado style. It was a lovely song and I just closed my eyes and put my heart and soul into my delivery. When we finished I opened my eyes to find a room with seven females crying and Aganee came over to me and hugged me closely. “That was played at my own sangeet in the old country” she said “It was not a patch on what I have just heard.”

We then worked on a number of melodies and, if I had not heard them before, I latched on and did my best. After about an hour and a half Aganee clapped her hands and said “Chunnis on girls, it is time we let Guptar know what we have decided. I know what I think, what about the rest of you?” It was all nodding and smiles and I was serially hugged. We went back into the corridor to a lounge area and Guptar was sitting at a small desk with some account books open in front of him. “So, ladies, what is your decision?” he asked with a look of hope on his face.

Grette spoke first. “All those in favour of Geet being the new band member, put your hand up now” and seven hands went up. Well, I couldn’t vote for myself, could I? We sat and discussed the future. I was told that there was a spare room in the house if I wanted it until after the event and that the other band members would be staying here for the two weeks before the wedding to perfect the performance. It was good for me as I needed to be at work for the week so said that I could move over next weekend. I was sure that my payment would be enough to cover the cost of my room for a few weeks even if I wasn’t sleeping there.

The band needed to be away but, before they left, Tavleen said that she wanted to say something. “I don’t want this to sound like criticism but you are a bit plain, Geet, and I noticed that you are a bit flat-chested. We have an engagement on the weekend before the wedding and our manager will want to know if we can now fulfil our promises. When we play we are dressed to the nines and all look a million dollars. Will you be happy going along with that or shall we stop now?” I was quiet but Aganee spoke up “Geet looks a bit like a tomboy now but Birgitta and I will take her under our wing and when you see her next weekend she will fit your standards, depend on it. I will send you a list of her measurements by email if you can organise a stage costume for her for the show.”

That being said the die was cast and everyone was happy, except me, who was now very unsure of what I was doing. Guptar said that he would take me home but first I was welcome to stay for dinner. Birgitta said that they did not dress up for dinner so I was all right as I was. She then took me into her bedroom and told me to strip so that she could measure me. Aganee came in with a pencil and paper and a tape measure and I was measured in more places than I had ever been measured before. The only one they didn’t bother with was the inside leg.

When I had redressed, Birgitta told me that she had a chain of beauty salons and that she would pick me up at the block on Friday evening. She would take me to one where her staff was very discrete and I would be given a full make-over. She told me not to bother packing anything as everything I needed would be supplied when I came back to their house. She said she was now fully behind Guptars’ plan and that her credibility also depended on the wedding going off well.

The four of us had a very nice meal and then Birgitta drove me home. We left my dholaks at the house as I would not need them during the week. Luckily I was able to get inside my room without being seen and I just sat down on my bed and thought about the day and the consequences. There was a line in the song I had sung about being sure that you know the consequences of your decisions. It referred to the agreement of marriage but to me, just now, it spoke to me of what I had done today and what could happen to me over the next few weeks. I am not a brave person and the thought of being ridiculed was almost too much to bear. I hoped that what the family did will not make me look like a painted doll. At least, when it was all over I could go back to being hippy me. But then there was full-time work with the band. Those girls would be devastated when they find out I am a guy!

I sat there for a while before I realised that I was quietly sobbing. What on earth am I doing here with tears in my eyes? OK, if I back out and stayed as Gavin I would be poor and probably on the streets inside a month. If I went into the thing as Geet I would have to make myself the best Geet there is. There was no rock or hard place, just reality. However, tomorrow was back into the city for my last week in the office and that was enough reality for anyone.

Marianne G 2021

Part 4

Monday morning I was up and dressed for the office, my hair in a pony-tail and my takings from Saturday in my back pack. As I left my room Balnoor was walking towards me. “Did you see that girl who was here yesterday” he asked “she looked lost but I looked back as I walked away and she was getting into a flash car.”

I said that I had not seen her and we both walked to the underground station to go to work. He was still complaining about the new dholak player as being too full of himself. I stayed quiet and mused on the effect of consequences. The office was just the office, somewhere to spend some time before one could escape again until another day. I went out at lunch and put my takings in the bank and then went to a food court and bought something nice. I felt good about my life for the first time in years but I didn’t know why.

That afternoon I was called down to HR where they gave me the details of my termination. They said that I would be able to leave at lunch time on Friday after I had returned all company items, cleaned out my desk and signed all of the non-disclosure paperwork. Non-disclosure!!! I had been here seven years and had not learned anything I would discuss with my hairdresser if I had one. One thing that was a surprise was that they would be giving me a termination payment and I considered the figure quoted as more than adequate if one had another job to go to. My boss acted like he was sure that I would be out on the streets before the end of the year and I think he was secretly glad of that.

That evening I rang Guptar and told him that I would be available from about three on Friday afternoon and asked him to tell Birgitta. He asked me to hang on for a moment and, when he came back, he said that she would pick me up at half past and that she thanked me for saving her the overtime bill. He also told me to be in my salwar kameez and chunni when she arrived. Over the next few days I read the book before taking it back upstairs and giving it back. I had found a bookstore on one of my lunch breaks and bought my own copy which could annotate in pencil. Evenings I practised on my bongos which I knew would be going with me.

Thursday evening I put everything I was taking into my back pack. My book, my personal papers and my never-used passport went in. I would add my toothbrush and toothpaste tomorrow. All in all, I looked at it and realised that I had not put much of a mark on the earth to remember me by. If I dropped dead tonight there would be a couple of bags for the salvos and that would be it.

Friday came along as expected. I did not have anything official to do and went in in jeans and a loose top with my hair in the usual pony-tail. Instead of the city shoes I had a pair of moccasins and I smiled at the look on the bosses face. I did the usual thing by going round and saying goodbye to those who had been friendly and just waved at those who hadn’t. I jumped though the hoops that HR insisted on and, at twelve thirty, I was standing outside the building, never to re-enter and a cheque burning a hole in my pocket. I took it to the bank and the girl in there commented that it was a nice payday and I replied that it wasn’t if it may be the last one I ever got. That shut her up!

I went to the food court and bought myself a good lunch before taking the train home. I finalised the things in my back pack and put it next to the door with my bongos. I then tidied up the room as if I was never coming back, making sure all the foodstuff was in a rubbish bag which I took out to the bin. After I had dressed in the salwar kameez I packed all of my Gavin clothes into a suitcase and left it on the bed for quick pick-up if needed and went out to wait for Birgitta on the steps with my pack and my bongos beside me.

While I was waiting I mused on where I would be this time next week when it would be the eve of my first public gig with the new band. I thought about just how good those girls were and how lucky I was to be joining them, despite the things I may have to put up with. The week after that would be the sangeet and a few days after that the reception. Beyond that I had absolutely no idea of my future and it did not seem as scary as I would have thought.

When Birgitta arrived she popped the boot for me and I put my gear in before closing it and getting into the passenger seat. “You look happy” she commented and I said that I had to admit that I was. I said “Look, I don’t know what today has in store for me but I trust you enough to know that if I end up looking like a clown you would be kind enough to bring me home. I hope it doesn’t as it would be hard on Tavleen and the girls as well as hard on me because I realised that I did really enjoy playing with them and it brought out a bit of showman in me that I had never seen before.”

“We could see that as you played” she said “Grette was captivated by the music in a way that we had tried to encourage her before but never had quite nailed. You all showed us just how good our heritage could be when done right. If you play half as good during the wedding it will give all of the guests something to think about for weeks after.” I said that I had learned another song last night and sang it to her quietly as we went along. When we got to her salon she leaned over to my side of the car and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You are too precious” she whispered “Guptar thought he was bringing home the answer to his dilemma; he didn’t realise he was bringing us the next big thing.”

She locked the car and we went into the salon where I was taken through to a private area and told to fully strip and lay on the bed, face down. What followed next was tantamount to torture but I was stoic and didn’t scream, well not until they were pulling out my pubes. After the waxing I had my head clamped while another girl went over my face with a laser hair removal gun. I had to close my eyes as she worked along my eyebrows. While I was still clamped they pierced my ears in four places a side and put in some small studs. “They will be able to be replaced next week before the show,” said Birgitta. “Now we have done the rough stuff, we can get on to the beautifying part of the session.”

I was given a gown to wear and felt better when I had covered myself. Then it was hair washing and styling, followed by a manicure, pedicure and extra nails. Then I was taken out the back again where I was put into a sort of pair of pants that needed to have parts of me manipulated before I was declared to be correct. Then it was back on the bed and I had things attached to my chest with glue that needed me to put on my very first bra when I sat up. Finally I was given a pair of womens trousers with embroidery on them as well as a matching long top in a bright blue to make a classic dress salwar kameez; and a pair of jutti slippers.

I then spent a considerable amount of time being the subject of a make-up artist who had said that it wouldn’t take long to give me the right look. Birgitta told me that I was getting a semi-permanent treatment which I would not have to bother with and that it would all wear off later, after the wedding. What she didn’t say was how long after the wedding it was. The final indignity was having some injections along my lips which made them feel puffy.

Birgitta then placed some jewellery on me, gold bracelets, a gold necklace and a ring for each of the three fingers on each hand. When I stood up and was shown a mirror I first thought that it was a life-size photo of an elegant Indian girl and wondered who she was until I moved and the girl mirrored my movements. “Oh lord” I breathed “what have they done?”

All the girls who had worked on me said that I was the best thing they had ever seen and Birgitta said “Geet, why don’t you sing them that song you sang in the car so they can see just what they have created.” I tapped out the rhythm on the back of the hairdressing chair and sang them the song and they all clustered around me to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek afterwards. As we went out to the car I found myself moving differently, trying to do everything with extra grace and style. I don’t know why but I was sure that how I looked right now demanded that I try. When we got to the house she popped the boot for the maid to carry my things to my new room and we went in to greet Aganee who had to sit down when she saw me.

“I thought you looked good before” she gasped “but now you look truly like an elegant lady. We are going to have to keep Gaurav in check when he sees you at dinner. He is going to consider you another of his conquests.” I looked at Birgitta and she told me that he was the eldest son and a worry to his parents as he was a womaniser when alone and, she suspected; a rapist in waiting when he was out with his friends. “I think that if he was in the old country he would be in jail or six feet under by now” Aganee said.

They had not told me how drop dead handsome he was when I met him that evening over dinner.

Marianne G 2021

Part 5

But that revelation would come later. Firstly I was shown to my room. Birgitta said it wasn’t very big but it was bigger than my room at the tower block and had a proper ensuite. The wardrobe contained a riot of colour and there was a silk nightdress lying on the bed.

She showed me the performance outfit that the band had sent over and it was truly amazing. It was a typical salwar kameez in thought only. The pants were cuffed at the ankles with thin satin draw-string; the tunic was down below the knees but was far more fitted than I had been used to wearing. The thing that made it different was that it was in a very light silky material and was a gorgeous shade of gold-bronze. My first thought was that I wouldn’t be seen dead wearing that but when Birgitta took the hanger and held it against me while we looked in the mirror I suddenly thought that I was going to look stunning in front of the band unless they had even brighter outfits.

“No-one will suspect that you are less than a pretty girl” she said “I think even Guptar will find it difficult to recognise you now.” She told me to relax for a while and have a shower as it had been a long day for me so far. She suggested that I put on fresh underwear and opened a drawer with colourful bras and pants that matched the outfits hanging up. “A girl tries to co-ordinate her colours” she said “we have got these so that you can get through the next few weeks and I can help you dress if you have a problem choosing.” I turned and hugged her and whispered “You have done so much for me so far I don’t know whether to thank you or faint in fright of wearing these in public.”

I could not relax and after I had showered I dressed as instructed in a very lightweight midnight blue outfit. I left my room and went down towards the living area. I found Aganee in the kitchen and she smiled and greeted me with a hug. I could get used to this behaviour. I asked her if I could go to the music room as I needed to see how I would be able to play the dholaks with my new attachments and especially with the rings and nails I now wore.

She pointed out the way and told me I had about an hour and that she would send the maid to fetch me for dinner. I went into the music room and started to play quietly. It took several minutes before I realised that the rings created a very new sound when I slapped the drum-skin, much like using a drumstick but I could vary the note by bending my fingers slightly. My new upper shape meant that I had to carry my arms wider out from my body when I played but, by the time the maid came for me, I was back in my old groove.

The maid led me to the dining room where the family had already started to seat themselves. When I walked in Guptar stood and came over to me with a huge smile and hugged me, saying “Geet, you look beautiful. You will be a stand-out with the band, I bet Tavleen will have to eat her words when she sees you tomorrow,” He introduced me to Gaurav “My eldest son, a very bright boy but wayward. He is manager of our biggest store and will take over the business when I am gone, that is, if he can stay out of jail.” I smiled at the man who stood at the table with a slack jaw and looking at me with intent. I wondered initially if he was actually dim-witted and it was all a big joke but then he closed his mouth and smiled as he said “Geet, Father has told me that we were hosting the band for a couple of weeks but he didn’t tell me that the replacement drummer was so stunning.”

“Drummer!” I said “don’t just call me a drummer. I am a percussionist and don’t you forget it.” Aganee laughed out loud and said to her grandson “That’s put you in your place young man; she is also one of the best singers I have heard.” We were seated with me across the table from Gaurav who found it difficult to eat while looking at me. I started to wonder if I had a piece of food on my chin. This was the first meal I had eaten in my new life and tried to remember how my previous girlfriends had been at the meal table. The atmosphere was jovial and when Gaurav tried to pester me with questions about my past his grandmother chastised him for being rude. Grette spent much of the meal-time trying hard not to burst out giggling; I could see she was almost at breaking point.

After the meal we retired to the lounge and Gaurav stayed close to me and then said that he would like to hear me sing. The lounge had a piano in it and Grette said she would play for me. She started playing the tune to the song that I had sung in the tryout and I stood by her and sang it again with my eyes closed and now feeling the words move me as if I was really a woman. When I finished and the piano was silent I opened my eyes and there was moisture in everyone else’s’. Guptar looked at me with admiration and pride; Gaurav looked at me with – love?

We had a bit of a sing-song for a while and then Aganee said that we ladies should retire to the snug so that the men could have a brandy and a smoke. In the smaller and more feminine room Grette finally broke down into giggles and Birgitta and Aganee gave me a group hug, Aganee saying “Girl, you have made your first conquest tonight. I have never seen my grandson look at a woman like that before. He usually has a look like a wolf going into a hen house but tonight he looked like a dog wanting his tummy rub.” Birgitta agreed and said that we must be vigilant and make sure he doesn’t find out my secret as he could get angry and violent. I agreed that this was a complication I didn’t need but when I thought deep inside my soul I realised that I felt somewhat honoured by the attention.

The maid brought us tea and when we had chatted for a while I said that I was tired as it had been a very strange day and Aganee walked with me back to my room. She said, quietly “Not only did I see the looks that Gaurav gave you, my dear, but I also caught the flash of joy in your face before you managed to hold it in. He spoke to your soul, didn’t he?” I had to say that I was honoured by his reaction to me but I didn’t know if it was happiness at being able to pass as a woman or happiness that I thought he wanted me to be his woman. “My dear” she told me “it means the same thing from this side. You are just happy to be a woman at last.” She kissed me on the cheek at my door and told me to sleep well. Breakfast will be brought to me and to dress afterwards in my performance outfit as the girls wanted to spend the day creating parts of the show and teaching me the moves they had.

I undressed and washed my face. It was odd to see my make-up still there after I had rubbed at it. I put on the nightdress and got into the best bed I have ever slept in and went off with the light. In the middle of the night I woke with a full bladder and went into the ensuite and, without thinking about it, pulled up my nightie and sat to pee, giving myself a wipe with a piece of toilet paper afterwards before going back to bed. I laid a while ruminating on the last thing that Aganee had said. Was I happy that I was pretending to be a woman, or was it not so much pretending as trying to be. I certainly liked the attention I had got so far as my life had been like a leaf in a current prior to today. I did not realise the power I had with my singing before and wondered if the rest of the world thought the same as these lovely people. I went back to sleep to dream that I was on a stage, a sheaf of flowers in my arms and bowing to an audience who were on their feet and cheering my name.

I woke to see the maid with the tray saying “Wake up, Geet; it is time for your breakfast.” It was delicious, as every bit of food I had eaten in this house was, and when I set the tray aside I stripped off and went to do my ablutions. The shower had a huge range of shampoos, conditioners and body wash and I sniffed at them all until I found a perfume I liked and used those. I dressed carefully starting with my special underpants that gave me a feminine groin and finishing with putting on the salwar kameez and matching chunni. I watched myself in the mirror as I slid the rings and bracelets on and then put on the necklace. There were matching leather jutti and I slipped them on and I was now a complete performer.

I took a good long look at my reflection to see if I could see any Gavin in there but, not only did I see no part of him, I found that I did not feel much of him either. I looked, and felt, like Geet; the fado singer and dholak player. I smiled and threw myself a kiss before leaving the room to see what my first full day as a woman was going to throw at me.

Marianne G 2021

Part 6

As I was walking towards the lounge area I heard the maid call to Birgitta to say that the band had arrived. I followed her voice to the front door where I could see a mini-bus in the driveway with the girls, now in varying colours of the outfit I now wore, unloading their bags and their instruments.

I saw that they were being led by an older woman in a western business skirt suit and, when I walked out onto the doorstep, there was a sudden silence. Tavleen stared at me and said “Geet? Oh my God, girl, you are magnificent!” I went down to them and they clustered around me to give me a hug. I was then confronted by the older woman who said “So, girls, this is the new dholak player with the good voice. I am happy to meet you, my dear, the girls have told me all about the tryout last week and I have been looking forward to meeting you. I am Janet Patel and, yes, I am Anglo but married to a Punjabi man. I manage these young ladies and I have a contract in my bag which we can talk about after I have seen you perform.”

I helped them take their instruments through to the music room while Birgitta and the maid took their bags up to the two twin guest rooms on the top floor. When we had sorted out the instruments and Tavleen had put us into our places that we would start our show with I saw Janet take some photos of us. We did look like a rainbow of colour alongside each other. Tavleen said “I think a jam session raga would be a good place to warm up with” and Husnia began picking a tune with us all joining in and, as before, getting more complicated as we loosened up.

Now a raga is as long as you can make it. I had heard of a show where a sita player spent some hours just exploring one tune and no-one left. We didn’t go that far but we played continuously for nearly an hour with the melodies swirling around; sometimes with us singing, other times just with instruments. During the session Janet was joined by the ladies of the family. When we stopped we didn’t actually stop as Kajari immediately started with the opening tune of a hymn and I started to sing it using my fado style. As I sang the last words Husnia twisted the tune to the one I had sung at the tryout and I sang that with as much feeling as I had the night before. Actually, some of that feeling was because I realised I needed a pee as soon as we had finished.

When we stopped I held up my hand and said “Bladder problem, time out” and headed for the door. Aganee said “second on the right, dear” as I was passing and I thanked her as I left. When I was relieved and had washed my hands I went back into the music room. Grette hugged me and said that her sangeet will be talked about for years to come if we played like that on the night. Janet was in a huddle with the girls and beckoned me to join them. I went over and she said “Geet, I have not heard the girls play with such verve and gusto as they have this morning. We have just discussed it and we want you to be part of the band and to be the lead singer as your voice and delivery is so distinctive it will set the tone for the whole band. I have a contract here for you to sign and it is the same as the others because we do think that you are already their equal.”

I looked at the others and they all said “Please join us” so I signed. I did have a quick read and saw that I was on a base wage that was almost what I was earning in the office but there was an added clause about bonuses based on performance fees. Janet said “There is a show already booked on Saturday night. It’s a reception to a semi-modern Indian wedding. After that we have the sangeet and reception for Grette, the week after. I have the feeling that after those events we will be getting busy and I do believe that I can lift your earnings without too much trouble when people have heard you play. Thank you all, ladies. I will let you work on more music and I will be back in a week to take you to the venue.”

Birgitta and Grette left with her but Aganee stayed. I looked at her and she said “I just want to hear you all as much as I can. I loved the music as a child and this is making an old woman very happy.” We then spent the next hour making her happy before breaking for lunch. After that we explored new songs. The girls had brought the words and music to a lot of the traditional ones and I got my book and we found some that they didn’t have. That afternoon, and for most of the week, we worked on and perfected a show that we could make last for days if we utilised the power of the raga. Aganee was with us all the way and when we had dinner on Friday night she stood and proposed a toast to five girls who will be sweeping the world.

We rested on Saturday morning and dressed in our performance outfits after lunch. Janet came and picked us up with our instruments and took us to the venue in the mini-bus. It was a reception room over the other side of our part of town and we set up our instruments. There was one major difference to the setting as, because of the size of the room, we had microphones to sing into and a tech helped us mic up the kit. No-one had arrived yet so we did a sound check with just playing and then with us singing while the tech adjusted the PA at various points around the room. Janet looked on and then led us all to a side room where we could relax and chat before the guests had filled the main room.

I was getting a bit panicky and asked Janet how many there would be and she said that it was a medium do of about four hundred. Now, when we played in the street band there may have been more than that along the whole route but usually only about fifty in close proximity at any one time. Tavleen said that I will be all right once we start to play and then Jenianna made me break out in a sweat when she said the Hidjeet family had been invited so Gaurav would be hearing me in concert for the first time!

When we got word that the guests had finished eating we walked out into the room and took our places to some polite applause, led, I could see, by the Hidjeet table. I saw Gaurav with an empty chair next to him and wondered if he had been stood up. We started with a few traditional songs and I saw a few of the younger guests leaving, no doubt to show off their finery at a local dance club. Oh well, can’t please them all. However, when we moved into the dance music of our own we had the floor packed in no time. Over the next two hours we had them dancing, singing and having a jolly good time. Tavleen said that it was almost time for us to finish and announced that we would wind up with some slower numbers so that the lovers can have the end of the evening. We did four of the love songs that we knew, me singing in fado style as I watched couples dancing in a slow embrace.

When we ended the final song there was applause and the groom’s father went around with a bowl and collected up money for us in recognition of our show. Janet took that with her after thanking everyone for their generosity. We were then asked to mingle for a while and I found myself sitting with the Hidjeet family on the vacant seat next to Gaurav, after he had plucked up the courage to hug me after everyone else, telling me that I, well the whole band, was wonderful and he wished that we could have danced but I was otherwise engaged. I didn’t ask why he was alone but Grette told me a couple of days later that he had told his date that he had found someone else.

We relaxed on the Sunday and did some practice on the sangeet songs on Monday. After that all hell broke loose as the marriage of Grette and Guntaj was the focus of the family. A traditional wedding takes almost as long as a lifetime and was held in different places on different days. The Tarik ceremony had taken place some months earlier. This is when the groom makes the formal offer of marriage and the brides’ family officially accepts it.

This week began on Thursday with the Ganesh Pooja when the two families get together in a casual day to get to know each other. Friday was the Mehndi ceremony. Here the bride and her friends have a social gathering when the bride undergoes the henna ceremony and her body is drawn on by a henna artist with some wonderful designs.

The sangeet was Friday afternoon and evening. Guptar had said it was like a ‘hen’ night’ but it turned out to be more like a big bridal shower. The venue was the reception area we had been in the week before but this time the tables were set in a more intimate pattern and we stayed in the room while it filled up with ladies in the most magnificent range of colours and fabrics and glittering jewels. Grette was the centre of attention but it was hard to pick her out among the four or five hundred women in the place.

Aganee stood beside me and told me that there would be around a thousand at the reception which would be held in a much grander hall nearer to the house. She spent a bit of time pointing out the ladies here who had daughters coming up for weddings over the next several months, as well as those who regularly held big parties. “Just so you know when one comes up to talk to you later, my dear” she smilingly said as she went back towards her place with Birgitta.

We played some quiet songs for a while but Grette called for dancing and we moved into a raga which Kajari and Tavleen turned into what sounded like a snake charmers music and I stood there playing my dholaks looking out at a scene of such sensuality it was easy to see why men were not allowed in. I had a hard time of it myself but stayed true to my new gender as I saw about five hundred women swaying to the music and shaking their bodies in a way that made me shiver. While we were playing we joined in with the movement and I found that I was really having a lot of fun, in a feminine way.

Marianne G 2021

Part 7

We finished the sangeet with about a half hour of me singing love songs and, although the dance floor was less populated, there were still quite a lot still dancing and I saw a few couples dancing closely. I suppose all races have their lesbians, it is just how hidden they may be and, let’s face it; we were all girls here today.

We joined the others after our show for some food and drink and the five of us had plenty of women wanting to chat. I saw several women in deep discussion with Janet, today resplendent in a salwar kameez of her own. Grette was over the moon at the outcome and she wished us well for the reception. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and wished her a happy marriage as we, the band, would not be attending the morning ceremonies. Janet took us out to the side room while the party wound up. We came back to collect our kit when all of the women had left. She told us that she had enough provisional bookings to keep us busy for about six months and that most would be finalised after the reception after the menfolk had heard us. The girls were very happy with that.

They then turned to me and Janet said “After the reception last week we thought that we should find you a place to live and I have heard, today, that there will be a one bedroom unit vacant from Wednesday in the block where the other girls live. You can come and stay with us if you like.” I said I would like that as it seemed that I would be able to afford it if we had the work she suggested. Aganee had joined us and said that it was all right for me to stay with her family until I had somewhere to go so we had a group hug. Then she said that Guptar was friendly with the council officer who managed the block my room was in and that he would arrange it for me to move out quickly and get my bond back as well.

We were taken back to the house but left the kit in the bus as we would need it for the reception. Because everyone was busy with the ongoing wedding we stayed out of the way in one of the bigger rooms and quietly sang acapella which seemed to work nicely, a thought we put aside for later times. Saturday lunchtime we were picked up in the bus and taken to a restaurant for a group meal, laid on by Janet as a bonus. We had a good time and it was a lot of fun. I was gently needled about the attention I was getting from Gaurav but laughed along with them while wondering what he was doing now.

Janet then took us to the reception centre which was huge compared to the last one. We set up on a stage area and again did a sound check for the tech. The centre manager stood and listened to us as we did a couple of songs while Janet went around making sure there was a good audio coverage. He then spoke to Janet and they walked out of the room deep in discussion. She had supplied new stage clothes for this event as it was likely to be the wedding of the year. This time we were all in a very deep cherry red, in a shiny satin with golden threads through it in a random pattern. The salwar was black satin and the jutti were cherry red leather and we looked great. When she came back she said that she thought that would work and got us to pose for pictures.

With this event we had been allocated a table next to the stage so that we would be fed as well with the other guests and, as people started to arrive I was amazed when Gaurav came over to sit with us. The girls thought it was hilarious but he chatted well with everyone and got into a deep conversation with Janet and her husband about the future of entertainment and retail marketing. He had the idea that if you had entertainers in the supermarkets sometimes it would attract more customers. She held the line that you would not get more people on the dance floor if you gave out free bags of potatoes.

With the guests all fed it was time for our part of the procedure so we got up and went up on the stage to start the bhagra. We started with a slow raga interspersed with songs and when we had enough on the dance floor we started another raga which we spiced up as it went on. We had them swaying and swirling before we slowed it down a bit. Guptar had asked that we did two sessions if it went well so we finished off with me singing love songs, finding myself looking at Gaurav occasionally as I sang. When we finished the dancers and the audience clapped and we went back to the table. We were served some tea and dainty biscuits and Gaurav sat very close to me, which made me feel self-conscious but also warm and fuzzy. It was a feeling that I had never felt before.

Guptar gave him a stern look when he came over and asked us if it was all right for us to do a second session. We all said we were good and went back up to the stage. We had a little huddle and then Tavleen went to the microphone and announced that we normally played a session as we did earlier but this one would be a little different. She told them that the first part would be slow and then we would play a raga until the dancers wanted us to stop. This is what we did. I sang a couple of love songs and we then did a few of the ones usually only heard at a sangeet. I could see an awful lot of people out there dancing close. As the crowd thinned a bit we started the raga and filled the dancefloor with gyrating bodies. It took about half an hour before they started to wilt so we slowed it down for five minutes before we stopped to a great cheer and a lot of laughter.

Janet took us back to the house and my kit was unloaded. They then loaded the girls’ bags and we all had a group hug before they left for their own homes. I went to my room, stripped off and had a shower before getting into bed, so tired I didn’t even have time to put the light out before I fell asleep.

In the morning the house was very quiet when I woke up. I had another shower and dressed in a plain salwar kameez and normal slippers before going down to the kitchen where I found Aganee sitting with some tea and toast in front of her. I got myself the same and sat down with her. She looked a bit under the weather and told me that she had not had so much fun since her own wedding reception. She said “Geet, last night would be talked about for some time to come as it was a total surprise for a lot of very staid members of our society who had not heard the traditional music played so well for a long time. You and the girls are going to get a lot of work, believe me.”

She then got serious and carried on “Now, I need to broach the subject of you and Gaurav. I can see that he is smitten because he has not argued with any of us for days. I have heard that his store-staff want to know what has got into him because he goes about his daily work with a smile on his face. I know that you have feelings for him too, ones you don’t understand because they should not be feelings that one boy feels for another. Since you came to stay with us I have felt that you are a remarkable person who had not realised how remarkable you were before. I have started to think of you as not just a friend but also a potential grand-daughter-in-law. I expect that is something you could not comprehend yet.”

I just sat there and looked at my teacup, somehow feeling that I was at yet another point in my life that I would look back at in old age. I said “Aganee – Grandmother, I am not sure how I feel at the moment, nor do I know why I feel it. I do know that every time I see him I feel glad and I think about him sometimes when I am alone. The attraction I have for him is there but impossible as I could never make him my husband as I could never be his wife.” What she said next shook me to my core. “Why not” she said “You know that every Indian here has a cousin or a cousin of a cousin that works in every area you need help. Now we have a cousin of a cousin who has a clinic in the country and it would not be a difficult thing for him to make you the woman that Gaurav wants in his life.”

“How on earth would I be able to afford something like that” I said with tears in my eyes. She took my hand and stroked it when she said “You have become important to this family. Last night was an absolute success and will be a stepping stone for Guptars’ upward movement in our society and, beyond that, Gauravs’ future success should he keep his nose clean. What we have done for you so far is nothing compared to what you and the girls have done for us in the last couple of days. Birgitta thinks of you as a daughter and Grette already considers you a sister. You can’t get away from it now, you are part of the family already and we would welcome you into it as Gauravs’ wife.”

She then told me that nothing was urgent as I had only been a girl for a couple of weeks now. I said that most of the things I did felt wrong but right at the same time and that I absolutely loved being out there in front and singing, especially the fado songs and my percussion work was so much more satisfying. We took our plates and cups to the sink and she held me in a close hug and whispered “You are amazing, grand-daughter; the last couple of weeks experiencing a group of experts develop new songs and then see them played as if you have done them for years has been something I had never thought I would see. I learned a lot about all of you in those sessions but I also learned a lot about me and what I want out of the rest of my life. I thank you for that.”

I held her close and whispered back “I have learned something about me as well. It is that I like being a girl, so much that being a wife of Gaurav does not frighten me if it does work out the way you suggest. I would consider it an honour to truly be part of this family.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 8

We went through to the lounge where we found Guptar sitting at his desk with a notepad open in front of him. He was looking at his tablet and writing names. When we walked in he looked up and said “Now look what you girls have done; all these people suddenly want to talk to me. I will have to start with the local MP and Mayor first and the rest will have to wait.”

He broke into a smile and came over and hugged us both. “Magnificent” he laughed “everything is magnificent!” He then got serious “Now, young Geet” he took me to sit on the settee, “I have noticed how Gaurav has been acting since he saw you and I have told him that any thoughts he may have about you will have to follow tradition. This usually means chaperoned dates only but I told him that it would not be needed as long as he invites you to public events only until we consider that he is serious. This will mean that he will not have a chance to be alone with you and get up to his usual hanky-panky. If he can follow these orders for six months we can give him a bit of rope if you still want to be with him but there is traditionally no sex before marriage and an engagement could last a couple of years. This would give you time to make certain adjustments.”

Aganee said that we had already discussed this. He nodded and then said “Geet, I gather that my mother has told you that you have become a very important member of the family and we would love it you become a genuine part of it in the future. We will help in any way we can but we will leave it at that for the moment. Janet said last night that she may have found a nice place for you to live so you may be moving out during the week. Your stay has been good for everyone and it will be very quiet without both you and Grette but it will be good for Gaurav if you were not in the house.”

I asked if I could have some help getting out of my old room and he said he would speak to his friend about pushing the process. He then said that Birgitta would drive me over there so I can clear it out. He told me that I didn’t need to worry about furniture as Janet had told him the new one would already be furnished.

I asked him how I could pay for the clothing and the salon work and he told me that I should not worry about it as he considered it money well spent. “I’ll take it off your wedding gift” he laughed. “Now I have to get to work and keep my business on track, Gaurav has gone into his store to supervise Sunday trading; that’s something he always used to miss because he was hung-over.” He bade us cheerio and left the room. Aganee said “Come on my dear. Let’s go and find Birgitta and see if we can get you clear of that room.”

We found Birgitta in the kitchen with bags under her eyes and drinking coffee. She agreed in helping us out and I was told to go to my room and put on something a bit brighter. When we left the house in her car she looked a lot better and was able to converse normally. She also said that the evening had been good for her business and said that a number of women had looked at my own semi-permanent make-up with a thought to getting it done themselves. “The profit margin on that work is great” she said “the same time as doing a good one that wipes off in five minutes but three times the price.”

At the tower block I pulled out my door keys and we went into my room. For me it was like going into a museum and Aganee commented on how clean it was. I picked the suitcase off the bed and the other two took a couple of minutes to inspect the place to see if I had missed anything. We were out of there inside ten minutes and I locked up and gave the keys to Birgitta to give to Guptar. That was a part of my life over, the future now beckoned.

On the way home I asked Birgitta to stop at an op-shop bin and dropped the contents of the case into it and put the empty case back into the car. “That’s final” said Aganee when I got back in. “Yes, start as you mean to go on and even if I went back to being a boy I would be buying new ones with more colours” I said. Back at the house I helped tidy up the rooms the girls used and put my dholaks in their bags. I had a case now to put my new things in when I moved. I was looking forward to seeing what Janet had found.

At lunch with the ladies I was spoken to as if I was already the new daughter. Birgitta laughed about how Gaurav had been at the reception and they both agreed that he had been on his best behaviour. It was lovely being part of a family again after being alone for a long time but I felt that I needed to be in my own place again.

Janet rang in the early afternoon and told me that she could pick me up on Tuesday to have a look at the new unit and told me that she had been flat out all morning with phone calls, many confirming the dates she had provisionally written in at the sangeet. I asked he what the venue manager was talking to her about and she said that it may be an exciting development but there needed to be details worked out first and that it would be revealed to the whole band when we were together. She then said that she would be putting some money in our accounts so to check mine on Monday.

I spent the rest of Sunday afternoon with Aganee helping the cook preparing the Sunday roast and learning some finer points of cooking along the way. Monday was a whole new experience for me. After I had checked my bank on-line I realised that I had enough money to do a little shopping. My wardrobe, so far, consisted of a small number of salwar kameez outfits and a couple of stage dresses. I had been given a good supply of underwear but I did need some jeans and boots so I could fit into normal society without standing out.

When I mentioned this after breakfast it turned into a shopping safari. Birgitta went and searched among the clothing that Grette had left behind and found a western style long skirt which fitted me as well as silk blouse which I was sure she had left by mistake. With a pair of knee-high stockings and ballet flats I looked every inch a normal woman but still wore the chunni. Indian women do dress in western clothing but usually in the more conservative styles unless they are straying from the path of tradition, in which case they can look stunning in short dresses and showing cleavage. It is something that Indian men don’t like as they need to be able to claim that the body of their woman is only for them to see.

We went into town, Birgitta driving with Aganee beside her and me in the back like a proper lady. I had been given a handbag that matched the skirt and had my old Gavin cards and passport in it, along with some ‘feminine requirements’ that Birgitta had added. As we went along I realised that, except for going to clear out my room yesterday and being taken to do the shows, this was my first outing as Geet as a normal woman going to do some shopping. It felt a bit frightening at first but I pulled my shoulders up and said “I can do this, I have sung in front of a thousand people so this is not a problem” to myself.

Our first stop was an ATM where I withdrew enough money to buy a reasonable amount of clothes. There was no way I was going to pay with my card that was in the name of Gavin Fooks when I looked a lot different. I already had the cash that I had kept back from my busking. Was that only a few weeks ago? It seemed like a world away.

Birgitta then took us to a very fancy looking dress shop where I thought that I would never be able to afford anything. She saw the look on my face and said “Don’t worry, Geet. This is a shop that I co-own with a cousin. The front is full-on western styles but the back half is devoted to Indian styles and there are a lot of things that would look good on you and, best of all, you will get the owners discount.”

We went in and the front of the shop was packed with stunning and very expensive dresses. Birgitta said hello to a couple of Anglo sales girls as we went to the second room which was packed with even more colourful clothing. There were two Indian girls there who both greeted us with a smile and hugged Aganee and Birgitta. When they saw me they both clapped their hands and gave me a hug, saying “We are honoured to be graced with your visit, today. Your singing last night was beautiful and we were sure that you must have been a big star that Guptar had brought in to entertain us.”

Aganee told them that I was Geet, a very treasured friend of the family and that we were here to get me a selection of clothes that I could use for every day wear. The two girls were Aanya and Adweta and were, you guessed it, cousins as well as being related to Birgitta who took me and Adweta to one side and asked me if I had my passport with me. When I said I had she turned to the other girl and said “This is strictly family business, Adweta, do you still go out with that boy from the passport office?”

Adweta said that it was getting close to a marriage and Birgitta asked me for my passport. When I brought it out of my bag she took it and when she saw it was unused she said “This will be an easy one. Geet, we need to give you an Anglo name to suit so what would you like to be called from now on? I see it was Gavin Jonathan Fooks so we will need the same initials.” I was too astounded for some moments to respond and then I realised that this may be another point in my life which marked a new path.

I said that my mother had told me that I would have been Gayle Joanne if I had been a girl so that is what I thought would fit. She gave the passport to Adweta and then took out a couple of photos of my face that she had cropped from pictures of us she had taken earlier. On the back of one she wrote that she had known Gayle Joanne Fooks for some years and signed with the note underneath that she declared herself an official notary. She told Adweta that we needed the new one back in a couple of weeks and that she would pay for me and the band to play at the wedding and sangeet when it comes up.

Marianne G 2021

Part 9

In the meantime Aganee and Aanya had been looking through the racks to pick out a few outfits that they thought would suit me. I was happy to let them do this as every choice that had been made for me so far had worked.

They had chosen a couple of multi-hued long dresses with high neck that would do for day wear when I didn’t need the salwar kameez. There were also three long skirts and, by the time I had tried on, and modelled, the dresses, they had a small pile of beautiful blouses for me to try on. Of course, we had to model each skirt with every blouse so it was nearly an hour before we had made the selection. Aanya had put together a small pack of stockings and a couple of garter belts to use with them and when I was told what the total was for my purchases I showed my surprise at the low cost. Aanya smiled and told me that I was getting everything at cost because of my talent and my obvious place with Aganee and Birgitta.

I had enough for a couple of pairs of jeans and asked if they had them. Adweta went and brought back a collection of jeans that you wear when you don’t want to wear jeans. They were heavily embroidered and in very bold colours as well as being leg hugging. When I went and tried them on I was captivated by my look and, as the girls now knew the truth, I paid for four pairs using my credit card.

We put my bags in the car and then went into a shoe store owned by yet another cousin and I came out with some black leather boots that would go with any of the jeans. I knew that I would have to get more shoes later as I grew into my new life but I already had more than I had owned as Gavin at any one time. We put that box in the car and then went to the big store that Gaurav managed. Aganee explained that it had a café within it where we could get some lunch.

Of course, the whole family was well known and, by the time we had found a table and sat down, Gaurav had been made aware of our visit and came to join us. He complimented me on my look with the comment that I wore it better than his sister had, which got him a rebuke from his smiling mother. We had a nice lunch and then he told us that his father had called him this morning to tell him that the two of them, with their partners, had been invited to a civic reception at the town hall on Thursday evening and he asked me to be his companion on the night. I was blushing and about to resist when Aganee said “Of course she will. Your parents can take you and pick her up on the way as she will be in her own place by then.”

When we left him to carry on our time in the shops Birgitta said we needed to go back to the dress shop and get me something suitable for a civic reception as there was certainly nothing I now had that would suit. So I ended up with a stunning evening gown with the correct high neck and three-quarter sleeves and then needed to go back to the shoe store to find a pair of medium heels that would fit and that I could wear. Aganee insisted that she would pay for everything as she wanted her grand-daughter-to-be to look as good as she could.

Monday evening when we ate I found out that the civic reception was to donate a cheque to a care home in our area and that there would be a collection on the night, as well as an auction. Birgitta turned to me and said “don’t worry about that, Geet, your partner will give generously” and Gaurav smiled and said that he would be feeling very generous with me at his side.

Tuesday came around and Janet picked us up. I say us because my shadow and my mentor, Aganee, insisted that she inspect the place for ambience and hygiene. We both knew that she was just happy at something to do and I did appreciate her input. The block was not far from my previous one in position but years younger and a long way in style and fittings. Janet led us up to the fourth floor in a clean lift and went along a corridor which smelt of air freshener and then opened a door to usher me in. I was taken by the space and the big windows that looked out over a park. The kitchen was good, as was the one big bedroom with a walk-in robe and ensuite. All in all it was like moving to a mansion after my room and Aganee did comment along those lines.

Janet said the other girls all lived in the floor above and on the same side of the building. She led me to a window and pointed out a building on the other side of the park which she said was the hall where the band practised so we only had to walk across the park but the girls made sure they finished before dark. I said it was lovely and asked when I could move in. Janet said that the block manager had told her that the previous tenant had moved out over the weekend and the rent was paid up to tomorrow but he didn’t mind if I moved in today with my rental period starting on Thursday. She had the papers so I signed.

Aganee got on her phone to Birgitta and they decided that they could move me this afternoon so I hugged Janet and Aganee and had a good look around again before we locked up, Janet giving me the keys which I put in my bag. Janet took us back to the house and told me that there would be a band meeting on Friday evening when she would tell us of our likely shows over the next six months. She said that the girls would knock on my door when they were leaving and we would all go to a little café they often used for meetings and a meal.

In my room I packed all of the underwear and nightwear in my case, along with the blouses. I had not put away any of my shopping so only needed to take the clothes on hangers and they could be carried as is. The shoes and jutti could go in with my boots in the bag. With just the cosmetics, creams and bathroom supplies that I had decided I liked and, with my bongos and dholaks I was ready to go. We loaded up the car and both the maid and the cook gave me a hug and wished me well and we were away to the next stage of my life, living alone again but this time as a woman.

On the way we stopped at a Hi Jet store and walked out with bread, milk, tea and cans enough to see me right for a few days as well as a couple of sets of sheets and pillow cases and a doona. Birgitta helped me carry everything up to the unit and then helped me to put things away, giving me instruction on where everything should go, and why. There seemed to be a lot of complications in the life of a single girl. I hugged her and thanked her for all her help and then made us a cup of tea and opened the biscuits I had bought. My first bit of entertaining in my new home. Actually, it was the first entertaining I had done anywhere. When she left she said that they would pick me up on Thursday afternoon to take me to the salon for a little tidy up.

After she left I sat and looked out of the window with a cup of tea beside me. In my old place the one window looked out into a light-well so the view from here was like living in a palace. I then went through the place with a duster and then a broom. If I was going to live as a girl I was going to live like one. I made up the bed and then I went into the wardrobe and made sure that everything was hung right and then stripped off to use my shower. It was heaven to be in a full-size one and I dried myself and put on clean underwear and the decided to wear one of the pairs of jeans with a colourful top and try out the boots, even if I did not intend to go out.

It was a good job I was properly dressed as there was a knock on my door as I was wondering what I would do for my evening meal. It was the whole band and they were carrying hot food and a couple of bottles. I let them in and they all gave me a hug and a kiss and welcomed me to the tower. When they laid out the food I saw that there was plenty for us all and we had a wonderful housewarming. Tavleen told us that Janet had been a bit strange lately and I said that she had been in deep conversation with the venue manager and that she had told me that we would know what was going on Friday evening.

I found out, during the meal, that Tavleen was single and the other three had boyfriends with Jenianna going out with an Anglo. After the meal, the three went off to spend the evening with their boyfriends and Tavleen asked if she could stay and chat. Over a glass of wine she said that she had spoken to a friend who knew Balnoor. She said that Balnoor was asking around to find his friend Gavin; or Gitaz as they knew him. It seemed that this Gavin had disappeared just after being dropped as a dholak player in their band and he was worried that Gavin may have done something stupid as he had lost his job and his girlfriend in the same week.

I listened with dread that it was all going to end here. When she looked into my eyes I could not lie. I told her how Guptar had found me busking and asked me to become Geet to help him out. She took it all in and then asked me what I was going to do now. I told her that I would be the best Geet I could be and that I really wanted to be a part of the band as I loved playing with them and I loved singing. She thought for a moment and then said “All right, your secret is safe with me because I think you are going to take us to heights we have never seen before. However, for me to keep your secret I think we must create another that you can keep for me. I have had enough to drink so why don’t we go to bed and you can show me the bit of Geet that I have not seen yet.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 10

We spent the night christening my new sheets and it was glorious sex. I did not really fancy her and she did not really fancy me but we had both gone too long without love and I was able to satisfy her as a lesbian and then as a man. Luckily she had brought her own condoms and I used the whole packet of three before we were tired enough to sleep.

We woke early in the morning and she kissed me, saying “Thank you for that, sweet thing, it was wonderful. No matter what happens you will make someone an ideal wife or an ideal husband. Only the future will tell us which. Maybe we can do this again but there are no strings attached.” She had a shower, dressed and I gave her some breakfast before she left to go back to her unit to get ready for work. I stayed in my gown and, once again, sat by the window and contemplated the way things were going. I knew that if I was to transition and have the operation there were things that needed to be started now.

I had realised, while we were thrashing around on the sheets, that I liked it best when she was playing with my body when I was on my back. It made me dream of having Gaurav doing the same and that it was the one thing that hardened me so I could please her. I had a small washer and drier in the unit so started a small wash of my accumulated underwear and then showered and dressed, again in jeans and boots because there was a little shopping I wanted to do.

At nine I picked up my phone and called Aganee. When she answered we chatted a while and then I asked her about what was now on my mind. “Aganee, you know what you said about a clinic. I have been thinking and I wondered if there was things that needed to happen before I get to that point. Are there people to see, drugs to take, forms to fill in?” She said that she would make a couple of calls and get back to me as quickly as she could.

I was pulling my laundry out of the drier when she rang again. She told me that she had contacted the said cousin and had been given a couple of other people to talk to. As a result of this there was an appointment for me this afternoon with a gender specialist. She gave me the time and place and wished me well. I thanked her and we hung up. Well, that was quick, it’s a wonder what cousins can do.

At the appointed time I was dressed in a salwar kameez and chunni when I arrived at the doctors’ office. A half an hour later I came out with a couple of sore spots on my buttocks and a script for on-going hormones. I also had a referral to another specialist who operated in the clinic the cousin ran but had been told to make that appointment when I was ready to go the next step. I called Aganee to thank her and told her that the die had been well and truly cast.

In the morning I had bought enough to stock up my fridge and pantry cupboards so would be able to cook for myself for a few days. Actually, I had also bought a cookbook on ‘Easy meal for loners’ which I thought was apt. That evening the girls came by again and this time we were able to put together a decent meal for all of us. It did take most of what I had bought so would have to go shopping again tomorrow. This entertaining lark is a drain on ones supplies but I loved it. After the three left I sat with Tavleen and we talked into the evening. I told her what I had done that afternoon and we moved from being lovers to being friends and talked about our lives so far and our dreams for the future. It was no surprise to her when I said that I was going to transition and hoped to be Gauravs’ wife one day.

Before she left we held each other close and pledged undying love as sisters and she said “Last night was wonderful and it made me realise that I had been holding myself back and needed to get out more. I have resisted getting a boyfriend because I was not sure if I liked girls better but now I think I need one to make me a good woman for him. Thank you for that.” I went to bed and dreamed of playing with my children while Gaurav looked on. That could never happen, could it?

Thursday morning I did more shopping and then, after a light lunch, dressed and waited for Birgitta to pick me up. During the afternoon I had any fuzz that had sprouted seen too and a more dramatic make-up overlaid on my semi-permanent. I was given a small bottle of removal cream to use when I got home. The hairdresser put my hair up and the two of us looked very elegant as she took me home. She said that I was to wait in my room until she sent me an SMS to come down to the car. I took my time getting ready for the evening, putting on a garter belt and stockings for the first time was a real buzz and when I looked at myself in the mirror with a black bra and pants with the stockings I got a bit of a stir in the gaff so put on the black slip I had bought to go under the evening dress and then slipped the dress over my head, making sure I didn’t upset my hair or my make-up.

I had just put on the low heels and made sure that I had everything I needed in my evening bag when my phone pinged and I saw that my ride and Gaurav were ready for me. I locked up and went down in the lift, getting more worried that I didn’t look good enough for him the closer I got to the doors. He was waiting beside the open back door as I came out and when I saw his happy smile I knew that it was going to be all right. I got in and he went around and got in the other side. As we needed to be wearing our seat belts we stayed apart but he did reach over and take my hand in his. At the venue he helped me out and took my arm to guide me into the building. Guptar and Birgitta were close at hand to make sure there was nothing too intimate, yet.

I find it difficult to comprehend how I felt that night. I was treated like a lady and we had conversations with several dignitaries who had been to the wedding reception and all said lovely things about the music and my singing. There was a small band and, after a good dinner, there was dancing and there I was, at last, with Gaurav putting his arm around me and holding me close while we did what we could on the dance floor. I had told him that I had never learned but he just told me that he would lead and I thought that he could lead me anywhere with that smile.

The auction was interesting. Guptar put up shopping vouchers, as did Birgitta and other shop owners. A few put up were holidays, experiences and meals in expensive restaurants. Janet and her husband were there and she put up the band to play at a reception but said that if we were needed for the sangeet that it would have to be paid for. This brought furious bidding from the men, spurred on by their wives, and brought in a good final figure. The highest bidder then asked if they could hear a sample of what they got so I had to go and talk to the band to see what they knew and I then stood out front and sang a couple of love songs to Gaurav right in front of me looking like a lovesick puppy.

When it was over we walked to the car and Gaurav put his arm over my shoulders and we walked close together. At the tower block Birgitta told him to escort me to my door but that she knew it only took five minutes each way so he was allowed fifteen to return to the car. He kissed me in the lift and it was wonderful. I smelt his manliness and felt it too, against my groin. He walked me to my door and I opened it before we kissed again in a way that I had never been kissed before. I just melted in his arms as his tongue explored my own and he apologised when he let me go and said that his father would be looking at his watch. We said goodnight and I went inside to sit for a while and to savour the taste of his lips and the feel of his cock against my stomach.

On Friday morning Birgitta rang me to say that the civic reception had been good for business and thanked me for singing the songs. She said that Gaurav had been very quiet in the car going home and told me that he was already asking about other events that he would be allowed to take me to. Janet also rang me to thank me for singing as she had got some more provisional bookings and then said that the girls would collect me at six and we would be going for a meal before going to the hall for a meeting. I spent much of the day getting my life into some sort of order, making sure that my rooms were clean and tidy, re-arranging my wardrobe and drawers and double checking that I had everything I needed in my fridge and pantry. I then sat with my bongos for a while and quietly sang as I played, which released all of the pent up tension I had been feeling.

At six the girls knocked on my door and we all went down to see Janet waiting with the mini-bus. Her husband was there as well and we were taken to a nice little Indian Restaurant that a cousin of his owned. Of course, we were all treated well and the food was divine. Afterwards she drove us to the hall across the park from the tower block and she opened it up and we went in. It was not a big place but a perfect size to practise in. She opened up a side room that had a big table and lots of chairs. I was told that this was where they served afternoon teas when they had market stalls in the hall. We all sat around the table and her husband went to heat up a big kettle.

Janet took a notebook out of her bag and said “Right, girls. You did very well with the last three shows and I have now got bookings for almost every weekend for the next four or five months. In fact, we have a very urgent call for you to do a show tomorrow evening. It is a non-traditional event and will be a mix with about half the audience being Anglo. In order to do this you will need to learn some western style songs to mix in with your usual playlist. I have a bag here with about twenty songs for you to learn and we have this hall from seven in the morning to six in the evening but I will pick you up at five to take you to the venue. You don’t have to learn them all, just enough to widen the scope when you play. Can you do this for me?”

Marianne G 2021

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

Part 12

Sunday morning was clear and bright and I lay in my bed thinking for a while. It was funny how things came around. I had dreaded seeing my old band mates around in case they recognised me but last night I had been welcomed by Balnoor and did him a favour in return.

I got out of bed, did my ablutions, showered and dressed ready to get some breakfast. My life was evening out now and I wondered if I needed to get some part-time work to fill in my days. I could not continue with hectic shopping all the time, I couldn’t afford it; and there was only so much practice one can do with the dholak. I contemplated on learning another instrument but decided I didn’t have that much spare time after all.

I had just put the kettle on when my phone pinged. It was Tavleen saying that she would like to pop in if it was OK. I replied that I was decent and had the kettle on. A few minutes later there was a knock on my door and both she and Balnoor came in, he carrying a cornflakes box and she had a bottle of milk. I gave them both a hug and ushered them into the kitchen where we sat down and had a shared breakfast.

Tavleen thanked me for introducing them last night and giving them the chance to get to know each other on the dancefloor. Balnoor said that he had now truly met the girl of his dreams and I smiled as Tavleen kissed him. He then looked around the room and said “Nice place you have now. I moved out of the family home and into your old room. I can see why you wanted to get out of it now; it is like a box.” I said that it had not seemed that way for me but I was now happy that I have a window I could actually look out of and see the world.

He told me that the old band was about to split, no-one could get on with the new dholak player and the promoter was trying to get them all to look like fierce warriors and I had to laugh at that because the four of them were more like rotund teddy bears than warriors. He said that their playing had gone bad and at least two of the band members were actively considering moving away. It was sad to hear and I asked him what he was doing now. He said that he was now working at the local Hi-Jet store and was in the line to be under-manager.

That made me smile and Tavleen hoot. When he asked why we told him that we had lived with Guptar Hidjeet for two weeks or more as it was his daughters’ wedding that led to me looking like I am now. That led to the story being told, much to his amazement and delight. Tavleen then had to tell him that I had Gaurav acting like a puppy dog at my heels and that she could hear wedding chimes in the distance. He looked at me and said that this was something he couldn’t wait to see.

My phone rang and I excused myself to answer it. It was Birgitta and she wanted to know if I could be available for a lunch-time barbeque that the council were putting on for the donors of the goods from Thursday night, as a thank you for a record amount that had been collected. I asked her to wait a moment and asked the other two if they had anything to do today and, when they shook their heads, I asked Birgitta if it was all right if Tavleen and her partner come along as well. She said it was all right and asked if I needed picking up and when I said that we had transport she told me where to be at midday. I hung up and said to Balnoor “Well, old friend, it seems that you are going to share lunch with some folks that will be advantageous to your career today. I hope you have a decent outfit to wear for a civic barbeque in your wardrobe as today you will join with the high fliers.”

Tavleen went back to her room to get ready and Balnoor sat with me and we talked about old times for a while. I told him that very few people knew of my history and that he should speak of me as she or her, rather than he or him, if asked about my time before leaving the old block. He promised to keep it all to himself and then said “You know, some of the guys thought you were a fag in the old days. I suppose that if you like boys it is better when you are a girl, especially one who looks as good as you.” I went over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and then told him to stay there while I went and got changed.

He was sitting, with Tavleen, and looking out of the window when I came back in one of my long day dresses with knee-highs and the low heels. I had my chunni, as did Tavleen, but hers matched her jungle print long dress. I said that she looked really good and Balnoor said “That’s what I said.” He drove us to the old tower block and we waited in the car while he went in to change. Tavleen said “I know that my night with you was good but last night was a different thing altogether. He was manly but polite, forceful but pleasing and the only odd thing was that his beard was scratchy. I have told him to start using a good shampoo and conditioner on it and he said he would.” I said that I was happy for her and that they made a good looking couple.

When he came out he had his best turban and jacket with all of the five ‘k’s’ about his person, as befits a good man. He drove us to the place where the barbeque was being held and, when we got there, was directed where to park by an attendant. We got out and walked towards the crowd and were immediately spotted by Guptar who came over to give us two girls a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Tavleen said “Mr Hidjeet, I would like you to meet my partner, Balnoor Singh” and they shook hands. Guptar said “call me Guptar, please. Now, I have seen that name only recently. I think it was in the weekly reports from the stores and you were being proposed as a future under manager, am I right?”

Balnoor gulped and then said “Yes, sir, I do work at one of your stores. It is a real honour to meet you sir, you are a guiding light to all of us in the community.” Guptar laughed and said “There, you see, girls, here is a man with respect, not like the attitude of some I know.” Just then Gaurav saw us and came over to greet us with a hug for Tavleen and a hug and a kiss for me. Guptar said “Gaurav, this young man is the Balnoor Singh that we spoke about yesterday when we looked at the reports. We don’t have to ask him to come and see us as here he is in the flesh.” Gaurav shook Balnoors’ hand and started to talk to him about store business. Guptar led the two of us away, saying “Typical of him, the store comes before good manners. Let me take you to meet some more of the good people here today.”

We mingled with the local dignitaries and businessmen. Aganee asked Tavleen who the man was who we came with and she told her that he was an old friend of mine and her new partner. Aganee looked at me and said “Old friend?” I told her that I have known Balnoor for a long time and played in the same band with him up to a month or so ago. I did tell her that both he and Tavleen knew of my past and were good with it. Tavleen asked me what he played and I told her it was lute and violin, like Husnia. “Is he good?” she asked, and I said that he was a better player of the violin and had the ability to make it sing if given his head.

We ate and chatted, chatted and ate, and finally Gaurav brought Balnoor back to join us. Balnoor was looking decidedly as if he had been hit on the head and didn’t know what day it was. Gaurav told Guptar that he had been having a long talk with Balnoor and that he was so impressed with his thoughts about the business he wanted Balnoor to join him at the big store as a department manager. Guptar looked at Balnoor and asked if he was happy and when Balnoor stammered “Very happy, sir, it is a dream come true” he was told that his old store manager will be told to look for another under manager as Balnoor was to report to Gaurav on Monday morning. They went off to chat with other shop owners and it left Balnoor standing there with sweat on his brow and a glazed look in his eyes.

Tavleen went to give him a hug and a kiss and congratulate him on his new job and he held her close and they kissed as lovers do. He then turned to me and said “Friday I was just a wandering soul with a lowly job. Saturday I met my true love who I cherish as the goddess she is. Today I have been given the job of my dreams. Surely this must be a dream itself.” We gave him a pinch on each arm and told him that he was living in the real world and it was a world where good things happen if you are open to them.

Just then Janet came over to speak to us and we introduced Balnoor with Tavleen adding “and I have been told he plays a mean violin. It might be something to think about for the future now we are no longer the ‘Indian Girls’.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 13

Janet asked him who he was playing with at present and he related the story of my old band and its’ current woes. Janet said “I know the guys you are talking about, the young one has always been a pain in the butt.”

“I will talk to the boss and find out if he is willing to release you all from the contract as it is his own relative that has caused it to go bad. How would you like to join the girls at a practise session on Wednesday evening at the hall across the park from their tower?” Balnoor immediately said he would love to so the time was set. He could park at our block and walk with us there and back. When she had gone off to talk to some of the others he suddenly said “It can’t be right, I would love to play with you but you are the ‘Indian Girls’ and I would not fit.” Tavleen told him that we were not Indian Girls any longer; as of last week we had become the ‘Dhawanees’ – the messengers.

Before we left, Birgitta came over and told me that she had made an appointment at her salon for me to have my falsies removed so my skin could breathe. She said that her girl in the salon had noticed a little puffiness on my chest when I was there for the Thursday session. She said that the ones that were taken off would be properly cleaned and that I could go for as long as it took using them loose. Then Janet came back and asked if it was all right for me to be taken home by her as there were a couple of things about my singing that she wanted to talk about. This let the lovers able to have the afternoon alone.

I hugged them both and they left with Balnoor walking on air with his angel drifting along beside him without needing to flap her wings. Janet watched them go and said “It was a very insightful thing you did last night, allowing them to dance while the rest of you played. They do make a good looking couple.” She then led me around the crowd until we came to Salman Dhawan, the venue manager with a cousin. He told me that he had been sent the masters of his cousins’ last couple of albums and that he had a friend with a recording studio. What he wanted was for me to go into the studio during the week and listen to the music. His friend could overdub me onto a fresh tape and would be able to replace the original small orchestra with our band later on. That way we could end up with an Anudeep Dhawan and the Dhawanees album long before the man himself arrived. He would send the result back to India to get the go-ahead for the tour based on what we produced.

I was given the address and the name of the guy I needed to talk to. Salman gave me a CD to listen to before I went but they did expect me there on Tuesday morning. It looked like I now had that part-time job I was thinking about this morning. I was chatting with Janet when Gaurav caught up with me. He told Janet that he could take me home and I had a sudden thought that his parents must have left already or he would not have taken the opportunity to get me alone. I was going to be on high alert from here on.

I took his arm as we mingled for a while longer with the more progressive members of our shopkeeping community. He then said his goodbyes’ and led me to his very smart car, opening the passenger door for me and allowing me to settle before going around to get into the driving seat. Before he started the engine he looked as if he had come to a decision and then said “Geet, you must know that I have fallen in love with you and I think that you may think well of me. I have a secret place where I used to take my girlfriends and I would like to show it to you this afternoon. There will be no hanky panky as my mother quaintly calls it but, if you do decide to be my wife, it will be our first home and I want your input. If you don’t like it or if it has too many bad vibes, I will sell it and we can look for somewhere else.”

I leaned over and kissed his cheek and said “Just take me to our home, Gaurav, and I will tell you what I think before you take me home.” He took me to a very modern tower block and parked outside, taking me into the lobby where there was a uniformed doorman. “James” he said “Please look after Geet while I go and park the car.” When he went back out to move the car James looked at me and said “Excuse me for saying so, madam, but you must be very special to him.” I asked why and he said “It’s not my place to comment but he has brought many girls here and never before has he introduced them or left them with me while he parked his car. He also does not have his usual wolf face on. Sorry if I offend.”

I smiled at him and said “No offence taken, James, his mother told me of his wolf face before I even met him and he has been nothing but a perfect gentleman since that moment. Thank you for your words, I know that he will not go against his fathers’ wishes when it comes to me.” Just then Gaurav came back and we went to the lift and went up twenty floors. When we got out he opened the door of his secret place and said “One day I hope to carry across this threshold but, until then, welcome to my own place.”

I led him in and he closed the door, showing me into the lounge where the windows had a magnificent view of the city. I told him it was beautiful and he then took my hand and showed me the rest of the place. It was huge with a cooks’ kitchen and three bedrooms. In the master there was a huge bed, walk-in robes and an ensuite. Everything was perfect and spotless. He held me from behind when I looked at the bed and he had to laugh when I asked where the stick was with all the notches on it.

“My mother must have been talking to you and, even after all her warnings, here you are standing by my bed. The stick was broken into pieces and went out with the rubbish the day after I met you. If you reject me I may either join a monastery or start a new stick but it won’t be the same.” I turned in his arms and put my arms around his neck and he kissed me long and hard. Well, a bit of him felt hard. I said “Dearest Gaurav, I do think I love you and that I would like it if we lived here as man and wife. I cannot give you the sex that you deserve but I have decided that would give you the relief you need if you want me to.”

I pulled him towards the bed where I sat and helped him unzip. I took his rampant cock in my hand, then in my mouth and, finally, tasted him for the first time and, an hour later, for the second time. In between time we sat in the kitchen and talked about the future and I told him that he would have to wait for at least six months to a year before we could consummate our wedding. It was that conversation that led to my second tasting. We agreed that his parents did not need to know anything and we rinsed out the wine glasses we had used before going back down to the lobby.

I stood with James as he went out to get the car and James said that I looked satisfied but not ravished, unlike most of the other girls. I told him that it would be different when we had slept here on our wedding night and he quietly congratulated me. “At last the wolf has met the lioness” he said “and I think that the lioness won.” Gaurav took me home and helped me get out of the car, holding me close and kissing me deeply. I watched him drive away with a smile on his face and then went up in the lift to my room where I stripped off and masturbated thinking about the taste of his cum.

I then took the CD I had been given and put it in the player, with my nightdress and robe on. Anudeep was typical of an Indian crooner but had a certain something that excited me. I could tell that a lot of his songs were love songs that could be sung as a duet with a female voice but thought it would be harder to replace the small orchestra with our band – unless we had a violin in it. Oh, naughty Tavleen. I laughed out loud and wondered what the other girls would think.

I took a couple of the tracks and played them a couple of times, singing the odd verse replacing she for he and putting a feminine slant on it. I reckoned that it would work. Because of what I had nibbled on during the barbeque I only needed a light tea before watching a bit of TV and going to bed thinking about the wonders that had befallen the weekend, from Balnoor hooking up with Tavleen, me being asked to overdub duets and finally, Gaurav and me in his apartment – along with the fact that he wanted it to be our home. It was a glorious place and I already had made friends with the doorman and that was half the battle. All that was needed now was for me to become the woman that Gaurav thought I was and the one I now knew that I could be.

Marianne G 2021

Part 14

Monday morning was cool and overcast so after I had showered I put on a plain, but thicker, salwar kameez and boots. I had breakfast and then put on a coat and my chunni to go and find the bus that would take me to the salon.

When I got there the girl that had fitted my falsies worked carefully to remove them. While she worked she told me that she had been at the reception on Saturday evening and that she thought that we were a wonderful band of girls. She said that all of her friends there had a great time drinking and dancing and that a couple even said they would try to book us if they could afford it. She rubbed my chest with salve and took the falsies away to properly clean them. When I had put my bra back on and slipped them into the cups it felt right but a bit different.

As I was going to pay she said that everything was taken care of by Birgitta and that she had left me a note. When I read the note I saw it was an address of a café a couple of blocks away with a time that looked like I had just enough time to walk there. When I got to the café I saw Birgitta and Aganee inside and I went in and they greeted me warmly and asked me to sit. They looked serious and I wondered what was up. I found out when Birgitta told me that she had a cousin in the security business and that he had followed us to Gauravs’ ‘love shack’ where we stayed for nearly two hours.

I decided to be totally open and said “He wanted to show me his secret hide-away and I thought it was beautiful. He told me he loved me and that he wanted it to be our home. We talked for a long time and I relieved his pressures by giving him oral sex. Beyond that, nothing happened of any note.” Aganee laughed out loud and said “Oh, you are so precious, to have given my grand-son a blow job and just carried on as if nothing happened. I am certain now that you will be a welcome addition to the family.” Birgitta nodded and said that she was sorry that they had done this but that they had to test his resolve. I told them that his resolve was hard but there was one bit of him I found harder.

We had morning tea and I asked them how long they had known about his man-cave. Birgitta told me that he had failed to notice that one of the clerks in the real estate office when he bought it was a distant cousin. She said that it was his one failing of being a progressive man was that he failed to see some of the detail that the knowledge of the traditional gave you. After the meal I went to an electrical store and bought a cheap DVD player, with the connecting cables to add it to the TV set. In an Indian record store I was looking for any of the Bollywood movies that Anudeep had been in but could not see any. When I asked about it I was told that they did not have any but they did have a disc of one of his recent shows if I was interested. I bought it and took them home.

That afternoon I connected up the player and watched the DVD. He was, I thought, pretty good on stage. I sent a text to the girls to come to my place after work and I would order some take-away to be delivered. When they were all assembled and we had eaten our take-away curries I told them that I had been busy and showed them the DVD. Afterwards Kajari said “Wow. He is pretty good. If we could do the right thing with him we could be able to tour the home country with him.” I gave them the DVD and Jenianna said that she could make copies and give them to the other girls.

I told them that tomorrow morning I was expected at the studio to listen to the masters of his latest album to see if we could add backing and, perhaps, some duet work. When they left they all gave me a hug and Tavleen told me that my day had achieved more than hers and she got paid for that. That night, in bed, I found it hard to sleep without the comfort of my breasts. In the end I put a bra on and slipped the falsies in and then was able to sleep.

Tuesday I went to the recording studio. I asked the guy if he had heard any of the songs that would make good duets and he played me four. We worked on those with me hearing the voice and backing in one ear with my own coming back to me in the other. After about three hours getting it right we had the four songs on tape and he played them back to me with the male voice muted when I sang except for the verses that he overlaid mine in a true duet. I thought it sounded good but, there again, I was a bit biased.

I went out to a café for lunch and then went back to listen to the other ten tracks of the first master. There was about eight that would have to be his solo songs but we then worked on the two that I thought may work. By the end of the afternoon the tech had made a CD for me with the six songs on and another for Salman to listen to. He had lowered the volume of the orchestra so you got the full effect of the singing. He congratulated me when it was time to leave and told me that if we did do a tour it would be a hit. We made an appointment for me to come back on Thursday to work on the second master.

Wednesday I listened to the six songs on the CD again and memorised the words, did some cleaning up around the place and some more laundry. In the afternoon I did some shopping, getting in supplies in case the band came back to my place after practise. I had a light tea and was ready with my dholaks in their bags when Tavleen tapped on my door. I joined the rest of them in the lift and we went out to walk to the hall. Balnoor was almost on the balls of his feet he was so wound up. At the hall Tavleen opened up and we went in, locking the door behind us.

I had told everyone on the way over that I had laid down a few duets and that I would play them the CD later but now what we had to do was to see if Balnoor was up to the task. I knew he was a good player when he relaxed as I had seen him cut loose at a couple of parties. I took him to one side and said “Dear friend, you will be all right if you just relax. This is not a make or break session, just a get to know you one. We will start by just playing a raga and you should add the violin as you feel ready for it. This is the way I was brought into the band and I can tell you that, if you play with your heart, you will find yourself being better than you ever were before.”

So that is what happened. We started with Husnia on the sarod and I came in, along with Jenianna on the tanpura to lay down a steady foundation and Kajari came in with her bansoori with Tavleen following on the shehnai. Balnoor waited several bars before closing his eyes and joining us with the violin. He had allowed himself to absorb the music and he did not open his eyes when we started mixing the beat and going a bit faster. The more complicated the raga got the better he played and I could see all of the girls being captivated at our new sound. Finally, Tavleen called a count down and we finished on the final note. When Balnoor opened his eyes there were tears running down his cheeks and he was not able to speak. Tavleen was first to give him a hug and the rest of us followed.

We called time out and put the kettle on for a break. Balnoor seemed embarrassed at showing his emotions and he was told that we all felt the same and that there were no barriers when we were alone. He was told that he played as we wanted him to, with his heart and soul, and that everything else didn’t matter. He said that he had amazed himself as he had played like he had dreamed of playing and it took a good band to bring it out. After we rinsed our cups we went back and did a couple of love songs so that he could get the idea of what he could add to them and then Tavleen said it was early finish as it had been a bit too emotional tonight. We packed our kit and walked back to the block and I took them all to my rooms where I put the kettle on again before playing them the six songs I had recorded yesterday.

They listened carefully and, when the songs had finished, Husnia said that she could hear us playing the backing in her head and it definitely needed violin. The rest agreed that it would be a lot more traditional than Bollywood with us behind it which would allow an album to be issued as a different take on the same songs. I told them that I was needed in the studio tomorrow to listen to the second master but the tech there was pretty good at picking out the right songs for a duet version. Again, Jenianna took the CD, saying that she would do copies. She pulled the copies of the DVD out of her bag and gave us one each.

When the rest of the girls had gone home I was left with Balnoor and Tavleen and I asked how his first week at his new job had gone. “Great” he said “Gaurav has been very good in getting his people to show me the ropes and I have started to get a handle on my department. He runs a tight crew there and they all love him, but I have been told that he has been more loveable since he met you. He does pester me sometimes about our past but I have told him that, although we lived in the same block and spoke, the only times you played with us was when our regular dholak player was sick. I had to say that as we were a bearded male band, you would have found it hard to fit in.”

We chatted for a few minutes longer and then Tavleen pulled him away to get some horizontal jogging in before he went home. I thought that the evening had gone down very well and that the band was evolving, Tomorrow would see the second master and I hoped that there were some good songs on that as I had really enjoyed singing the duets and was looking forward to performing them live, if it all came to be.

Marianne G 2021

Part 15

Thursday morning I was down at the studio and we listened to the whole album together. The tech had noted the six tracks that would make good duets and had even transcribed the lyrics for me so, when we set up to record, we nailed them by lunch-time.

I went out and got some lunch and then went back. He had produced a CD for me to take as well as two other CDs with the two albums on with the orchestra toned back so we could play them and add our backing. He told me that Salman had booked the studio for all the weekend and every evening the following week and told me that I may get a message from Janet soon. She did ring me not long after and told me that I should make myself available over the weekend and every evening next week and that Salman had told her that he would like it if we could come up with an album by the end of the week. No pressure, then!

I told her that when she called the others to tell them to come around to my place when they got home tonight and I would play them the two albums so that they had, at least, an idea of what would be required. They came around after work and I played them my latest duets when they were all there. I then gave Jenianna the two CDs of the original albums and asked her if she could get the copies to the others as quickly as she could. The three girls complained that they would lose time with their boyfriends but everyone agreed that it was a chance too good to pass up, even if it did need a bit of hard work. We agreed to have another session at the hall on Friday evening and Kajari said she had a portable CD player we could use to listen to the tracks to work out some backing.

I worked with my duets during Friday and worked out the dholak backing pretty well. Most of the solo songs on the album were slow raga style so I reckoned that we would be able to nail them quickly. Friday evening we all went to the hall again and firstly worked on the twelve duets, going late but ending up happy with the result. It was weird hearing me sing while I played the dholaks and I sang along quietly as I did so, not wanting to put everyone off.

Saturday morning Janet picked us up in the mini bus and Balnoor was going there in his own car, Janet getting Gaurav to give him a day off. Salman joined us and told us that he was excited but didn’t expect too much of us so quickly. We told the tech that we would do the duets first and to just give us the male voice full with the orchestra very quiet as a guide. Once we were set up with the microphones we started the with the first duet, the tech being happy with our third take, as were we when he played it back to us. I could see Janet with a big grin on her face and Salman looking very serious. Over the course of the morning we had recorded the master for another three duets and we stopped for a delivered lunch that Salman had organised.

I could see that he was almost exploding with curiosity at the addition of Balnoor and the extra that it gave the music but Janet kept patting his arm and talking quietly to him. That Saturday afternoon we finished the rest of the duets, all with me singing with the band and getting a better delivery because of it. Everyone did their bit with the backing singing as well, Balnoor adding a lovely baritone note. We left our kit in the studio and Balnoor followed the bus to a small restaurant where Salman finally was able to express his thanks and congratulate us on being so professional by buying our meal. Janet looked like she was the cream licking cat and she took me and Tavleen aside when we went to the ladies. “You lot have shown Salman his new career, I think” she said “he has this idea that he will become a great music producer now. I will have to bring him back to earth next week as I am, and always will be, your manager as long as I have your signatures. I need to get Balnoor to sign tonight as he does bring an extra dimension to the sound.”

She did just that before we left the restaurant, he driving off with a stunned look on his face at what he had achieved that day. Janet took us back home and told us that she would pick us up in the morning. Sunday we were back in the studio and working on the rest of the solo songs. As the band had already heard all of them we only took about four takes each to get a good master. By the end of the week we had finished the two albums and the tech gave us all a CD with all the songs on them in the order they were on the original albums before we went home for a well-earned rest.

Well, we had a rest for some of Saturday as we had a reception booked and it would be the first as the Dhawanees. Balnoor was a bit antsy but we told him that if he couldn’t feel the music, then not to play anything but just groove with us until it came to him. We told him that he was already good with ragas which were the basis of the show and to just ‘go with the flow’. It worked out well and, as the reception was another that was not traditional, we all had a jolly good time getting the guests onto the dancefloor and gyrating. Balnoor took a while to get loose but then became quite the showman I knew he could be, sometimes playing with Tavleen in a complicated duet while the rest of us stayed in the background. They did look good together on stage and his violin added the extra pathos to my love songs.

At the end of the night Janet took us to the block where Balnoor had parked his car earlier. As we got off she said that she was truly proud to know us all and gave everyone a hug and a kiss on the cheek. When she drove away we all went into the lift with me saying goodnight as I got out at my floor. Tavleen said she would message me as the doors closed and I went to my room to put my dholak bags away, strip and sit by the window again with a cup of tea watching the lights of the cars. What a week it had been.

Sunday morning I had got out of bed and dressed in a pair of jeans and my boots with a colourful top when Tavleen sent me a message to say they were on their way down so I put the kettle on and waited for their knock. Tavleen came in to say that the other girls had all been picked up by their boyfriends to catch up on the time they had missed during the week. Both she and Balnoor were in jeans which led me to the conclusion that he now had some of his things hanging in her wardrobe. We sat and had breakfast together and chatted about the show last night. Balnoor was over the moon at being able to play with us and said that it had really brought him forward to play with such soul.

He then said “Yesterday I spoke to an old school friend of mine. I had not seen him for ages but he was happy to get my call. He is an Anglo but was well regarded at school by the way he fitted in with us Indian kids. He married an Anglo girl and they now live in the country just south-west of here. The thing is that his father was a publisher and he took over the business and one of the magazines he publishes is a music paper in which his wife writes a column as a reviewer. I asked him if he could listen to a disc for me and let me know what they both think of it. They will be there this afternoon but before we go there, I would like to buy you both a good lunch, as a thank you for turning my life into a wonderland.”

We tidied up and I went and got a cardigan and my chunni and bag and we went up to Tavleens’ room where she got her own chunni and bag. Balnoor drove us out into the country where we finally parked at a country pub overlooking the river and we had a lovely meal. We then went to quite an imposing house where we were introduced to Jack and his wife, Sheila. They gave us a cuppa and we sat for a while as Balnoor and Jack caught up. I had gone to the same school as well so knew some of the people they spoke about. Finally, Jack said “OK, business time. What about this music you wanted us to hear?”

Balnoor gave him the unmarked CD and said “This is two albums that the girls and I recorded over the last seven days. It features a singer from India who you may have heard but I will leave his name so that it does not skew your thoughts when you listen. If you want to hear it alone we can go somewhere else as I, for one, will be very self-conscious hearing it with such experts as you two.” Sheila showed us to a sunroom and got us a pitcher of lemonade and glasses and we sat, soaking up the sun and chatting, while they listened to the CD. It took the best part of an hour and a half before she came back to beckon us back inside.

We sat down and Jack said “The male singer is Anudeep Dhawan and I have heard him before but his voice always sounded too syrupy then. I know that he has never left India so how on earth did you get these albums?” Balnoor looked at me to carry on so I told him that Anudeep was a cousin to Salman Dhawan who had seen our band at a wedding reception we had played. “That was before Balnoor joined us. He got in contact with India and they sent him the masters of two albums and one I was told has been released in India recently. We spent the last week in the studio in the city with those masters and added the music and singing tracks to replace the original orchestra tracks. I know what you say about his voice; I heard the original master and his voice was almost drowned out by the strings but has been brought forward in our takes.”

Sheila said that she was really taken by the sound and she was not a devotee of Indian music and then asked who it was on the disc. Tavleen said that she was there on shehnai, Husnia on sarod, Jenianna on tanpura and Kajari on bansoori with Balnoor on violin and “Geet, here, on the dholak and doing the duets.” We were told that the recordings were first class and asked what will be happening to them. Balnoor told them that Salman Dhawan owned the new masters and he thought that a copy would be sent to India, with the likelihood of them being released here if Anudeep came over to tour, especially if we were to be the backing on stage. “Now” said Sheila “that would be a show I would like to go to.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 16

Jack said that he had saved the disc to his computer and would like to share it with some friends of his and we told him that he would need to contact Salman to get his permission but we were sure that Salman would be happy with it as long as it improved his chances for a successful tour. I gave them the name of the venue he managed.

Jack said that he would love to hear us live and Tavleen said that she would see our manager about getting them added to the guest list of one of the receptions we had booked. We were given afternoon tea and Balnoor got the disc back and we bade our host farewell to head home again. On the way we talked about the visit and Balnoor told us that Jack had contacts with a lot of recording companies and producers and, hopefully, would be able to smooth our way should Salman want to go further. Back home I got off at my floor after giving them both a hug and went to my room as they carried on up to the next floor to finish their perfect day.

I wondered about the day and thought that our visit had been a bit pre-emptive but it had happened and the worse that could happen was that nothing would happen. Monday I got a call from Janet who wanted to meet and we made arrangements to meet at a café. When I walked in she was sitting with Salman and the recording tech. Salman said that he had received a call last night from a very influential person and thanked me for giving out his contact number. I told him that it was all down to Balnoor as he and Jack had been to school together. He told us that he had sent the new masters off to India on Friday evening and his cousin had rung him on Sunday, demanding to know how on earth he had managed to turn his standard album into something so good that his manager had insisted the two albums should be released in India. The one already released would have the original name but with ‘reworked with Tradition in mind’ as the title.

He then told me that if the album is a success we would have to fly to India to do a promotional TV spot with Anudeep but any tour would need to wait until the second album went on sale. In the meantime, we all needed to front up at a professional photographer with our stage gear on to get a couple of good photos to send overseas. I looked at Janet and said we would need something colour-matched for Balnoor if we did that and he would need stage kit for our future shows. I asked Salman if he had given permission for Jack to send the disc to his friends and he said he had given him written permission and had emailed it off this morning.

He then said “I want the band into the studio as soon as we can arrange it and Tom, here, will record another CD. I want it to be called ‘Traditional Music the Dhawanee Way’ and I will send to India to come out alongside Anudeeps’ next one. It could also be released here if the tour happens.” I asked that we were all kept in the loop through Janet but that, whatever happens, I wanted us to have a break of at least a month next year around May or June. Both he and Janet made note of that and Janet looked at me with a questioning eye and I just shrugged and said that I was likely to need a surgical intervention around that time as things were starting to go wrong with an important part of me and it was unlikely I would be scheduled before then, seeing the waiting lists as they were.

Salman said that it would be perfect timing as he could send us to India before that to do the promotion and the Anudeep could come here for the tour in July to August and we could then take the whole show back to India in September for as long as it took. He thought it was perfect but I wondered if I could fit a summer wedding into his schedule. After Salman and Tom had left I sat with Janet and she asked me if my problem was ‘womens troubles’ and I agreed. We discussed new outfits for everyone and she sent a text to Balnoor asking him what his sizes were. She then said “You know, Geet, this has taken me well outside my normal comfort zone. I am just a person who books bands for social events and weddings. I am not experienced in all this high flying overseas stuff.” I told her that it will all happen as it happens and that, by the time she needed to do something totally new, she would have learned all the things she needed to know. “I hope you’re right” she said “everything seems to have fallen into place so far.”

We then spoke about our upcoming bookings and tried to see where we could fit some recording in. We had a reception every Saturday evening for a month so I suggested that we do the recordings during weekday evenings, maybe a session a week until we had the CD recorded. I said that it would be just like our shows but without any of the western songs and that we had an easy couple of hours with love songs and a raga or two. She said she would take it up with Tom to see what he thought. She gave me a hug as we parted and I went off to see if I could buy some cheap ear-rings as I was sure I could take out the studs I had and replace them with loops or drops.

The rest of the week was, thankfully, a little less frantic. I did report back to the rest of the girls about what Salman had proposed and they were all amazed at the thought of going to India to do one show. Tavleen did point out to the others that in a country with several hundred million people there was sure to be big money to be made with a hit album so the few thousand it would cost to take us there and back would be a drop in the ocean. On Wednesday evening we had a half-hearted practice so that Balnoor could get a handle on some of our western songs, most of which he knew already.

Thursday I got a text from Birgitta with a request to meet for lunch. We had a nice meal and then she reached into her bag and pulled out two passports. One was my original one which had the seals cut off and stamped ‘cancelled’. The other was a shiny new one in the name of Gayle Joanne Fooks and a photo of the new me. The date of birth and place of birth were the same but this one classed me as female. I said “This is wonderful, thank you, how much do I owe you?” She told me that my payment would be taken when I look after her in her old age, the same way she now looks after Aganee.

That afternoon I rang the surgeons’ office and made a booking for SRS surgery and I was lucky that the earliest I could get in was the first week of May, next year. I had an appointment made to have a check-up with them in the February and another to follow up and meet the surgeon in April. I wrote all the details down, including the various addresses. The girl in the office asked that I send my referral to them by registered mail and then she would post me the paperwork I needed to fill out. It looked like things were starting to come together.

I also rang the salon and made an appointment to have my falsies reglued properly as my skin had returned to normal and it did not feel normal without them attached. The girl said that my semi-permanent was likely to be getting a little faded and could do with a touch up if I wanted to continue with it. We decided to talk about it when I was there on Monday morning.

Friday morning Janet rang and asked me to meet her at the studio. When I got there I found Salman, Janet and Tom in the office. When I had sat down, Salman said that he was happy with us recording an album of our show songs and that he had booked the studio for Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the next four weeks, with longer being all right if we needed it. Janet said that she would text the whole band with the schedule and also that she would pick us up on Saturday afternoon for our show at another reception. “This one” she said “is not traditional so you will need your western songs as well.”

They left me with Tom to finalise details and the first thing he said was “Western songs, I thought you only did traditional?” I explained that we did a range of normal songs for the Anglo parts of the audience and that there were a lot of the younger set among the Indian community that did not follow the old ways. He said “Follow me, I think we may have some guys who would like to speak to you.”

He led me down to the studio where a small jazz group were practising. “Guys” he said as we walked in “I would like you to meet Geet, the girl who did the duets on that master I played for you. She now tells me that she also sings western songs.” I shook hands with the four guys and was told their names but everything went out of my head when the piano player asked “How would you like to sing for us this morning, just to see if you like jazz. We discussed your voice after we heard those duets and decided that you had a good jazz style” I told him that I had already been told that I sang in a fado style sometimes. He showed me a playlist and I pointed out some that I knew and he rummaged around and found the words. In for a penny, I thought and took off my coat. They adjusted a microphone for me and Tom went into the control room.

For the next two hours we played with the standards and I had a ball singing in my fado style and learning, by following the beat, to sing jazz-blues in the old way. When we finished, they all clustered around me and gave me a hug. Tom said that if I wait awhile he would cut me a disc with the best of what we had done on it. I asked “Did we do enough for that?” and he told me that he had enough to put out a jazz-blues album if we wanted to. The guys in the band said that I would be signed already so it was not possible but I told them that my contract with Janet, and by association with Salman, was as Geet. I pulled out my new passport and said “There is no reason you cannot list me as Gayle Fooks.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 17

I chatted with the guys while Tom did his thing. There was Alan on the piano, Joe on drums, Alec on bass and Chico on guitar. When Tom brought us the discs I found out these guys were called the ‘Four Winds’ and the album we had just cut as play was called ‘Four Winds and a Gayle.’ So shoot me, I didn’t get to name it.

He had written the name on the disc and listed us down one side and we all took turns to sign six discs alongside our name as a ’keepsake’. It consisted of some nice songs and my favourite was ‘The Man I love’ which I had put plenty of soul into. It was strange how my voice was evolving. Prior to the shots I had been husky when I sang and a little higher pitched when I spoke; the reason that I was known as one of the silent types when I worked as Gavin. After the shots and now nearly a month on pills, I was getting a slightly less husky voice and more into one that sounded a bit like Eartha Kitt without the accent.

I told Tom that I would see him Tuesday with the band for our first session and left with my disc in my bag. So far I now had duets with an Indian singer on two albums, an album of just the duets, a jazz-blues album and a traditional Indian album to come and yet nothing had become of any of it, yet! I went to a teller machine and drew out enough money to open an account and went to another bank and, with my new passport as ID, opened a new account in the name of Gayle Joanne Fooks. I asked for a credit account and they said that they would send my cards out to my nominated address.

After I had signed with Janet, she had arranged an account with her bank that was used to dealing with artists operating under a stage name and I had an account with them as Geet Fooks which my pay and bonuses went into and my rent was paid out of. My next stop was my old branch where I showed my cancelled passport and my new one and emptied my old account with the balance split into two equal cheques. I then went to my Geet bank and deposited one cheque and then went back to my new bank and deposited the other.

Janet had sent her promised text and not long after I got another from Tavleen saying she would pop in after work. I went home and put my new CD into the player and started listening. When Tavleen knocked I opened the door and let her in. I poured her a glass of wine and we sat for a while as she listened to the CD. “That’s nice”, she said, “just your style. Who’s the singer?” I pulled the now silent CD out of the machine and showed her the writing on it and then had to tell her about my time in the studio today. She wrinkled her nose and then said “So you were Gavin, the other guys called you Gitaz which Guptar changed to Geet and now you are Gayle?” I showed her my two passports and explained that I had been ‘upgraded’ to ‘F Class’ in the new one.

I told her that today had been a bit of fun and that Tom had recorded everything we had sung to pick out the best takes, culminating in the keepsake that I now had. I was sure that we would all get an original copy of the one that we produce after our own sessions in the studio. I then told her of my operation date and asked if she and Balnoor could take me there on the day. I had thought that I would only tell the others that I needed some womb-work and was sure that everyone would jump to the same, wrong, conclusion.

We discussed the likely future events and downed a couple of bottles of cheap wine, ate the snack I prepared and went to bed. I found that I could not be a man for her any more so I took my time to please her, several times, before she called it a night and swayed out to the lift to go home to get her beauty sleep. I went back to bed to think about what had just happened. Actually, it was to think about what had not happened. I realised that I did not wake up with a woody any more but had not thought it strange. Perhaps I was destined to be non-sexual until after my operation; that would be hard to take but the win afterwards would, hopefully, make up for it.

Saturday we did the reception. Balnoor parked at the block, as usual, and Janet took us in the mini-bus. It was almost western in its own way and we relied heavily on the love songs and western songs we knew. Tavleen said nothing about last night and dragged Balnoor to the lift with a gleam in her eyes. I fully expected to see him washed out tomorrow and I was beginning to understand her need for cock but, as yet, was unable to experience it.

In the morning I got a text to expect the rest of the band in ten minutes so made sure I was decent and put the kettle on. When they were all seated Husnia took the lead and said “Geet, we all love you but we think it is time you came clean with us. Both I and Kajari have commented on how like that Gitaz you were in Balnoors’ old band and now, seeing how easily you and he interact, we have decided that you must be that Gitaz. Please tell us the truth, we will not think badly of you as we really do want to make the grade with you singing with us.”

I knew that it would be best to give them the full story and outlined the reasons I went busking that Saturday Guptar found me. Balnoor looked a bit sheepish at this but I told him that none of it was his fault. I told them that it was Guptar that had decided that I present as Geet when I played and that I had rolled with it since then. I laid it all on the line; the shots and loss of libido; the upcoming operation and my official new name. I said that I had not been happy keeping it from them but Tavleen had twigged earlier and, of course, Balnoor had recognised me.

I ended, saying “Guptar, his wife and his mother know about me, as does Grette, but Gaurav thinks that he is in love with Geet, a woman, and it is only tradition that stops him trying to ravish me before our wedding. I will try to make that after my operation so he will never know that I was never a woman, only that I cannot have children, something we can conveniently find out from a friendly doctor some time much further in the future unless he swallows the lie that my operation is a hysterectomy but still loves me enough to marry me.

They all thanked me for being open with them and the three new secret bearers gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Tavleen then looked me in the eyes and said “Tell them about your side-line career. Play them the CD.” I told them about Tom taking me to meet a jazz group in the studio and that we had put some tracks down with me singing the blues and that, so far, it was a pleasant bit of fun. I put the disc on and reheated the kettle while they sat and listened.

When it had finished Balnoor looked at me and just said “Wow!” Husnia said “Wow is right, that disc is awesome; we knew that you had a good voice but singing the blues with a jazz group has really brought it out. Do you think that Salman will get it released?” I told them that it was between the six of us and that Salman had nothing to do with it. I expected that it was the group that had paid for the studio time so the disc was their property. I expected that, as Tom had a big hand in it, he had organised the session on a discount for his friends.

I asked the three how they were getting on with their boyfriends after the seven days in the studio and Husnia said that hers had told her that it was either him or the band and – here she was. We all gave her a group hug. I could see that Balnoor was beginning to enjoy being with us when we had girlie hugs. Jenianna said that her electrical engineer boyfriend was getting very close to proposing but that it would be a non-traditional wedding as he was an Anglo and she really didn’t follow the ways other than playing the music. Kajari said that her own relationship was rocky, not as bad as Husnia but close. She said that if he couldn’t accept her as an independent woman she would drop him as she didn’t want to be a shadow behind him.

We then chatted about Anudeep and I told them that it looked good for an “Anudeep Dhawan and the Dhawanees” album in the New Year and that everything else would depend on that. I did say that the tracks we put down over the next few weeks would likely be the basis of a ‘Dhawanees’ album that would be released concurrently in India so we had better make them as good as we could.

Kajari said that the two evenings a week would put further strains on her relationship but to wait and see how it pans out. I pulled out the list of bookings that we had been sent and we looked at them. There was one that was out of town that was the one that had been won at the auction and we noticed that we were booked to play at a traditional sangeet beforehand, on the Thursday. The distance to the venue was not enough for an overnight stay but both events would be late nights getting home.

Tavleen was the one who saw the problem. She said “Guys, this is a traditional sangeet; there is no way we could have Balnoor in that room with us and it will not sound the same without the violin. I know that I have come to love our sound as a six-piece.”

I smiled and looked at him, noting his long violinist fingers and deep blue eyes. I said “Balnoor, it may be time to test your resolve. That show is some way from here and not likely to have any of our usual audience. How would you like to be a devout Muslim woman in a burqa for a couple of shows. I can tell you that a sangeet is an experience not to be missed.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 18

Balnoor snorted “No way!” He folded his arms and carried on “it would never work, you must be mad. Besides, I am a proud Indian man and proud Indian men would never stoop to that level!”

Tavleen glared at him and said “So you think that being a woman is a lower level, just like all those haughty rapist men in the old country?” “No, I didn’t mean it like that” he was on the back foot from her attack. I said “OK. Proud Indian Man, just take a look around the table and tell me what you see.”

He looked at us and said “I see five Indian girls, no, make that four Indian girls and one Anglo guy who looks like an Indian girl.” “And?” I said. “And what?” he asked. “How can you tell we are Indian girls?” He looked again and said “Well you look like they do.” I then said “What is it about us that screams Indian girl if you had never met us before? He looked at all of us and then said “It is your faces.”

I then said “So, you see five girls in jeans and colourful tops and the only way you say that we are Indian girls is because we look like It?” He nodded and I carried on “What do you not see here, Proud Indian Man?” He was at a loss so I bore in with the kicker “What you don’t see is the traditional dress of a submissive Indian girl in the presence of a proud Indian man.
We sit here in our jeans and none of us have a chunni within grabbing distance. You are now one of us and you didn’t even know it. Now, how about you? Where is your turban? How many kakar do you have with you today? I can see the kesh but it seems to be tied in a very fetching pony-tail this morning. I can see your kara on your wrist but I do not see a kirpan or a kangha and there is certainly no way you could have a pair of kach pants on under those skinny jeans.”

“I am sorry, I didn’t realise how our relationship had gone” he blushed as he spoke. I said “Don’t worry, old friend, the biggest problem for you wearing a burqa is learning to play the violin in it. We can work with your hands by painting your nails on the night and adding some fancy rings. If you had the veil on the only thing people will notice will be your gorgeous eyes, especially if we enhance the lids. The outfit will hide everything else and we may have to give you some boobs so that the drop of the dress hides your proud Indian belly and some control briefs would stop you giving your disguise away when we play the snake dance. That and the right shoes and you could walk through the Muslim quarter of town and the men would only wonder who the new woman is.”

“Snake dance? He queried. Tavleen laughed and told him that a sangeet that is fully traditional is women only as most men would be writhing on the floor and frothing at the mouth with some of the things that go on. “The snake dance is where we play the winds like a snake charmer and all the girls in the place dance like a snake. I thought that Geet handled herself very well when she saw it for the first time but I think that you may have a harder time of it, if you know what I mean. If you go with the flow we will have to practise the special tunes you would have never heard before.”

“To be privileged to see something like that may well make it worth shelving my pride” he admitted “but I must ask that you treat me well and not make a fool of me. I would never live it down.” We promised that his disguise would be ‘in the best possible taste’ and started planning. We had a few weeks and Husnia said that she worked with a couple of Muslim women and she would ask about where we could get the right outfit.

That sorted our next discussion was on what we wanted on our Dhawanee album and we talked about the best traditional tunes we could do. We did agree that the first track we would do would be a raga of about ten minutes which would start slow and easy and finish at a gallop. We wrote a list of those songs and, while we were about it, wrote a list of tunes we needed to teach Balnoor before the sangeet. I told him that he will have to get time off from Gaurav on the Thursday as we will need to leave at midday to do the show.

We relaxed for the rest of the day and then our busy week started on Monday morning. I had a call from Gaurav who asked me to accompany him to an Anglo wedding in two weeks, on a Sunday. He said that his parents were also invited and would pick me up at ten for the eleven ’o’clock wedding. He told me that Birgitta would be in touch about the correct dress as it was one of the civic dignitaries and would be an elegant affair. I made it to my appointment at the salon and was given a quick check-over; the girls having already been told about the society wedding and Birgitta had already booked us for the works on the Friday before. I would look extra nice for the show we had booked on that Saturday.

With my breasts firmly back where they belonged I did some window shopping in up-market dress shops and some actual shopping in my local Hi-Jet Supermarket to reload my depleted larder. In the late afternoon and evening I listened to all of the discs that I now had and wondered at the variety of the songs. Tuesday I did some cleaning and the laundry and then had a walk in the park before getting ready to go to our first session in the studio. Balnoor came over and parked his car and we all waited for Janet with the bus.

We were surprised to see Jack and Sheila with Salman at the studio when we went in and it was explained that Jack was considering helping with a tour promotion if it took off. Tavleen explained that we would do a raga first and that we wanted it to be the first and only take as it would reflect how our shows start. She told Tom that we wanted the album to sound ‘live’ so he should add some echo to the final mix to sound like we were in a hall.

We shooed the visitors out of the sound-proof studio and Tom set up the microphones saying he would just ask us for a sound check first. We played out instruments and did a la-la-la for him and then he told us to hit it. We did our usual opening raga starting with Husnia and then all of us adding our instruments before starting to mix the beat and complicating the tune. Tavleen was set up facing the rest of us and she could see a clock so, at about ten minutes in, she nodded her head and we all finished at the same time on a down beat.

Tom told us that he was happy and to carry on. Tavleen said that the next one was a love song and, when he gave us the ‘hit it’ we played that one. It was a mix of voices with Husnia and me singing it in duet as I did not have to do much on the dholaks. Tom asked us if we could do it again with Balnoor taking a longer solo in the middle so we did so and he said he was happy. We took about three takes to nail a dance number that had elements of an Arabian Night and I could see Sheila grooving in the control room.

We had a break and packed up our kit. Tom was in a conversation with Jack and he came over and pulled me to one side, asking “Gayle, would you mind if I gave a copy of your other session to Jack? I think that he would enjoy it”. I said I didn’t mind and then Janet took us home, telling us that it had gone well this evening and that she would see us Thursday.

Wednesday I had a call from Birgitta to tell me that we had an appointment with a dressmaker on Friday and that she would pick me up mid-morning. That evening we did a session in the hall to play Balnoor the tunes he needed to join in with at a sangeet; I think he was a little shocked at how sensuous they were. Thursday we had our second session with just Janet and Tom in the control room and we added another three tracks to the album. Friday I was taken to a very private dressmaker where I was measured and then spent some time looking at material with Birgitta adding he input. We both decided on our colours which would complement each other and Birgitta told me what the design will be. She was an old hand at society weddings so I just followed my future mother-in-law and her obvious good taste. Friday evening we had another sangeet practice session.

Saturday we did another reception. It was not truly traditional and we did need our western songs. I was starting to think that we would need to learn some more when we got the chance. Monday I caught up with housework, shopped and just relaxed. While I was shopping I dropped into a music store and picked up a love-song play-book with the words and music to about forty songs, a few that we were already doing. Tuesday we had our third session and added another three tracks and Wednesday I was back into the dressmaker with Birgitta for a fitting. I was told that we would have to be there again on Friday for a final model and then we could take our dresses away. Wednesday we had another practise with Balnoor wearing a grey burqa and gloves to get used to playing in them.

Thursday we had our fourth session and added another three tracks. Tom had done some post-production on our earlier takes and when he played them to us it did sound as if it had been recorded live. Friday was busy for me and Birgitta picked me up early to meet the dressmaker. We both looked very elegant in our dresses and when I asked how much mine would cost I was told that it had been taken care of. Birgitta told me that if I was to represent the family I had to do it properly and that she would make sure of it. At the salon we had the works and, hairless bodies tingling and new nail varnish glistening, I had to have my semi-permanent make-up seen to. Birgitta asked if I was happy to keep it and that I could go to a permanent solution if I wanted.

I agreed and when I walked out of there my face looked beautiful and would stay that way. They had done some extra with normal make-up and explained as they did it so that I could make myself stunning for special occasions and carried a bag with all that I needed to do it myself in future. I had better get that operation over and done with as I certainly could not go back now.

Marianne G 2021

Part 19

Friday evening we gathered in Tavleens’ rooms and fitted Balnoor with the right outfit. We had him put on a bra which had seed-filled stockings put into the cups and when he put the burqa on he didn’t look pregnant like he had before.

We just got him to play quietly for a little while so he could get used to the feeling of the weight on his chest and to make sure that his arms learned to be a bit more open. Husnia said that he should have a name that we could call him at the shows and that her friend had suggested Baajrah, which means ‘beautiful eyes’. He started to get used to playing dressed up so we allowed him to change back into an Indian teddy-bear again. He was given the control briefs and ordered to have them on the following Thursday when he came to be collected.

Saturday we all got collected to do our reception. It was another of the more modern ones and I showed the girls the book I had bought and said we should start learning some new songs. It went well and Balnoor joined Tavleen for the night when we were brought home. Janet was certainly earning her money these days but I think that she was enjoying herself.

Sunday morning I took extra care getting up and dressed and spent a bit of time doing my make-up. When I went out I got into the lift with Tavleen and Balnoor already on their way down. Tavleen said “Wow” and Balnoor just goggled. I told them that I was Gauravs’ partner at a society wedding and, when we went outside, Guptar was just driving up. Gaurav jumped out to help me get in and, as we left, I gave the others a smile and a regal wave as we went by them. The wedding was in one of the bigger churches and I was able to follow the service as I had memories of my Anglo upbringing. It took about two hours before the happy couple departed in a coach and four, covered in confetti. We mingled with the rich and famous for a while and then Guptar drove us to a classy restaurant where we had a nice meal with Gaurav being very attentive and on his best behaviour

Birgitta did have to mention that she saw our wedding may be similar as I was not of the faith and that Gaurav had slipped far enough from it himself. We both blushed as we held hands under the table. The reception was to be held in Salmans’ venue, starting at four, and when we walked in there was already a crowd there. The meal was good, well, better than plastic chicken and limp salad and there were the usual speeches. When the band walked on stage I saw that it was the Four Winds and they started off with the bridal waltz and then some more dances. Gaurav got me out on the floor and we held each other close as we danced. I could see a little envy in the eyes of some of the women we danced past and, oddly, in the eyes of some of the men. We must make a good looking couple when we are dressed to the nines.

As we danced past the band Alan nodded at us and I nodded back. “Do you know him?” Gaurav whispered in my ear. I told him I have met the band and would explain later. It came to the point where the happy couple finally left the building to do what they had probably been doing for several months now. If my new appreciation of bodies didn’t deceive me she was about three months gone. And the hussy wore white!

In the hiatus Gaurav was about to ask me about the band when Alan came over to our table. He introduced himself and laid a CD on the table. It was properly produced and there was a name on the front that read ‘The Four Winds meet a Gayle’ with us all listed on the back. He then said “Jack got these done for us so we could sell them at our shows. We did sell a few so far but I think we may be on a bonanza tonight if you would be so good to join us on stage.” I looked at Gaurav and said “My dear, could you spare me for a while as I help these chaps out?” He nodded and said that he would love to hear me sing but he didn’t think these guys went with traditional Indian songs. “Wait a while, my love, and you shall hear what we do.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek and nodded to his amazed parents as I went with Alan back to the stage and greeted the others.

Before we started, Alan stood at the microphone and told the guests that they were in for a treat tonight as the band had made a CD, which would be available after the show, and that they would now hear it played live. I asked that we do ‘The Man I Love’ first and that I would like to make an announcement of my own first. We got ourselves ready and I went to the microphone and said “Some of you may have heard me sing Indian music as Geet with the Dhawanees but tonight I stand before you as Gayle Fooks, the name on my passport. Just for fun I sang along with these guys in the recording studio and the result is the CD that Alan has told you about. I would like to dedicate the first song to Gaurav Hidjeet, my partner here tonight. I would like to say that he is my fiancé but the brute has not asked me formally yet in front of his parents.” There was a laugh at that and I nodded to the band and we went into ‘The Man I love’ in a slow and relaxed way that made it, oh so more sensual.

I looked across the dancefloor to our table and Gaurav was sitting there with a look of total love while Birgitta could hardly stop herself from laughing out loud as her son had been publically put on notice. Guptar just had a big smile on his face. One by one, couples came out on the dance floor and we went through the entire album. There were a couple of requests for repeats which we did and then it was time to wind up. I went around the band and gave them a hug and a kiss on the cheek. When I was close to Alan I said “I have seen Salman, the manager here, watching us and he has a predatory look on his face. If you have a manager, stick with them. If you haven’t I can give you Janets’ number but whatever you do, don’t sign anything with him, he is a chancer.”

I went back to our table and both Guptar and Gaurav stood up as I approached. Guptar came and gave me a hug and told me that he had been absolutely amazed at the songs and my singing. Gaurav gave me a hug and then went down on one knee and said “Geet or Gayle, you are the most wonderful girl on the planet. Will you marry me?” Of course I said yes and he stood up and we kissed. Behind me I heard some applause and a bit of cheering and when our lips parted I looked around and everyone was looking at us. I said “That’s for you, Gaurav; you are a very popular person in this community. “ He said “No, my darling, I am sure it is for a beautiful singer.” Guptar laughed and said “No, it is that there are a lot of families with teenage girls out there who have just been told that their daughters are safe!”

Birgitta and I hugged and she said “I knew he would do it one day, that was a masterstroke and now you are officially family in front of everyone. Now take me to meet your other band.” I led her over to where Alan was in a heated conversation with Salman, who was exhibiting the character that I had suspected he had. Joe, Alec and Chico were busy selling CDs but I managed to get each of them to meet Birgitta who bought five CDs for herself. Alan had finished with Salman and came over to thank me for giving him the warning. “He offered the world” he said “but when I pressed him for details he didn’t have any.” I gave him Janets’ number and he said he would ring her on Monday. Birgitta asked him a few questions about his ideas for the band future and he then pulled out half a dozen CDs and gave them to me. “I know it’s not much but consider this your performance payment. Tonight was really good and I think that we may get a lot of bookings out of it but I am sure they are going to insist that you are out front.”

I told him that we already had most Saturdays playing receptions but may be able to get to Sundays and the odd midweek event but that I now had to clear it with Janet as well. I went back to our table to put my CDs in my bag and then Birgitta and I went to the toilets where we had quite a conversation with other ladies. The two men were waiting when we got out and Guptar said that he was getting worried about us. Birgitta told him that it was just a bit of female networking. Gaurav took my arm and we left the venue. At the car he got me to use the seat belt in the middle of the back seat so that we could cuddle on the way.

At the block he gave me a deep kiss in the lift, another at my door and the third was in the bedroom where he helped me undress and I helped him release some pressure. We didn’t take long and as he rearranged himself I asked about his parents. “Don’t worry about that” he said “my father told me that they would sit and talk until I got back. I love you, my darling, I will get in touch about when we can be together again, seeing that you are so busy these days. If it leads to you being a famous singer, I am happy to bide my time to have yours when I can.” I kissed him and told him that I loved him and told him that in the future we will be together for good.

Marianne G 2021

Here we are at the halfway point; I hope that my readers are enjoying it as much as I did writing it.

Part 20

As I made ready for bed I thought about the evening. Had I been too impetuous? Was I wrong in singing with the Four Winds in public? Was I too brazen in putting Gaurav on the spot? I savoured the taste of his cum in my mouth before I brushed my teeth and decided that what had been done; is done.

With my nightdress and robe on I sat by the window and looked out at the lights and, pulling the CDs from my bag, looked at one and wondered how on earth I now had a CD of my singing being sold to the public. Eventually I went to bed and slept like a baby.

Monday morning I needed to call Janet. When I did get through to her she told me that she was just about to call me to organise a meeting at a café we both knew. I wondered if she was about to tear strips off of me and dressed conservatively with plenty of tissues in my bag in case I started crying, something that I had felt coming on more and more as the hormones took control. When I walked into the café it was like walking into a board meeting. Janet was there and also Birgitta, Aganee, Tom and Adam. I was sat at the last place at the table and Janet turned to me and what she said shook me to the core. Instead of anger, she smiled and said “Thank you for your quick action last night. Alan has told me what happened. I have listened to the CD you made very early this morning. I must say that a few tracks were so atmospheric I nearly cried into my muesli and Birgitta told me that it was much more sensual live.”

Alan said “Last night we sold nearly a hundred CDs to the best people who may want to book us, thank you for singing. We all felt the vibe while you were out in front.” Birgitta then added “I had never heard such a great performance by a local singer. It was if I had been shifted to a bar in the prohibition era. I know that others at my table were overcome by it all as well.” Aganee said that she had listened to the CD when the others gave her one and she had needed a tissue while she heard it. She said that she wished she had been there.

Tom said that the band wanted me to put down more tracks. He knew that our Dhawanee album would be wound up this week and he offered the use of the studio for the same evenings after that for as long as it took. I turned to Janet and asked “But what about me and the Dhawanees, we have a lot of work on the books already. She said “I have already signed Alan on as a client and, before the end of the week; I will represent the Four Winds. All I need is for you to sign a separate contract as Gayle and we can start to make it work.”

I pointed out that there was the likely tour with Anudeep and a possible tour of India and she said that she did not have a very good regard for Salman, having been talking a lot with him over the last few weeks. She told us that she had phoned India this morning and had spoken to Anudeeps’ agent. What she had been told was not exactly the same that Salman had told us. It is correct that they are distant cousins and it is also correct that Anudeep sent the masters. The difference lies in the fact that Salman had told him that he would be releasing the two albums in the UK with nothing said about a new backing. She said that the agent will look for a local band to match us before anything else was done and was amazed that Salman did not even have us under signature.

“Tom has offered us the studio time that you spent making your own CD. Salman has not paid anything and Tom was just given a handshake deal. We will counter that with an actual invoice and prompt payment so Salman is no longer the owner of the Dhawanee album when it is completed. He has not paid for the backing sessions either so may lose the rights to the reworked albums as well. The thing is that the Indian music will only sell big in India and the Four Winds album has a much larger audience so I would like to get another CD out there.”

Aganee and Birgitta told us that they would subsidise any future sessions on the basis that Hi-Jet Supermarkets are on the label as supporters and that they get copies of the CD at a discount to sell in the shops. Janet then explained that she would promote the Four Winds on two levels, one being the original four members and the second, at a premium price, would be with me out front and that she would make sure we did not clash with the Dhawanee shows.

Tom and Alan made their exit and it left us four women to have lunch. Aganee was extremely sorry to have missed the Gaurav proposal live but said that a number of her friends had already sent her video. Janet then asked me about the sangeet on Thursday evening. She said it was not truly traditional as there will be a lot of Anglos present but she wondered how we would get on without Balnoor. I said “don’t you worry; we have managed to get a replacement for the two shows. Balnoor understands the reason and we have had a couple of practise sessions with her. She is a devout Muslim girl called Baajrah and will be in a burqa. She does play quite well and will also play the Saturday reception.”

All three had grins on their faces and Birgitta said that she had been invited to the sangeet and both she and Guptar would be at the reception and that she couldn’t wait to see the girl play. Janet just looked at me and said "It had better not back-fire on us!” I told them that it will all be in ‘the best possible taste’ and we then enjoyed our lunch. Afterwards I went home and rested up after a solid few days.

Tuesday we had the last session in the studio. We needed to finish with about ten minutes of music and had decided that a good raga would do the trick. It was a difficult one as it started at full speed and then tapered off with Husnia playing solo sarod. It was the mirror image of the opening one and we thought that it would be very suitable. Being complicated it took us all evening to get it right and we were exhausted when Tom called out that it was a take. He said that he would post-produce the album and then give us all a copy to approve.

Balnoor told us that Gaurav had been playing the Four Winds CD over the shop speakers almost on repeat and that we had better get a new album for him to play as the staff were starting to sing along as they worked. He had been given Thursday afternoon off as long as he worked a full day Sunday to make up. The Sunday opening was only about six hours so it was not a huge thing. Wednesday evening we did a full sangeet show in the hall, in full dress and with the doors securely locked. We all decided that the violin actually sounded sweeter than usual and wondered if Balnoor was absorbing DNA from the used burqa.

Thursday afternoon we were ready in our stage dress when Janet arrived with the mini-bus. We put our kit in the bins and introduced Baajrah to her and all had smiles as Baajrah gave her a Muslim greeting in a high-pitched voice. We all piled in and Janet drove away, saying “I love it!”

The sangeet was no way similar to the one I played for Grette. For a start it was in the back room of a large pub and half of the guests had already had a very good lunch with plenty of booze. The stage was set when we started playing and someone called out “When are the strippers coming?” and this was accompanied by drunken cackling. Some of the crowd had nice Indian dresses on but most had western dresses with high hems and lots of cleavage. I could hear, from the slight change in the violin playing, that Balnoor was seeing something completely new when we got to play the snake dance. I had never seen a hundred drunk women not only trying to dance like a snake but there were several who had decided that it may well be the Dance of the Seven Veils. I saw more breasts that afternoon than all the ones I had seen or even dreamed about in my previous life.

Birgitta sat with Janet with a look ranging from amazement to utter disgust at the carry on. Believe it or not, as we wound up our last song we heard the strains of stripper music coming from a boom-box carried by one of six large men with gleaming pecs who walked into the room. We made our exit quickly before we were led astray and Birgitta joined us at the bus while we were putting our kit in the bins. To say she was not happy was an understatement. She said “I don’t care whose cousin this girl is, I will not travel two hours to see her hitched. If that’s her friends, I hate to think what her husbands’ side looks like.”

As we got into the bus we could hear the cackles and whoops coming from the room. Balnoor sat there and was shaking so Tavleen sat by him and held his hands until he stopped. Janet was sorry that we had been subject to the experience but Husnia pointed out that we had been paid for this and it was the reception that was the auction win. Actually, the reception was a lot of fun once we knew what to expect. The husbands’ side ranged from upright Anglos to a group of biker types that I think he may well call his ‘brothers’. We did a lot of our western style music first and only played the more traditional stuff after the happy couple had staggered out to their car, taking most of the inebriated revellers with them, leaving just the more normal guests who did appreciate our input for the rest of their evening. The father of the bride even went around with a wine bucket and gave Janet a good amount in tips.

On the way back Balnoor went to the back of the bus and stripped off his disguise, putting on jeans and a tee-shirt that he had brought with him. Janet stopped at a services area and bought us all a snack and drink. “Well done” she told us “that was a booking that I will hope we never see again.” Balnoor just said “I think I may have enjoyed some of it but I had a hard time getting to sleep on Thursday night.” Janet told us that she had charged over the top for the sangeet so we would all get a small bonus and we toasted our fortune with clinks of cups.

Marianne G 2021

Part 21

On Monday I had a call from Gaurav who wanted me to meet him in town at lunch time. We met and he took me for a nice meal and then we went to a jewellry shop where he wanted me to choose an engagement ring. It was about time he had got around to it!

He kept pointing out very expensive diamonds but I settled on a plain platinum band with the snake eating its tail engraved into it. He did look disappointed that I had not gone flashy so I pointed out to him that I had to live in the real world until we were married and did not live like a princess. I think he was mollified when the jeweller told him that the design depicted undying love, rather than ‘look at me’.

He drove me back to my rooms where we cuddled some and I relieved his tensions. I was getting better because of the time we had spent at this, and managed to get most of him in my throat. Of course, like a good girl I kept my clothes on. When he went back to work with a smile on his face I started looking through all of the sheet music that I had collected to see what I had not sung with the Four Winds. I found a couple that could work and hoped that Adam had rustled up some himself.

Tuesday evening I turned up at the studio and found the band chatting with Janet and Tom. Janet had a new contract for me to sign as a part-time singer with the band on a pay as you sing rate. When I asked about the songs they wanted to put on the next album I was surprised when I was told that it was planned to be something totally different but could be in the can inside four sessions. They wanted me to sing fado numbers with Chico being the lead instrument on guitar and the other three just in the background. This could prove interesting!

That evening we got two tracks down and it was certainly different and exciting to explore the genuine material. It did fit my huskier voice but I thought that there would come a time when the hormones would lift me up into the wrong pitch. After the session Janet took me home and came in for a cuppa. She told me that the sangeet had created so much damage after we had left the whole party had been banned from the pub. She said that she was truly amazed at how low some women could go and she told me that Balnoor would be getting an extra bonus for ‘service above and beyond’.

She then broached the subject that I could see had been worrying her. “Damini, the girl that you replaced is ready to re-join the band and I cannot say no. We are going to have to re-organise how we do things. I am not sure if you would be happy just singing but your voice is now an integral part of things. We certainly do not need two dholak players.” I thought about it and then said “You know this can make things easier. If you tear up my old contract and write one similar to the one I signed tonight, but with a base pay rate, I can sing when wanted and you can promote the Dhawanees in the same way as the Four Winds; as a straight six piece or as a seven at a premium.”

She thought about it for a few seconds and said that it would be brilliant as I could concentrate on the singing and could dress to stand out from either band. “The more I think about it, the better it sounds” she said “and you would get a share of any recordings on top.” Now that sounded good to me. She said that I could have a bit of a rest as she would organise Tavleen and the band to practise as the new line-up for a couple of weeks while I concentrated on the fado album.

We did have about four receptions already on the books over the next six weeks so we decided that we would do those as booked but as a seven piece. She told me that the Four Winds had three booked and all could be done as a four piece but she would be contacting the customers to see if they would pay a little extra to get a singer. “Those guys were just cruising along” she said “they all have day jobs so the band thing had not been that important until you came along. Alan has already gone part-time so that he can investigate new songs; I think he said that he has a friend who writes. Jack has already put his hand up to underwrite a tour of either band if we get to that point.”

So that set the tone for the next couple of months. I sat in on Dhawanee practise sessions and did a bit of singing after they had done the usual show songs. Damini was a pretty good singer but her dholak playing was ordinary. I can’t complain, though, I did have the bongo experience that I brought to the instrument. She was very happy that I had stepped in and was amazed at how the band had changed. She fitted right back in and the receptions I did sing at went down a treat, the customers really getting used to the different line-up. I ended up doing two of the Four Winds shows with them and they went very well. I went out front for the second half and we brought the house down.

On the recording side we had been given the Dhawanee CD to listen to and we all loved it. I hoped that listeners would not be upset seeing us live as the dholak sounded different now. Damini actually took her copy and the next time we practised she had started to alter her playing to sound like mine so it will be only slightly different. The fado album was, to me, an absolute winner. I took my copy and played it at home and did my housework singing along with it. Jack organised national distribution of both it and the earlier blues album and Sheila gave them both good reviews in the paper. Gaurav now had three CDs that he could put over his loudspeakers as he added the Dhawanee one as well. I did some singing in the store with Balnoor on violin and Gaurav reported that his sales had jumped those days.

We were now coming up to Christmas and there would be a bit of a break for us and I was looking forward to my first one as Gayle. I had embraced my Anglo self for general living and, with Birgitta helping, had spent some time at the front section of the dress shop. I slowly learned how to move in a dress that showed my legs and was attending regular sessions at the salon to make sure my arms and legs looked good. Gaurav and I had attended quite a few parties and receptions together and it was getting well known that I was the next Mrs Hidjeet. Actually, I was getting very settled with my new life as a singer, girlfriend and a lady who lunched a lot; mainly with Birgitta and Aganee but also with Janet or the odd band member and, increasingly, with Gaurav.

Late December two things happened that would alter my path through life. The first was that the surgeon rang and said that they had a cancellation and offered me my operation in the middle of January. I snapped it up and rang my doctor to tell her the news. I was called in to have a check-up and give blood and a week later I was cleared to have the operation.

The second thing was that Janet got the whole Dhawanee band together and told us that Anudeep would be coming to tour with us as backing and it would be from May through to early July so she had made sure we had no receptions booked during that period. She told us that Salman had been left out of the loop and that Jack was the promotor of the tour. His agent would be with him and, so she had learned, had not been able to find a band that brought the same newness to traditional music that we had.

The kicker was that Jack had organised to gain control of the Anudeep masters and the first one with us backing would be out before Christmas with the second coming out before the tour. It would mean that Balnoor and Damini would need to learn the two albums as soon as they could. The other kicker was that the Four Winds would open the show and that I was told that I would need to sing with them in an Anglo dress and then come on stage during the second half to sing my duets with Anudeep in an Indian dress. It was hoped that they could make me look very different and Birgitta had been brought on board to make the transformation.

I spent my Christmas with the Hidjeet family, staying with them for a week. During that time we had a family discussion and it was decided that I was to be an Easter Bride. This made Gaurav very happy and I think the others were happy too. This would give me time to get my recovery in. I had advised Janet of my new time to be off and she said that it didn’t cause a lot of problems as the January to February period was usually a bit slow. Aganee and Birgitta had organised my time in the clinic and insisted that I come to live at the house when I came out. I had no family to worry about so it sounded like a good deal. Gaurav would be moving to his apartment full time so that he would be out of the house.

With that decided, I spoke to Tavleen and Balnoor about my rooms and Balnoor jumped at the chance to move out of my old ‘box’. So the first week of January saw me move all of my stuff to the Hidjeet mansion and we moved Balnoor in. Janet took care of all the paperwork and I got my bond back. After being alone again for a while I was back in with the family and I thought that I had better get used to it as I would be living with Gaurav after the wedding.

So it came about that Birgitta drove me to the clinic and held my hand as I went under. I was going to make the final step from which there was no turning back. I had become certain that I would make Gaurav happy once we were in his apartment and I had visions of me on stage with Anudeep and singing. I had one of his love songs running through my head as I slipped into a deep sleep.

Marianne G 2021

Part 22

When I woke up I was in another world. It was a world of pains, strange feelings, more pain, indignities and pain killers that did not seem to work. Birgitta was staying with her cousin of a cousin and came to see me every day. I was very glad that no-one else saw me in this state. I was not a happy person for a week or more.

Eventually things got a little better and I was able to start moving around. Then came the further indignity of a plastic bullet placed somewhere that had not existed when I came here. I was not at my brightest for another week but, as the bandages were removed and the swelling started to go down, I became used to the new weight on my chest that had feelings and also the need to wipe when I peed. Birgitta had arranged it so that when I did leave the clinic we went to a wellness spa where we spent the next week being oiled and pampered. I think it did her some good. I knew that it improved my outlook on life.

The day we left there to go home we both looked, and felt, like a million dollars. I could now wear a fitted dress with a bit of genuine cleavage showing and did not need a gaff any more. The dress she had brought for me was almost a mini and I needed to spend a half an hour getting used to the heels. She drove us home and Aganee welcomed us back into the house with a nice cup of tea and a cupcake. She told me that Janet would be coming around soon as she had a bit of news for me and that Gaurav was coming to tea. I wondered what he would think of me now!

When Janet came in she took one look at me and came over to give me a hug. “Whatever they did, it suits you” she said and we all sat around the kitchen table while she gave us the latest news, seeing that I had been out of the loop for almost a month. What had happened was that the reworked Anudeep album had been released in India in December and taken off like a rocket. They now planned to put out the unreleased one at around the same time we would release it here. This had created a swell of interest and his agent had insisted that we all need to be in India for at least a week for interviews and to make a video clip. That shouldn’t be too hard, I thought.

My diary had already been filled in for me. We would go to India in the middle of March so that I could be home for the wedding. The whole band was going and she told me that Damini and Balnoor were now up to speed with both albums and ready to take in new things if needed. She then gave me a piece of paper that listed my income while I had been away and I nearly fainted. On top of my usual base rate I had been getting my share of the record sales. The first Four Winds one was doing very nicely with the fado one starting to bring in some more. The Dhawanee album was returning a good percentage but the Indian one was adding quite a bit to my bank every month. I now didn’t need to marry Gaurav for his money, just for his love.

She then told me that all members of the band were now full-time musicians and had been able to spend most days getting better at their craft. They had also been putting down an album of our more western songs that would only need me to go into the studio to cut an overdub track. Other than that, she had been resisting any requests for us to play locally. “As far as I am concerned you are recording artists now and the only way you will play live will be concerts or for charity. Four Winds are doing more work and I have put together another mixed gender band to do receptions. They are not top notch like you but can provide the music as needed. We do not accept sangeet bookings now; that last one was just the last straw.”

That evening Gaurav fell in love all over again when he saw me. I apologised for not seeing him for some time but I had ‘womens troubles’ that needed to be fixed. He told me that whatever they had done to me, it made me look like a new woman. Little did he know how new this woman was! We did spend a bit of time away from the family to catch up on our kissing technique and discussed our wedding plans. I asked that we not go away as I would consider my first week in his apartment would be like a holiday. He said that he had wanted to take me away somewhere exotic and I told him that I would be in India with the band a couple of weeks before our marriage. He said “I know, Balnoor was full of it before he left. I was devastated because he was getting to be a good department manager. He had lots of ideas and one of them was that we should do a local radio advert. I am seeing their people tomorrow.”

When he left to go home I felt as if some part of me had gone with him but I knew that one day I would reunite with it so felt a bit better. Over the next three weeks I divided my time between the two bands but all of it was in the studio. I did the overdub tracks for the next Dhawanee album and worked with the Four Winds on a new one that was mainly some more blues and love songs, many I had to learn as they were new material from Alans’ friend.

Tom was turning people away as we were using the studio so much but he didn’t mind as he had never had an international hit recorded there before with another expected later in the year. One session that wasn’t with either band was to record a thirty second commercial for Gaurav with me singing the jingle and Balnoor playing the violin. I didn’t think that ‘Enhance your house with Hi-Jet’ was the best line I had ever heard but he did pay up front and, when I heard it on the radio with Gaurav himself doing the speaking part, it sounded pretty good.

When it came to the time to fly to Mumbai there was a pretty big crowd of us in business class. There was me, Husnia, Damini, Jenianna, Kajari, Tavleen and Balnoor. Then we had Janet to look after our business; Guptar and Birgitta had decided to come along to see some relations and to look into import possibilities and Aganee came along just for the experience. As we were waiting to board she told me that she had not been home for forty years and expected it to be different but was looking forward to seeing what Bollywood was all about.

When we arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Mumbai we could see that something was happening at one of the terminals as there was flashing police car lights and a lot of people. When we got to customs they told us to wait in a side room after we had cleared and then Anudeep and his agent came in, along with a bunch of women with beauty cases. Anudeep gave us all greetings and his agent asked that the band members take seats as his girls needed us to look as if we were ready to step onto the catwalk that was Bollywood.

We all got a make-over on the spot. Even Balnoor was made to look more regal. The others were kept back when Anudeep walked in front of us into the concourse. I had seen news pictures of pop stars being mobbed but this was something else again. There must have been thousands there waiting for us to come out and it was pure bedlam. Anudeep took my arm and led me into the throng and we were touched and stroked by those closest and the noise was tremendous. I hoped that his agent and the others were looking after our bags as it would have been impossible to withstand the onslaught carrying a suitcase. Eventually we made it outside where a large coach waited for us and we all breathed a sigh of relief when we got in to rub the parts of us where we had been pinched. Even Balnoor had seen his share of admirers by the way he rubbed his butt. The rest of our party, along with the agent and the beauticians made it to the coach and I heard the luggage going in the bins.

We still had to stand and wave to the crowds and the police cleared a path for us and the driver took us through the crowd of fans. Once we were clear of the airport Lajpal, the manager, stood up and welcomed us to Mumbai. He told us that what we have seen today was what he and Anudeep had been experiencing since the latest album hit the shops and the airwaves. He told us that although Anudeep was revered with his music in the past, this album had lit a fire under the traditionalists as well as a lot of the younger set who had become bored with rap and American music.

He surprised us all by telling us that after Janet had sent him a copy of our first Dhawanee CD, he had requested the master and that our humble little effort was already in the top twenty and moving quickly. We were to expect what we had been welcomed with, or more, as we stayed here. That being the case, instead of his original plan for us to stay in a good hotel in the city, we were now going to be at one that was inside the Bollywood studios that had been built to house the film stars. The interview would now be filmed on one of the sound stages and he said he was sorry that we would not see a lot of the city during this stay but may get to see more when we come back for our tour.

Janet said that the tour was being talked about only but Lajpal told us all that the tour was already in the planning stages and that it would be the whole lot of us that would be touring at home and would start two weeks after we finished there. It would run for at least three months to make sure we covered as much of the country as we could. That looked like it would make the rest of the year now pencilled in, not only for us but for the Four Winds as well.

He apologised but said that the need to strike was while the iron was hot and that were the hottest items in India at this point of time. There was another big crowd at the gates of the Bollywood studio so we had to stand and wave as we went slowly past while a decent police force kept them at bay. I had to smile when I heard guys screaming “I love you, Geet” as we went by but actually laughed out loud at one sign. I pointed it out to Balnoor and he had to sit down because it was hoisted by a bunch of very good looking girls and it said “Marry us, Balnoor”.

Marianne G 2021

Part 23

The noise was less as we moved into the site and when we arrived at the hotel building it was just a memory. We were escorted into the building where hotel staff was eagerly waiting to serve us.

We all had separate rooms except for Guptar and Birgitta and I saw Guptar in conversation with Lajpal. We were allowed some time to freshen up before we were to have dinner and meet the rest of the crew that were to make the video with us, as well as the interviewer and her crew. When I came down to the dining room in a fresh dress it looked as if every Indian and his mate were in the big dining room. Anudeep was waiting for me and, as he took my arm to lead me to my seat I asked “Who are all these people?” He laughed and said “Geet, you are inside Bollywood. Nothing here is done by half. When we make the video we will have fifty dancers on set and there are about another fifty behind the camera and that is without talking about the dressers and beauticians.”

We were sat at a big table with the band and our, now two, agents. I must say the food was excellent and some of it was very western. Anudeep had his wife on one side and me on the other and we chatted as we ate. He told me that he loved the adoration which was similar to his earlier days when he was younger and more virile. His wife told him he had always been an older man as far as she was concerned but she would not disparage his virility. We found out that tomorrow we had two goals; the first was getting the interview over and done with and the second was to get our audio for the video on record. We would go into a studio to record the song and then, over the next few days, we would shoot the video part of it lip-syncing.

After the meal the band was taken into a side room where we were photographed and measured for our video costumes. I wondered what they had in mind for that. It had been a long day and we all said we needed our sleep so we left the other hundred or so people enjoying themselves. I found it hard to get to sleep and just lay there for a while wondering just what we had walked into. This morning I was a moderately well-known singer with a good band and tonight I find we are all superstars. That was one hell of a quantum shift.

At breakfast Guptar told us that he had arranged with Lajpal for himself and Birgitta to be taken to another hotel in the city by car so that he could catch up with family and do his planned business. He was not prepared to be shut away for the whole time. Aganee had decided to stay as she thought it was all fun and she was getting a whole lot out of it. Janet was on a very steep learning curve and Tavleen and I took her aside and told her to go with the flow and, whatever she decided, we would agree to. After breakfast we were all taken to another coach and driven about a half a mile to a building marked as ‘Intimate Studio Two’

Inside we met up with our dressers and beauticians who completely altered our appearances to reflect our superstar status. Then it was being sat in a group of settees on a set with the interviewer sat on an armchair. With at least twelve cameras set up, one for each face and two showing general views from different directions, it looked as if we were hemmed in but I could see that each camera had a blank screen behind us. The interviewer explained that she would ask each question in Hindi and English and to answer in English when she had finished the question. Not only did it make us all look polite but allowed her to put out two different versions with the second one having our answers subtitled in Hindi.

She started by asking each of us to talk about ourselves and what we played. I, of course, had to fudge a little but, on the whole, it seemed OK. She asked Anudeep how the hit album came to be made and the process of misunderstanding and luck brought it about without mentioning Salmans’ part in it. She then wanted to know about the duets I had sung and, when she wanted to know more about our music, I referred her to Tavleen. All in all it took about four hours and she thanked us all and, surprisingly, asked us all for autographs and a group picture with her and her chief cameraman. Oh fame!

We went back to the hotel for lunch, which was a bit quieter as we were told that the dancers were in the main studio with the choreographers and had lunch delivered. After freshening up we all went to ‘Audio Suite Three’ and were ushered into a big studio. We were all still in our morning costumes as we would be photographed during the takes The song picked was one of the duets off the second album and Anudeep said that it would hit the screens a few weeks before the album. That said we got the kit that was supplied, tuned it and made any changes we wanted to suit our playing and then tried it out with Anudeep and I facing the others.

The first few takes were not bad but lacked feeling. Anudeep was singing as if he was standing on a balcony addressing a crowd. I suggested that he tone it down and moved my microphone so I stood close to him. I told him to sing to me as if I was his wife or his mistress if he had one or more. That made him smile and the next take was much more intimate. It was supposed to be a love song, after all. The Dhawanees had it nailed by this time and we did a final take which I knew would be the one. Lajpal came over the speakers and asked us if we could lay down a new Dhawanee track while we were here. The guy must be burning his hand on that iron!

We had a quick discussion and decided on a semi-traditional love song that we had recorded just a week or so before so we got ready and nailed it on the second take. That was our work for the day done and we were allowed to go back to the hotel where the dressers helped us revert to the more normal people we were in the morning. The crowd was back for dinner and I gathered that they were all buzzing with what they had got through today. The rest of us would find out what it would look like tomorrow. I sat next to Aganee and asked her what she thought of it all and she told me it was all like the days in the music room but on another planet.

The next day we were woken very early with breakfast in bed. After our ablutions we were visited by the dressers and make-up artists. When I left my room I was an Indian Princess with well over-the-top make-up. They had taken pictures of me so that the following days we had continuity. The other girls were as well dressed as me and Balnoor was magnificent in a Rajah outfit complete with cummerbund and plumed turban. Anudeep was in a similar outfit in a much more regal colour and looked every inch the Bollywood star.

We were taken to ‘Sound Stage One’ and walked in to see a set that looked like something out of a magic carpet and sandals show. The amount of flowing gauze drapes would have supplied curtains to half our block back home and the instruments were already on a stage with two thrones. The director took us all aside and explained the story-line. He would have a panning shot of waving curtains as the lead-in music played and the first facial shot would be a close-up of Anudeep with his first lines. Then there will be a panning shot of the rest of the band playing to his right. The next facial will be me in close-up and the camera would then pan to show the band playing to my left. Our first lines would be with the two of us on our thrones.

Did that seem complicated? Well that was nothing compared to the rest of the song. If I say that fifty dancers didn’t seem like enough you can get the idea. We slowly worked through the song, filming it in twenty or thirty second bits. It was hard at first to keep the cadence when we picked it up again but we were allowed to actually play along to the sound coming through the speakers and sing as loudly as we liked because none of this was recorded for sound.

We had a lot of starts and stops and breaks for a drink as it was damned hot under the lights but we all worked hard to make it happen. I hoped that the director had not missed any bits because I didn’t know what we had done from one scene to the next. The dancers had the harder job as they had to pick up from the exact position that they had stopped at. I think they may have done this sort of thing before as they were totally professional the whole day.

We were asked if we wanted to stop for the day at about three but we all said that we wanted to finish and the director looked amazed. Anudeep was getting tired but that had the effect of making him look sexier as we sung. At six the director announced that we had it in the can and thanked us all for keeping with it. Anudeep said quietly that he had never seen a song as long as this one in the can in a day; he had thought it would take three. We went back to the hotel and the dressers freed us of our constraints so we could go and have a shower. Back in the bedroom I was dressed in a gorgeous long ball gown and my hair was put up. They put what looked like diamond ear-rings on me and gold rings on my fingers and finished with a magnificent necklace that glittered in the lights.

With a bit of extra make-up to match the jewellery I was allowed to join the others in the dining room. Actually, Anudeep, in his totally magnificent tails, met me and we entered the dining room with my arm on his. As we walked in there was applause from the assembled crews and dancers as well as our own party. I was almost slack-jawed but managed to keep smiling. “Did we just win the Nobel Prize or something?” I asked him and he quietly said “No, my dear Geet. We have achieved something far more lucrative. We have completed a video clip that will bring untold joy to millions - and millions to a select and joyous few.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 24

As we approached our table I quickly asked him if he got an up-front fee for his appearance and he said that he did; about a million rupees. I did a quick calculation and realised that he had made a hundred thousand pounds today.

We were seated and made idle chatter as we ate. I had Aganee on one side and I asked her what she thought of the day and she mirrored my thoughts by saying that she hoped that the director knew what he was doing. Anudeep heard this and told us that he had worked with the director before on Bollywood song scenes and that, although it seemed like total mayhem, the results spoke for themselves. “I am very interested in how today works out” he said “I had not seen him get so animated towards the end of the day but we usually wind it up in the mid-afternoon so we can start fresh the next day.”

When we had all finished eating, Lajpal stood up and congratulated everyone on a good couple of days. He said that the video team had been post-producing as we were filming and, while we had been eating, had told him that they had finished the clip. He directed us to look at a big screen to one side of the room and it flickered into life with the usual count-down numbers and then the music began and the scene was gauze drapes flowing in the breeze. I just couldn’t believe what we had achieved as the clip moved on. There were close-up shots as we sang, panning shots and, when the dancers were in full flight, even an overhead showing the patterns they made. That one must have been filmed the day before as it was not interrupted. Anudeep and I looked, and sounded, like we were lovers.

When it finished the whole room broke out in spontaneous applause and cheering. I could see that this was truly a money shot. I hugged Anudeep and he hugged everyone around him. In the general movement of people hugging I moved to Janet and she hugged me and said “Well done.” I looked her in the eyes and said “Janet, when Lajpal comes up to you this evening to ask if we would do a Dhawanee video of the song we recorded yesterday, tell him we will for two million rupees and not a rupee less. Then sweeten it and say that the band will record and shoot another one the day after for the same amount. Don’t even think about backing down!” She nodded and I then said “Then tell him we will record the video in one take but will take as many extras as the producer wants so that he can get his effects but we must do the songs complete each time.”

After that there was dancing and when I say dancing it was truly amazing. There were the fifty dancers in the room and they all loved their skills and I was almost carried around the floor by a succession of handsome males, as were all of the other girls. The girls that danced with Balnoor looked like they had won a lottery. All the time the photographers were taking pictures of us lapping up the lavish lifestyle. I suppose that their showbiz papers were the same as back home, nothing but glam and glitter with very little real stories unless it was to bring some star back to earth with a thud.

Towards the end of the evening Janet got our band together and told us that we had been asked to do another audio recording tomorrow along with a shoot in the afternoon and another the following day. We would wear the clothes supplied for the recording previously and the afternoon shoot would be with us still in that dress. The following day would be something different and the director would have a hand in that as he had a few ideas. She said that she had insisted that we do each take with the whole song and the director had agreed as long as we could do extras so he could get his angles. The dancers would be practising for the day after so the last day would be a bit more extravagant.

This meant that whatever we choose as tomorrows recording will need to be out of the box. Tavleen had a look on her face and I knew she felt the same. I asked her what she thought and she said “Let’s make it epic, what say we insist on a ten minute raga, the one we usually start our show with?” We chatted while Janet went out into the dining area and collared the director and Lajpal. When they came in she told the two of them that we wanted the second song, and the full day shoot, to be a ten minute raga that was the opening number on our CD. That way the dancers can put something together tomorrow and the director could work out his shots. They agreed immediately and there was smiles all round.

The next morning we were rousted by the maids with our breakfasts, followed by the dressers and make-up artists who recreated our look from two days prior. We were taken to the recording studio and I got them to supply another pair of dholaks for me. Damini and I had a bit of a chat at how we would work it and then we got ourselves in place and ran through the raga. It took four takes before everyone was happy and I hugged Damini because our complex rhythm worked well. After that we went to the ‘Intimate Studio’ where we had done the interview.

It had been transformed into a nightclub setting and the director was there with yet another set of fifty dancers. As the original song was a love song we were settled on stage in our usual positions I realised that these dancers had been dancing to the tune for most of the morning because, as we played along to the audio feed, they had it nailed. I was out in front, emoting as a good singer should and there seemed to be a forest of boom-mounted cameras waving around in front of me. We did the song six times, missing lunch, and the director finally clapped his hands and told us we had done well and he was happy. Anudeep had been watching on and told me that I seemed to have altered the directors system as he would have normally had a two hour lunch and worked through the afternoon.

Back in the hotel we were transformed back into normal people and had a late lunch. After this we were offered a helicopter tour of the city and we did so in two helicopters. Of course, when we landed in various places we were alone for only minutes before a crowd gathered. I suppose a bright yellow helicopter with ‘Bollywood Air’ painted on it in bright red flames did have that effect. We did get to see some of the sights and it was a welcome break. Flying over the choked streets I was glad I wasn’t down there.

Back in the hotel I was once more besieged by my dressers and make-up girls. Tonight I had a different long dress that went well with the emerald ear-rings and choker. After dinner that night we watched the new video. It didn’t have the glitz of the other one but it was a well-crafted piece of work and showed the band for the fine instrumentalists they were. I reckoned I looked good out front as well. We were actually a bigger crowd that night with the extra dancers and I wondered what the director had in mind for tomorrow. Before the dancing started I asked Anudeep and he said “Geet, this director is, at heart, a true Indian traditionalist, in spite of his modern skills. I think that we will see something amazing in the morning that is all India and all Bollywood. You picking a ten minute raga allowed him to throw caution to the wind and I half-expect that there would be a couple of trucks with elephants arriving in the morning, if not a whole cage of tigers.”

I found out next morning that he wrong about the tigers. We were rousted at an ungodly hour with breakfast and my maid told me just to shower and dress casual as I would be fitted at the studio where they already had a range of outfits that would suit me. We were all taken to ‘Sound Stage One’ and I was the only one in the band not in a matching Indian dress. I asked Janet and she told me that she had been told that we will know what will happen when we get there. When we walked into the sound stage it was set up like a palace forecourt with a balcony and the fake front doors of the palace. The floor in front was covered in coloured tiles and it all looked grand. Off to one side there was a wall with a big gate in it. The director said that the scene was one in front of the Rajahs’ palace and the raga would be to welcome the Rajah and his new Ranee to the palace. They would enter about halfway through the raga and would join the dancing.

Anudeep was standing beside me and whispered “Welcome to your new career, Geet. I will love acting with you. This scene is one of those previously written for my last movie before I retire. My wife has been on at me for ages and wants to travel the world as normal people – well, normal rich people. The Rajah, me, has met and wooed a nubile maiden in the film and this scene is the entrance of the newly married couple to his palace. The director has truly grasped the mettle and I think that Lajpal has not fully realised what this scene will put into action. If it works well you will have to be asked to sign on as the new Ranee for the movie. I hope you can act as well as you sing or else I will have to do this all over again with one of my usual co-stars.”

The two of us were taken to a smaller soundstage where about twenty dancers were waiting for us. The story line was that Anudeep and I would enter the main set on an elephant and dismount. We would then dance with the other dancers and finally come together and kiss; that being the moment the raga stops. I could see how it would work from then as there would be dialogue as the couple go into the palace and then into another set scene. I would only have to dance with the other dancers for about three minutes and they then set me to learning the steps.

During that time I learned a lot about myself and what my new body was expected to do.

Marianne G 2021

Part 25

While all this was happening I suppose that the band and the other dancers were working through the general shots and close-ups. I expected that Damini would be dancing around at the dholaks to make it look like she was producing the sound we had created. For nearly an hour Anudeep and I worked with the dancers before the choreographer was happy.

Then we went for a shower and then got into our costume. If an Indian Princess is over the top, a Rajah and Ranee are several levels over that. I had enough silk and satin to dress three girls, as well as oversized jewellery and my hair was piled high on my head. I started out the scene in a silk chunni but was supposed to lower it to my shoulders during the dancing to denote my acceptance of my groom.

We then spent a half an hour with me learning to get off an elephant. Getting on was easy as I was lifted to it on a pallet and a forklift. Anudeep didn’t need any practise as he had done this hundreds of times. Finally we were led to the side door of the main sound stage and the director called for a new take. The music started and, after a minute or so, we made our entrance with our dancers swirling around us. I could see the look of absolute shock on the band members faces as we came onto the set. The elephants were stopped on their mark and the two of us dismounted and joined the dancers. We cavorted in separate groups and then came together just seconds before the end of the raga. He kissed me for real and I had my arms around his neck when the music stopped. We held it for a couple of seconds and broke apart with him saying “I think you got it.”

The director called for a lunch break and the elephants were led away, leaving it to the cleaners to rectify what they had left behind. Tavleen came up and gave me a hug, saying “I kept asking where you were and was told just to wait until you arrived. That was one hell of an entrance.” Anudeep and I were led away again and relieved of our heavy costume and given robes so we could enjoy our lunch. I saw Aganee sitting quietly and went over and pulled up another chair, saying “Well, Grandmother mine, what do you think of it now?” She laughed and told me that today had outshone all of the days before and that our entrance was an absolute hoot. “If only the folks back home could see you now.”

Anudeep came over to us and pulled up two chairs, sitting on one. The director joined us as well and said “Geet, that scene you just did would normally take three days and the lead actress would have tripped over at least fifteen times trying to dance. I have to tell you that I just looked at the entire take and cannot fault it. Anudeep has told you what we are plotting and I can tell you that if it comes out, all we would need to do is get you back for close-ups and it would be a wrap. Tonight we will look at the three videos and I will ask if anyone has any criticisms. I think there will be silence after that question. If that is the case we can let you go home as soon as we can get you on a flight. No! Make that the rest of the band can go home. I will ask Lajpal a favour to see if we can keep you back to record an overdub to your Dhawanee love song in Hindi, I have a friend transcribing it at the moment. Would you do that for me, please?" I smiled and said “nishchit roop sey.” (Certainly)

Anudeep slapped his knee and cracked up while the director looked amazed. Aganee laughed and said “I suppose living in a block with three hundred Indians some of the culture would rub off.” The director asked how much Hindi I had and I had to admit that it wasn’t much but I had absorbed the lilt and cadence of speaking the language to try and understand it when in a crowd speaking it. I told him it helped when I was busking as some Indians would tell me to shut up and fudge off in Hindi, expecting me to just smile. I told him that I learned a few choice words I could use in reply. Aganee said that she still could speak it and would help me if we had the lyrics transcribed. I knew that the song would have to be sung a little differently in order to say the same thing in the same time.

The director got the three of us to follow him to the post-production room where we sat in front of the screen and he showed us what they had put together. I could see his reasoning as the raga progressed with general views and close-ups of the band and then there was a fast pan to our entrance and we came in on cue and joined the dancing. At that point he said “I would normally add close-ups of the two of you looking at each other while you danced. That would be what will be needed if we progress to full production.” The scene reached its climax as we came together and the camera zoomed into our heads as the music stopped as we kissed. There was a few seconds silence and then the screen went black while we still had our lips locked. “That ending was a classic bit of Bollywood, Anudeep, well done.” Anudeep said “I couldn’t have pulled it off alone, you know.”

Aganee looked at Anudeep and asked “What about the rest of the band? If Geet comes back they need to be written in as sub-plots to make it believable.” Anudeep nodded and replied that it was something the original screenplay lacked and he would get to the screen-writers to see what they could come up with. “It will not go into production until after our tour in the UK and what will be my farewell tour here.”

Anudeep and I went to get back into our morning clothes and joined the others on the bus back to the hotel. I saw Lajpal with a look of shock on his face when we walked in, being far too early to have done the scene. I went to the lounge with Aganee and we got a drink while the rest of the band changed into their casual clothes. Janet joined us and sat sipping her drink for a while and then said “These few days have been like something in a dream. I keep expecting to wake up in my own bed but every time I do wake up it is to something crazier that the day before. I nearly shat my pantees when you guys came in on the elephants. It was like something out of a movie and then I realised it really was something out of a movie.”

I told her that it got crazier still from here on in. I related the scenario that Anudeep had laid out with me coming back to be the Ranee in the full movie. Then I told her that they wanted me to do an overdub in Hindi and that Aganee would stay behind with me when the rest of the band went home. “As long as I can get home for my wedding, it shouldn’t take more than a few days.” When I looked up I saw Guptar and Birgitta come into the lounge. They saw us and came over to join us. Birgitta said “Did we miss anything important?” and the rest of us nearly fell off our chairs laughing.

It took a half an hour and another drink to bring her up to speed. They sat there with dazed expressions as we got to the crux of the matter, that I may have to come back to make a movie. I said that it probably would not happen as I was sure to flunk a true screen test. That made Aganee snort into her gin and tonic and she said “That’ll be the day!” Lajpal came over and told us that tonight would be a smaller group than the previous dinners as the dancers have all been allowed to go home. However, he added that there would be a few extra dignitaries from the studio and the record company who would be shown the videos tonight to gauge their thoughts. They did, it seemed, hold the purse strings.

As it was getting closer to dinner time we needed to go and get changed. Tonight my dressers presented me a little black dress that was adorned with a zig-zag pattern in what looked like small pearls on the bodice. With the right hose and heels and my hair up I had a three strand pearl necklace and pearl drop added to my ears. I looked a bit like a movie star from the older days, looking into Tiffanys’ window. I was kept back to wait for Anudeep again, who was spiffing in his dinner suit. We entered the dining room to more applause and I wanted to tell them to stop. I think Anudeep felt my wants and said “Just lap it up, my lady; it can, and sometimes does, stop in an instant and all you have then are memories.”

So tonight I allowed them to treat me like a star and made sure the rest of the band were part of it. We had our meal and then Lajpal stood up and introduced one of the new guys as the head of the studio. This chap said that he hoped to see something tonight that would allow him to release funds into the new projects that had been proposed. He got a round of applause when he sat down and then the director stood up and said that tonight we would see the result of just four days very hard work from the stars and all of the supporting dancers. He said that the first video would be the one filmed the morning before and was a track off the Dhawanee album. He sat down and the video played. I watched Guptar and Birgitta as it played. As the applause followed it she looked at me with her jaw agape. I put my finger under my own and pushed up until she got her face back into the normal position.

The director then asked what the dignitaries thought and no-one had anything negative to say. The second video, he told them, was a track off the next Anudeep album and was a duet between him and Geet that would be part of the advertising for the album as well as for the upcoming tour. He said it was recorded on our first full day here. When the second video finished I looked at Birgitta again and she had a huge grin on her face this time. The dignitaries were again in favour of it being used and a couple commented on how good it looked and sounded, saying that it would go down well on the movie screen.

With movies in mind, it was time for the last video.

Marianne G 2021

Part 26

The director stood up again and started by saying “I do have to apologise to you gentlemen. I know that you have been holding off on the film that Anudeep has said would be his last.”

“I think that you may change your minds when you see the last video. The band told me that they would record a ten minute raga and my first thought was of a proposed scene from that film, probably the only one to look as if it would work. That in mind, what you are about to see is the result, in two days only, of that scene, including all of the audio and video shooting. Prepare to be amazed.”

The film filled the screen and they had cranked the sound up to movie strength. There were smiles as the music started and I saw several dignitaries tapping the table. There were gasps when we came in on the elephants and the dancing after that was almost mesmerising. The final five seconds of us coming together and kissing as the music came to a sudden stop before the screen went black made even me have shivers down my spine. In the silence that followed you could hear a pin drop and everyone looked at the head of the studio. He asked the director how many takes did that need and the director said that the half up to the elephants was the result of about six but the scene from the entrance of the elephants was a single, and the only, take needed. “Amazing” said the boss “I am impressed and heartily approve the project if it continues to be as good as this. What do you say, gentlemen?” as he looked at the others with him. They all said yes and the room erupted in applause and cheering.

As everyone started mingling I saw Guptar and Birgitta bearing down on me. Birgitta gave me a hug and said that it was totally amazing and how dare I kiss another man. I laughed and told her that Anudeep was the total professional and we stopped just after the fade. She then said that we looked and sounded like lovers on the clip and Anudeep told her that this is what creates interest, purchases and income. He went on to explain the back story to the film segment with the two of us as newly married Rajah and Ranee. He said that the first hour of the film would be Bollywood farce with failed love scenes, lots of innuendo, even more dancing and quite a bit of singing. And the scene before the one we had just seen would be the wedding, which he estimated would take a week or more to film. What he didn’t tell them was that the last half an hour would be smooching and love songs in true Bollywood style.

He did tell them that the cheering was because the head of the studio had approved the project and that would release about five hundred million rupees into it which would be used to pay for everything, even the expenses this week; something Lajpal would appreciate. Guptar asked what happens next and he told them that I was needed to do an extra overdub over the next couple of days and then would be flown home. Aganee let them know that she would be staying with me as a language mentor. Anudeep then said that he and his wife would have to go to the UK to start putting the show together with the band so Guptar invited them to stay at the mansion and also attend the wedding, which Anudeep accepted.

Birgitta and I needed to freshen up and, after we had touched up our lipstick she asked “Just how much did they pay you for these two videos.” I told her that we had got four million rupees; or about four hundred thousand pounds for the band. I said that I had not been told what we were paid for the duet video but it could be around the million rupees. Her face went white as she took it in so I helped her back outside and got her a drink while she sat and contemplated the scope of what we had got into. “You will still marry Gaurav?” she asked and I said “Of course I will marry him, I love him and this changes nothing about our future together. It may just mean that he will need some time off to be here in India while I am filming; that is, as long as I pass the screen test.” I thought a moment and then added “As long as he is happy with it. He is a modern man and I think the glamour and glitz of this place would appeal to him.”

As the evening was winding down, an aide came up to me and asked quietly “The head of the studio politely asks if you would join him in his stateroom later on. I can assure you that he is a very powerful man.” I turned to him and said “Please tell him that I do not care how powerful he is. When I leave here I am going home to be married to the one I love and he will be the one to take my virginity. If that does not please the powerful man I can pack my bags tomorrow and leave with the others and never come back.”

I saw the blood run from his face and then he smiled at me before he went back to the ‘powerful man’ and reported his failure to procure me. I walked back to the band to warn them of predators and Anudeeps wife overheard what I said. She went to Anudeep and he went to Lajpal who was standing with the director. As a group I saw them go to the head of the studio and a very serious conversation followed with the upshot being that the head of the studio left the room and, as I was told, left the hotel in his helicopter. Anudeep came to me and apologised, saying “The man has done this before. He broke a good actress who was a star in the making because of his needs. I am glad you rebuffed him. Don’t worry, there will be no come-backs from this as the public sentiment is moving against such behaviour and he cannot chance being pilloried in the press. He will keep it quiet as long as we do.”

I thanked him for being so brave and gave him a kiss on the cheek, after which his wife said that she thought he was brave as well and pulled him away to take him up to their room to see just how brave he was. The following morning I did not get breakfast in bed but the maid said that I should shower and dress and go down to the dining room. It turned out to be a working breakfast where we thrashed out the timing and the logistics of the following few months in the UK. Janet said that Jack had found a hotel in one of the seaside towns that had a big ballroom and she had sent him a text to book the whole place so we could be there alone to practice the show. She did have a preliminary list of venues for the tour as well as a list of hotels we would use and most already had bookings made.

When the Hidjeet couple, Janet and the rest of the band were ready there was a trio of helicopters ready to take them straight to the airport. No more coaches at this end. Tavleen took me aside and wished me luck and then told me that all of the beautiful dresses she had been wearing for dinner, as well as the jewellery and shoes, had been packed into a new suitcase for her to take home. She said that the other girls had new suitcases as well. Balnoor had one with his very handsome suits. She said that she had asked and was told that if you wear it with pride, you own it. We both agreed that if nothing else, we had something to wear at my reception.

I went outside with Aganee to wave them off. Anudeep and his wife had their own helicopter and would join us later in the UK. We all had a hug and I thanked them for the opportunity they had presented and Anudeep told me that it was the two masters we had recorded that created the opportunity. “When you hear talent, you need to see how deep it runs. Remember that the deeper the river, the calmer the surface, and you, my dear, present as a completely flat and beautiful river.” As he left I pondered his words and when they had taken off I looked at Aganee and she said “Don’t look at me, I didn’t understand it either.”

It was very much quieter after that and a bit of an anti-climax. However, we needed to do the overdub and the studio manager told me that they would set up a screen test this afternoon. Aganee took my arm and we went for a good walk around the site, sometimes being stopped for a chat and sometimes being invited into a sound stage to see what was going on. It was a good release as well as good exercise and we were well received wherever we went. A few women came over and shook my hand or gave me a hug, telling me how happy everyone was that I put the brute in his place. So much for it being kept quiet, I reckon that the rumour mills here would be grinding and his rebuff may hit the next edition of the tripe magazines where only a few would believe it.

We went and had a lunch and I was taken off to do my screen test while Aganee started poring over the Hindi translation for me. The screen test proved to be as stressful as I expected. No more helpful admirers, just hard-boiled film people who got me speaking from lines, singing to a backing track, moving, walking, sitting and even lounging on a bed; all scenes likely to pop up in a Bollywood movie. The last test was when they gave me a scenario that I was a woman who had just been jilted by her husband who had told her that he was going off with a younger and more sexually adventurous girl. I was told to think about it for one minute and they would put a timer on me then and, if I could pass two minutes of realistic ad-lib, I would be considered good actress material.

I had a think and thought about the head of the studio and, when my time started, I gave a performance that would win an Oscar. In fact, at five minutes in they had to stop me and I had only just got going. Fishwives, eat your heart out.

Marianne G 2021

Part 27

We had a quiet dinner that night, no grand affair, just normal clothes. The hotel people were still very attentive and the head waiter did say that he looked forward to serving me when I was back here for filming.

In the evening Aganee took me through the song lyrics. Because of the way Hindi is constructed, she had moved words to give a real meaning without losing the intent of the song. We just stayed at our table and she had me sing the words a few times and we had a small audience of waiters and waitresses who came by from time to time. I had sung it quietly for about the fourth time when one of the waiters came up and said “Excuse me, madam, but that is beautiful. We are so proud to be just on the edge of your talented singing. Normally we just get ignored and shouted at but here you are, sitting in full view and singing that wonderful song. We all congratulate you on your mastery of our second language.” I told him that I was no grander than he and his companions were and that I had picked up some of the cadence as the only Anglo in a tower block with three hundred Indians.

The staff then took us to their bosoms, so to speak, and the rest of our stay was exquisite, with the two of us treated like friends as well as queens. The following day we spent our time in the recording studio. The manager of that section was so happy with what we had come up with he wanted us to put down Hindi versions of the six other love song tracks on the Dhawanee CD. If it had just been the original one we could have gone home that afternoon but with the extras we were there for another two days. Aganee became well known as a language mentor and even some of the true Hindi speakers bowed to her knowledge as her Hindi was grounded in how it had been spoken over fifty years ago. Like all languages, it had moved on but the love songs sounded better in the older phrasing.

The tech cut us a few proof CDs of the Dhawanee album with the Hindi love songs and to see how it would work we got the dining room staff together just before they knocked off for the night and played these tracks to them. It was a success and we all went to bed happy. Our flight had been arranged for mid-morning so I was woken with a breakfast tray and two maids came in to pack my luggage while I showered. They had laid out a new outfit for me and when I left the room I was resplendent in a white A-line skirt with a white jacket and white low heels for travelling. To say I looked like a star about to fly off was not a long way from the truth. When I saw Aganee she had been outfitted in a midnight blue version of my outfit and she said that she had never been so pampered. With our luggage being carried by porters we were farewelled by the hotel manager and a lot of staff as we were taken to our helicopter. Once again we were in the air and flying over the city to the airport and home. It had been an interesting, frightening, amazing visit and I wondered what it would be like to drop back into the old ways and walking around without anyone bothering to even acknowledge me.

The two of us were in first class going home and when we came out of the immigration we were greeted by Guptar, Gaurav and the band. Janet had ordered a coach to move us around and, after Gaurav had almost eaten my face and really messed with my lipstick, we all piled in and headed home. They all wanted to know what we had done and Aganee explained about me adding Hindi tracks to the seven love songs and announced that I had passed my screen test. I told the band that Anudeep was trying to get the film rewritten so that the whole band had parts. I joked that I didn’t think it would be a Bollywood version of ‘A Hard Days’ Night’ but who knew what they would come up with.

At the house I took my bags up to my room and changed into jeans and top. Birgitta had set up the dining room to seat everyone and had been helped by Grette and her husband Guntaj, who I discovered was now an executive with the family company. While I had been busy, Guptar and Gaurav had been re-arranging things to allow them both more time with their families. Grette was now managing the big store and Guntaj was looking after the others in rotation with local managers. We all sat down for a meal and there was a lot of conversation going around the table. The other band members were over the moon with the trip and there was some discussion about the elephants and what they left behind.

“Elephants?” asked Grette. So I went and got my pack of DVDs and CDs and we all went into the lounge where three of them saw the film sequence for the first time. I was sitting on a settee cuddled up to Gaurav when the film clip played. I felt him stiffen when the final kiss was shown. I whispered “It is just a film, my darling, just a film. I believe there will be much more of that if they make the whole thing. You can be on the set then to make sure nothing happens that you don’t agree with.” We had to show the duet and the other love-song as well and it was odd, sitting here with the family and seeing me on the screen dressed to kill.

It had been a long day and Janet left with the band to take them home. Before she went she told me quietly that I should check my bank balance in the morning. Gaurav and I went somewhere quiet to lip-lock for a while before he went home and, after Grette and Guntaj had gone it left the four of us in the lounge sipping a bed-time drink. Birgitta told me that, as I would not be doing a sangeet I would be hosting a bridal shower at the local hotel but she didn’t expect it to be a rowdy event. The wedding was set for the Easter Saturday, just over two weeks’ hence, and that Janet had arranged for us to go to the seaside hotel two weeks after that to start rehearsing the show. Our wedding reception would be at a local hall and the Four Winds would be supplying the music after being guests at the wedding.

I asked if I could put in towards expenses as a thank you and Guptar said “We wouldn’t think of it. Our boy is marrying a wonderful girl and we can afford it all. Actually, during our time in India we found that as soon as we let on that we had been with Anudeep Dhawan and that our future daughter-in-law was singing with him we had a lot of doors opened to us that we had no idea existed. That trip alone is going to double our wealth over the next couple of years so it is us that need to thank you.”

I slept in the next day and was slow getting a simple breakfast. I then dressed in boots and jeans with a top and jacket and Birgitta drove me into town. She had made an open appointment for me to see the dressmaker about a wedding dress as well as a going-away / reception dress and we spent a couple of hours looking at designs, fabrics and colours. I was not going to wear white but went with a buttery cream. Grette and Tavleen had volunteered to be bridesmaids and they now could choose their dresses to suit mine, which would be a simple sheath without a train. Gaurav and the main men would be in a morning suit.

I was told that she had been allowed to see Gauravs apartment and had made a list of all the things he didn’t have that would be needed. Cooking utensils being totally absent they were the bulk of the list she had made for the bridal shower. She had been given a key and we went there after a light lunch to have a look at where my stuff would go. In the lobby James doffed his hat and said “Welcome, Miss Geet. It is good to see you back and I look forward to seeing a lot more of you in future.” Up in the apartment my first thing was to fully inspect the wardrobe space and reserve my section. I agreed that he must never cook and I wondered how much I would be able to do in the kitchen until all the hoo-ha calmed down.

That weekend I had a singing gig with the Four Winds to do and I spent the Saturday with them getting back into the groove. We played a big reception on the Sunday afternoon and it was good being up on a stage with couples dancing in front of me. I was getting little visions of the last time I had danced with a hundred professionals, was it just a week ago? Alan asked me if I could spend some time in the studio and we agreed that I would be there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but I needed Thursday for my bridal shower. If needed I could do some extra time over the weekend but the following week would be needed in preparing for the wedding under the guidance of Birgitta.

I took my discs with me on Monday morning and Tom had a big TV in his ‘green room’. I put them in and the guys were very positive about the love song and the duet. When I played the ‘elephant raga’, as I was calling it, they were totally gobsmacked and we played it again so they could take it all in. We then got stuck into what we were there for. Alan and his friend had been very busy and had come up with fourteen totally new songs “It’s a first for us as well” he said. His friend was a pretty good writer and we decided that one of his songs “So nice to be here’ would be the name on the CD and the opening number.

The band had been practising them so it just needed me to add the vocals with all the lyrics written for me. We worked on them in order and had four in the can by the end of the day. Tuesday we had another six and Wednesday we polished them off. Tom would have the post-production done by the middle of the week and he was very positive the CD would sell well.

Thursday afternoon we had the bridal shower and it was a great time. I was kissed and hugged and received a lot of presents. As well as the girls from the band there were the girls from the dress shop and the salon and even some of the girls from the big store turned up after they finished work. We all had a laugh about them now able to sing along with our album so we started singing the tracks acapella which turned into a singalong. We had a good buffet meal and a bit of drinking and it was a very happy group that staggered out into the evening. Birgitta had arranged for the hotel to store my gifts securely so we could pick them up on Friday. We had to go and hire a van for that!

Anudeep and his wife arrived on Friday afternoon and we picked them up with a hired limo. That evening we had arranged a dinner at home with Jack and Sheila coming as well as Janet and her husband. It was to be a bit of a business thing but that did not take long at all as much of it was already organised. Jack and Sheila were shown the three video clips and they were suitably amazed. Anudeep was his usual urbane self and he and Jack got on like a house on fire. Jack had now released and promoted the first of the albums and was on the cusp of putting out the second and they discussed likely interviews that could be arranged. This left us girls to talk about other things, which we found we could do very easily.

Marianne G 2021

Part 28

That weekend Aganee, Birgitta and I spent a lot of time with Anna, Anudeeps’ wife. It happened that the trash mags had been right when they said she had been an airline hostess. “I met Anu by accident. He was flying in my plane when we hit turbulence and I literally landed in his lap carrying a tray of drinks. He said ‘Don’t worry. I will hold you down’ and did just that.”

“The chief steward was very unhappy and said that I faced the sack and Anu told him that if I was to get the sack, it would be his sack where I ended up. So, when I got off the plane I got into his limo with him and we have not parted since then.” She smiled at the thought and then said “I think you and Gaurav will have the same long life together. Mind you, if he comes back to India with you when you do the film he may find himself starring in it, the handsome brute.”

As my wedding was to be non-denominational, Gaurav being a modern man and me being Anglo, the event would take place in a large marquee in the garden. We would have a celebrant and most of the usual Indian traditions would not take place, seeing that I had no parents to be looked after. Grette had warned me off having any henna tattoos so it would be very low-key in most ways. The reception was to be where we had played the sangeet for Grette and the Four Winds would be supplying the music. It all seemed very straightforward.

Over the next week I showed Anudeep and his wife around and they loved being able to walk the streets without being mobbed. We did have a few of the Indian residents come up to him for an autograph and he was happy to sign. Aganee took us out to Hampton Court one day in the car and we spent a lovely time wandering around like a bunch of tourists. Over that time we became firm friends and he started calling me Gayle and I was allowed to use Anu and Anna. It was odd at times when Aganee and Anu started chatting in Hindi when they were looking at things together. I think that he may have been remembering his early days with his mother. I know that he had become very relaxed with us.

We were sitting in a café on the Thursday afternoon and I said “Anu, I have been thinking about this film.” He told me to go on. I said “If I get the usual scenario, it would be farce and singing while the scenes after the entrance would be more singing, dancing and love duets, right?” He agreed that this would be the likely plot. I carried on “Well, how about the first part of the film we have the Rajah as a ramrod straight despot who falls for a singer in a nightclub. The first part of the film could be filled with sub-plots about the band members and interactions with the very stiff Rajah before he wins the hand of the singer. Then, after they get to the palace, she works to loosen him up and get him to use the fine voice she hears in the shower. The last scene could be an extravaganza. It will be, you say, your last scene. Why don’t you have all the co-stars you have sung with join you, the Rajah, on stage, closing the film with a fifteen minute spectacle where everyone sings the final song of new life, hope and love? I am sure that there will be song writers who would jump at the chance of being part of your last movie with new and lasting lyrics.”

Aganee looked at me as if I was crossing a line but Anna snorted into her glass and then said “I love it, Anu, it would be a fitting end to a stellar career and stick it up those who have said you are a has-been.” He frowned at her and said “Maybe they have been right. I have toed the line with the second-rate story-lines they have given me for a few years now. I haven’t sung on stage for a good five years so these next few months will be like old times and it is getting me excited.” He pulled out his phone and called the director of our clip, rattling on in Hindi with me only picking up an odd word. I could see Aganee following his side closely and knew that she would be able to fill me in later. When he hung up he just said “He loves it.”

Later that day I had a van take me and my belongings to the apartment, where James helped us take it all up for me to put things away. Friday the whole bunch of girls spent the day in a spa. Saturday morning we were in a production line at Birgittas’ salon which was closed to the public that day. Saturday afternoon was the wedding and Anu walked me down the carpet with Tavleen and Grette behind us, to place me next to Gaurav, who had Balnoor standing alongside him.

The marquee was filled with friends as well as some news photographers. The wedding was beautiful and I was the happiest person in the world when Gaurav and I walked back up the carpet as Mr and Mrs Hidjeet. The usual photos followed, including one with the two of us flanked by the whole band. We left, in a limo, to go to the hotel where the reception was to be held. Our changes of clothes were there and we took the couple of hours we had to change to get to know each other in a very new way for me. Luckily I was able to lube myself and he was very gentle, at first. I was taken into a new world of feelings and love and we spent some time after just lying close together.

We did, finally, shower and dress. I had chosen the evening dress I had worn in India with the emeralds and he had a fine suit. We were fashionably late walking into the reception as there was already a hubbub and the boys were on the stage playing. We had the meal and then there were the speeches. Gaurav had completely cut away from his old friends so Balnoor had a short, but heartfelt speech about how wonderful we were. Guptar was a bit longer and alluded to Gauravs bad old days which made him blush.

When they all ran out of puff I stood up and said “There is something I would like to say” and walked over to the band and gave them a wink. They started a very sultry version of “The Man I Love” and I sang it to Gaurav again with all my own love. He came over as I finished and the boys moved into a bridal waltz and we danced.

It was a good evening and I danced with a lot of fellows. Balnoor was an excellent dancer and, while we circulated, he told me that he and Tavleen had found a larger flat which they could buy together with their new wealth. They would be moving in together soon and marrying later. I congratulated him. When I danced with Bill, Jeniannas’ electronics boyfriend, he told me that with her new income, they too will be marrying soon and I congratulated him as well. Damini, Husnia and Kajari were all there with their boyfriends. When I danced with Anu he told me that he could now see how I could be the nightclub singer in the movie as I already was one. This had been the first time he had seen me with the Four Winds.

We had quite a turn-out of dignitaries and their spouses, as well as some of the store executives and their spouses. I danced with Jack, who told me that everything was going well for the tour and that he was really looking forward to it. He also said that both our albums were in the top ten in India and Lajpal had been getting on to him to finalise the Indian tour.

Gaurav and I finally left in the limo again, which had been decorated with appropriate messages. We had arranged with the driver to take us to one of the store carparks where Gaurav had parked his own car and he gave the driver a good tip to help get the limo clean again when we were dropped off. We got in his car and drove to the apartment block, walking back to the lobby after parking. We kissed as the lift rose to our floor and it didn’t take much time at all before we were in our bed and exploring our bodies. I was thankful that I had kept up my dilating regime as he felt like he had grown a bit since this afternoon. We made glorious love a couple of times before waking with the sunlight coming in the window.

We made love again before we showered and put on our towelling robes that we intended to live in for a few days. We were sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast when we heard a key in the front door and Birgitta speaking to Aganee. Gaurav smiled and called out “We’re in the kitchen, mother dear, do you want a cup of tea?” They came in and she said “I thought that you would be somewhere exotic by now so I thought we would bring over your wedding clothes and the extra gifts you received.”

They put the stuff they were carrying on the sofa in the lounge and then sat with us to have a cup of tea. Gaurav explained that I had talked him into staying quietly at home as I had been in India and then we would be travelling the country for a while so we would be getting away a fair bit in the near future. They promised to keep it quiet and asked if there was anything we needed. They smiled when Gaurav answered “Only some more sleep.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 29

We stayed in our bunker for four days before we needed to go out and get some more supplies. We went to a restaurant first for a meal as we had always been taught that you should never shop on an empty stomach.

For our shopping we went into the big Hi-Jet store as you can never knock back staff discount. We did only need enough for a few days as we would be going to the seaside hotel next week to start preparing for the tour. We had slowed down on our lovemaking as we were both starting to walk funny so we popped into his old home to see the family. Guptar was sitting with a book in his hand when we were shown into the lounge and Birgitta was watching a soap opera on the TV. They both looked bored and were happy to see us.

We had a chat about how the wedding went and they thought that it was beautiful, if not traditional. Birgitta told us that Aganee had taken Anu and Anna out to see some of her old friends at a retirement home as she thought that it would brighten the old dears’ day. I found out that we were all going on tour, Birgitta and two of her girls from the salon, who had volunteered for the fun of it; Aganee and Guptar for the experience. Gaurav said that he wanted to go along as Grette could look after the business and, after all, we were just a phone call away.

Balnoor and Tavleen would be a couple, as would Jenianna and Bill who had left his job. It was handy that he had electrical skills as well as being an electronics whizz so would be a real asset with the amplification. Jack was going to send him off around our venues to make sure that everything was all right. You didn’t want to turn up and find you had no PA system. It was really a belt and braces exercise as we were told all the venues were well equipped. I did ask where we were playing and was told that Jack would give us the itinerary when were at the hotel.

By the time we left to go to the hotel, Gaurav and I were down to twice a day and I was starting to think that it may be nice to get down to one a day as it was getting a little wearing on bits of my anatomy. We packed for a few weeks and Janet picked us up. She had organised two coaches that had been air-brushed. One had ‘Anudeep Dhawan and the Dhawanees on Tour’ both sides and the other had ‘Gayle and the Four Winds on Tour’.

Anu, Anna and the band plus Bill would travel in one and my four guys, Gaurav, Guptar, Aganee, Birgitta and her salon girls would travel with me. Her husband was driving one and had picked up his load already and headed south. Janet loaded our cases on, plus my dholaks (just in case) and then we went around and picked up the band and then the salon girls and the Hidjeet family members before setting off south ourselves.

On the way down I got in a huddle with the band to choose what we planned to play for the shows. The first just had to be ‘So nice to be here tonight’ and we put together a list with another nine songs, including one off the fado album and four each off the first and last albums. If we did need more we had plenty to pick from. When we got to the hotel I found out that the others had done the same and their set would start with the ten minute raga, followed by Anudeep joining them for four solo songs off his two albums. Then I would join them for five or six duets, depending on the reception. Again we could do more and it would be up to the audience on the night.

We had, of course, overthought things, as we found out with our first rehearsals. We settled in and the hotel gave us dinner and we relaxed that first evening. The next day we went into the ballroom to find Bill testing the PA. The Four Winds were set up on one side of the stage and the others on the other side, just to make it easier. On the tour we would need to clear the stage during the intermission. To make things easier we had gone electric. We had four small amps with Alan on a good keyboard; Chico on guitar, Alec with a pick-up on the bass and Joe sporting electric drums. It will certainly sound a bit different but it was all easily moved. For the moment the Dhawanees did not have amplification but we could add that as needed.

It had been decided that we would rehearse the Four Winds in the morning and the others in the afternoon. We set a three hour limit on each per day as we did have a couple of weeks to spare. So that first morning I got up in front of the Four Winds while the others watched on. We started with “So nice’ and worked through the list we had picked. It went for about eighty minutes and that meant that we needed to cut about thirty. With the shows, if we started at seven and the first half went to eight, we could have a twenty to thirty minute break to sell the drinks and souvenirs. The second half should kick off at eight thirty and go to about ten.

We dropped the fado and a couple of others and tried again, coming in at just under the sixty minutes so we all stopped for lunch. Anu came up to me and the band as we were turning things off and told us that he was extremely happy about our set and then said to me that it had given him a lot of ideas for the movie. I asked him if he had thought about doing one of our duets in Hindi and he had a think; then said “Let’s ponder that one.”

Jack and Sheila had turned up while we were playing and, at lunch, told us the itinerary for the tour. We would leave here and go to Coventry for three nights, Leicester for three and Nottingham for three. We had a day off and the following day we had four nights in Newcastle and another four in Edinburgh. After four in Glasgow, three each in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield we had another day off before two nights in Wolverhampton, four in Birmingham and then another day off before two nights in Cardiff and another two in Bristol.

With another day break we then finished off with four nights in Sikh central, Slough, before our final date being four nights back in London. The venues were three to four thousand seats each and there was already good bookings which he expected would lift after our TV appearance. He had got us into a chat show two evenings hence where they would play the duet clip and Anudeep and the Dhawanees would be interviewed. He did have feelers out to get the Four Winds on TV for a playing appearance as we were coming down the west coast. Alan joked that we needed to form a union if we were only getting four days off in six weeks and we all had a laugh.

It did help that some of the venues were closer together as we would be staying in Leicester for the first ten nights and Manchester for twelve. Then there would be another six near Birmingham. This allowed us time between shows to get our dry cleaning done. Janet had got our two sets of outfits and I had a good supply of dresses for the first half. We would not be going far from any shops and could add things as we needed. I did a mental calculation and reckoned that if we got near capacity we could get about one and a half million gross at ten pounds a seat.

With all of that sorted we went back into the ballroom to work on the second half. I was starting to think of the Four Winds as my band and the others as a band I sometimes sang with for some reason and it bugged me a bit. I asked Gaurav about it that night as we snuggled and he said that it must be that I was happier as an Anglo in an Anglo band, singing Anglo songs. It made me stop and think as I had always been considering myself as an honorary Indian.

The next day we worked through the play list with ease and each band did a couple of extras, just in case. Anu said that he had thought about my suggestion and that we would spend a couple of days just working on a Hindi version of one of our duets. That evening he related the words while Aganee wrote them down. I would need some time to get it worked out and I hoped the rest of the band had some patience. We gave all the others the next day off to have a rest and get ready for the TV interview. Anu, Aganee and I spent our day working through the duet, firstly speaking the words and then singing acapella. We thought that we would be able to try it out tomorrow afternoon.

We had an early dinner and went off in one coach to the TV studio where we were primped and painted for the interview. It was not too bad, they showed the duet and we were asked about our album with Anu and when he told them that the band had its own album in the top ten in India, the questions got more aimed at us all, after spending ten minutes in his shadow. The interviewer had obviously not done a full research.

We wound up our segment and he thanked us as an aide rushed over to say that the next guest had not turned up. They had a worried discussion before I said “Excuse me; I have a DVD in my bag of a scoop scene from Anudeeps last ever movie, which is yet to be completed. It runs for just ten minutes and was shot by a great Bollywood director. Would that help?”

Anu winked at me and I went to get it with the aide. We sat down on the set again and waited until the break had finished. The interviewer opened up by apologising that the other star on the show was, unfortunately, unable to make it but that he had a scoop video that will be shown. He asked Anu about the scene and he described what they would see and where it fitted into the movie. Interestingly he described the movie in much the way I had laid it out and I saw the others in the band get their eyes widened as they took in the future consequences. Then the DVD was shown and when we got back on air the interviewer, as well as the small audience, was silent before bursting into spontaneous applause as the credits for the show started rolling. The interviewer managed to regain his composure to give the farewell that he usually did. As we were ushered out of the studio I went and got the DVD back and we had the TV make-up removed.

Back in the bus, Anu said, “That went well, didn’t it?”

Marianne G 2021

Part 30

Janet and Gaurav had been watching on the monitors and she said that it had, indeed, gone well. Gaurav commented that it will be interesting to see the newspapers over the next couple of days and he was right, the darling.

There was comment in the TV reports about the stunning video that the show had scooped and some had op-eds about Anudeep and his fame in India. A couple even managed to find pictures of our wedding that had only made the local paper last week. The caption was ‘Local stars become a sensation in India’ and a couple even had a story about the ‘Local band in sub-Continent top ten’.

Jack was over the moon and he said that the initial bookings had accelerated and that we may even play to a full house on our first night. The other thing that our exposure brought about was the fact that our coaches outside the hotel attracted fans, with the hotel management asking us if we could please put on a show for the locals before we left. Gaurav negotiated a discount on our stay if we put on a show with half the door takings going to charity and the hotel keeping anything they made on food and drink sales. He insisted that it be cabaret style with chairs and tables.

The hotel jumped at it and our last evening there was a full dress rehearsal in front of several hundred locals. Now, that one did go well as we had a polished presentation in the bag by that time but we did not do the Hindi number as this crowd would not understand a word. It turned out to be a win-win for everyone; the locals got a show, the hotel made a good bit on food and drinks as well as getting kudos when they presented a cheque to charity. For us, we made enough to cover our diesel costs for the first week or so.

The following day we packed up all of our kit and luggage, loaded the two coaches and left for the north. We were to stay at a hotel in Leicester for ten nights and it worked out well. The hotel was reasonable, although Anu and Anna were not impressed, seeing what their lifestyle usually demanded. The venue in Coventry was good and Bill had made sure the PA was up to scratch. He had organised small clip-on microphones for the Indian instruments and there were a couple on short stands to the dholaks and we did a sound check with them. It was the first time the Dhawanees had played a space big enough to need amplification and everyone hoped it would be good.

It turned out well as no-one complained that they couldn’t hear afterwards. We had an audience close to capacity and, by the spicy aroma in the theatre, most of them were Indian. Lajpal and his wife had flown in from Mumbai that day and were staying in Coventry so they sat with Jack and our family members to see the show. I would have thought that Aganee would be thoroughly sick of it by now but she kept telling me it was like reading a book where each chapter was the same, but different as it evolved.

Actually, I realised how right she was when I walked onto the stage to wait for the curtain to go up. With an audience out there we lifted our game a little. At seven the curtain lifted and we hit it with ‘It’s so nice to be here tonight. Let’s cuddle and turn down the light’ as the house lights went down, a nice touch, I thought, and something that Bill had come up with just this afternoon. Our set went as planned and we even got called up for an encore.

In the break Janet and the salon girls were earning their keep selling tour tee-shirts and CDs and even some photos we had made. With the curtain down, the boys and I quickly removed our kit to the wings out of sight and then we went out to mingle a while and sign some purchases before I slid away to be transformed. It would be a good fifteen minutes into the second half before I was needed on stage so I wasn’t in a hurry. In the dressing room I met up with Anu and the band and they all thought it had gone well. I told Anu that, by the aroma, we would need to do the Hindi number tonight. I went to change from my cocktail dress into a salwar kameez with a very colourful tunic and matching chunni.

Anu was a little worried tonight and I stood by him while the band did the ten minute raga. I told him that he was the star and to go and lap it up. Even if this crowd was not his usual adoring fans, they will love him and adore him after the show. As the raga came to an end he walked out onto the stage to a roar of approval and they went into his first song. I went back and the salon girls did their magic on me and then I was up in the wings again to wait for my part of the first duet.

Again, it was a little different. Anu and I had remote microphones so we could move around and the band started the song and, although I was to come on as he sang, I held back and came on singing my first line to some applause. We worked through the show and came to the point when Anu asked the audience how many of them spoke Hindi. A forest of hands went up so he said “This one is just for you” and we did the Hindi duet, with an absolute roar of applause as we finished. The rest of the set was almost an encore in itself and they did not want us to leave the stage. We added three songs before Anu had to tell them that it was time we finished and we sang our last for the night. All lining up across the stage as the curtain lifted again to our standing ovation.

We went out front again to sign for a while and Anu was besieged by adoring fans. I knew that the band would find it odd for the first time doing their signatures but they took to it with gusto. It was close to midnight when the last person left and the doors were locked. There would be a cleaning crew in next day and we could leave the kit on stage so we were able to go back to the hotel for some well-deserved sleep. Gaurav was effusive in his praise as we went to bed and we did stay awake a little longer than I hoped; but it was nice.

At breakfast we had a discussion on how it went and the general consensus was that, if was all as good as this, we would be very happy. Janet said that by our sales last night she had better order some more for the second half of the tour. I thanked the salon girls and they told me that they loved every minute of it as it was so exciting. Lajpal had been quiet and then, in a moment of silence, said “I had my doubts when the UK tour was proposed. I did not think that Anudeep would be as big here as it has turned out he is. Last night was a wake-up call to me and I pledge to make his farewell tour, as well as his last film, as good as they can be. I have to admit that I had resigned myself to allowing him to simply fade away but now we will work to make him go out as the star he has always been.”

Anu said “Thank you, dear friend. I know that we have gone with the flow of second rate scripts and the last couple of albums have been so sweet they almost made me gag when I heard the final result. Going back to traditional roots has relit my fire and last night showed me that I still had it in me to be a good showman. These good people who grace the stage with me have created the magic, maybe by accident, but it is a wave we must ride to the beach of my retirement and the ocean of fame that awaits them.” Aganee looked at me and shrugged.

There was a smattering of applause and Anna gave him a kiss on the cheek. Jack and Sheila left us to continue their own business and also our tour promotion. We went back to the venue in the morning to reset the stage and restock the souvenir stand. I was interested to see how much Guptar, Birgitta and Gaurav were getting engrossed in the activities. Guptar was shedding his upright persona and was really getting closer to Gaurav than I had seen before. Aganee was already our number one groupie and she was getting Birgitta into the small activities that would help everyone, like making sure our stage outfits were clean and ready for use or that our cosmetic supplies were up to scratch.

During the course of those first three venues, we melded into a team and everything seemed to work as it should. Because they had already seen the show from the seats, Guptar and Gaurav became our stage hands. The second and third nights in Coventry were as good as the first, while the three nights in Leicester and Nottingham were similar. The show became more polished as we went on and, by the time Lajpal left us after the first week, he was assured that when we hit our first stage in India, we would be ready for whatever they threw at us. We had a day off after the last show in Nottingham and toured some of the local attractions, finding that we had become an attraction ourselves whenever we got out the coaches. We left very early the following morning to drive to Newcastle and the next stage of the tour.

After the four full shows there it was on to Scotland where I wondered if our four nights would go down well. I needn’t have worried as we were almost full every night, as it was with our four nights in Glasgow. Our next stop was another long stay so, when we booked into the country hotel just north of Manchester we could arrange for our clothes to be cleaned. We had three nights in Leeds where we had already stopped at the venue to unload the kit and stock on the way through. Then it was Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield. The tour was getting popular but we could not add any more nights as everything was already booked but Jack asked us if we could do an extra night in Sheffield instead of having a day off.

So, after four shows there, we went directly to our hotel just north of Birmingham. We had just two nights in Wolverhampton but already four in Birmingham – which became five because of the demand. Then it was the two in Cardiff and two in Bristol. All the time Anu was getting stronger and stronger and was looking like the star he had been as he went on. He exuded confidence and this transmitted itself to all of us. While we were in Bristol we were told that Jack had added another night at the start of the Slough engagements as well as two extra nights in London and that all were close to being booked out. No rest for the wicked was what they said. Aganee assured me that it was no rest for the talented.

Marianne G 2021

Part 31

We left Bristol very early the morning after our last night there. At Slough we unloaded all of our kit, stock and costumes at the venue. On the way Anu was deep in conversation with the band, working on a Hindi version of one of the songs.

I found out that he intended to add a new Hindi version every day we played in Slough because it was Sikh Central and the London shows would be full as well. He said that he wanted the audience to remember him as an Indian entertainer. He had sung some of his early album tracks in Hindi and some of his Bollywood films songs were in it as well. We went to a hotel for an early dinner / late lunch before going back to the venue. It was intended that we would be going to our homes after the show tonight.

We set up and the band ran through his new Hindi song as a sound check. I realised that he was breaking them in slowly as much of the set would be in Hindi if we played India. The Four Winds and I set up and did a quick sound check and then we waited for the audience that we were told had booked for this extra night. At six they started arriving and, by seven, we had a full house. Once again the curtains rose to the refrain of ‘So nice to be here’ and we were off again. It was a very receptive audience as they knew that we were pretty much local and we needed to do an encore.

The break was hectic and I was glad that we had my husband and my father-in-law moving stuff on stage as we were inundated with requests for autographs on our Four Winds albums. I managed to slide away just before the second half and got changed and made up just in time for my entrance. I could hear the approval of the crowd as Anu worked through the set and I got some applause as I walked on singing my duet lines. Anu did not need to ask if there were Hindi speakers here and just nodded to the band and they started the tune. When he started singing in Hindi I could see some of the audience crying and it wasn’t just the women. We did our love duet in Hindi afterwards and that brought the house down. The rest of the set was almost an anticlimax but we got a standing ovation when we finished.

Guptar, Gaurav and Bill had to act as bodyguards afterward. It was absolute mayhem. There were so many of the audience that wanted to touch or kiss Anu it wasn’t funny. We were able to finally clear the building after midnight and had to sneak out the back door with Janet and picking us up in the Four Winds coach while her husband sat outside the front of the doors as if waiting for Anu. It was a bit of a squeeze but we made it into the city and dropped everyone off at their homes with a warning that they would be picked up at three the next day. Gaurav and I were happy to see the apartment and our own bed. We were so shattered we just fell into bed and slept until after ten the next day.

We had no food in the place so needed to go out for breakfast. James doffed his hat as we got out the lift and said “Good morning. I have been following your rise in the world of fame while you have been away. Have you kept up with the papers?” When we said that we hadn’t he told us he will lend us his scrapbook. We went and got some breakfast at a local café where the owner asked if I would pose with him next to his shop sign. At the local mini-mart it was much the same and we left after just getting a few staples. Back at the block we took the proffered scrapbook and went up to our apartment to get a cuppa and read it.

I could see why we had been picked out this morning as the scrap book was mainly clipped from the local paper which showed us at various venues. It seemed that they had asked anyone who went to see us to send in pictures and I gathered they had received hundreds. So much for fading into the background now! He did ask me to sign it for him when I took it back downstairs. He had been the doorman for a number of years and when I asked him about home delivery meals he gave me a number of business cards that we could call for anything from pizza to a silver service dinner. “I do have cards for other types of services but I am sure that you don’t need them at this point in your life” he said, giving me a wink and a grin. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and took my booty back to the lift.

We ate light and had a good home shower and hair wash. We then unpacked our cases and dressed to go back to Slough. As we waited for the coach, James said “Excuse me for saying so, sir, but you do look a lot happier today as well as looking a lot fitter.” Gaurav told him it was from being a stage hand for the last five weeks and thoroughly enjoying the life away from responsibility. He then said that it would be nice to be away from his parents twenty-four / seven. James said that he had heard it that the senior Hidjeet couple had not been seen lately and it was wondered if they were away or ill. Gaurav laughed and said “My father has been a stage hand as well. You could say that they both ran away to join a pop show but I do think they may be over it now.”

We were picked up and went off for our second show in Slough. On the way Janet told us that she had hired a security team for tonight as she had been a bit overwhelmed last night. Gaurav told her that he was glad she had as he had been worried that someone would have been hurt. He asked how her husband got on and she laughed and said that he had waited ten minutes and then just started the coach and drove away.

As we picked up the Four Winds and the salon girls we discovered that Guptar and Birgitta would not be joining us but Aganee would be. When we picked her up we had Anu and Anna as well. We got to the venue where we entered a back alley and into a rear gate that was manned by a uniformed security guy and the parked next to the other coach. Inside, Anu got together with the band and started working through another Hindi song. I sat with my band and we talked about life after the tour. All of my guys told me that they wanted to stay close to home for a while and apologised, in advance, for not wanting to go to India if that tour occurred. I told them not to worry as I could see any India tour would be purely an Anudeep tour and that Lajpal was working on that as we spoke.

Janet told me that she had ordered some more merchandise to be delivered directly to the London venue as we would probably run out here on, or by, the last night. She said that the mark-up from the sales had paid for all of our fuel and hotel bills so the takings from the shows would be almost pure profit to be shared out to all those involved. She laughed and told me that she had offered Guptar some money but he had said that he would have happily paid us for the experience. Bill and Gaurav would be classed as part-time employees, as would the salon girls. I asked her what we had charged for the seats and, when she told me, I revised my estimate of the takings by a factor of three.

We did the show with another Hindi song which again brought the house down. The signing went a lot better with Anu surrounded by heavies. We were able to get away out the back in much better time and were dropped off before midnight. During the evening I had chatted to Tavleen who had reported that they had all been asked for selfies during the day and that it seemed so weird. The third and fourth show went well and we loaded all of our kit into the coaches, as well as our left-over merchandise that fitted into just two boxes. Just the six shows in London to go and we were through with it. It had been hard work but fun and very satisfying.

The rest of the tour went as we expected. Anudeep and the Dhawanees were expected to deliver the goods when we played back in our home town and we didn’t disappoint. Gayle and the Four Winds were also well received and I think we sold as many of our albums here as we had for the rest of the tour. We got a standing ovation every night and it was strange for me to start feeling as if I was made for this. One thing about the London venue was that Lajpal had asked that we get it on video so Janet had contacted a company that recorded pop shows and we ended up with enough material for a Four Winds Live DVD as well as a double disc of Anudeep and the Dhawanees. All six shows were so well accepted we went to midnight every night and, with us putting in extra songs on the fly, we had sung an awful lot of songs.

On the last night we loaded up the coaches with our kit and were taken home. Next morning was very strange as there wasn’t anywhere we had to be. James knocked on our door at eleven and told us that there were reporters down in the lobby that wanted to talk to us. Gaurav told him to say we would meet them in the café around the corner for lunch and not a second before. When we did get to the café we found about a dozen guys who all wanted to ask their questions at once. Gaurav held his hands up and said “We are going to order lunch. Why don’t you guys do the same? We will answer your questions – one at a time – as long as you make them all different and wait for us to answer fully.”

We got the owner to get a few tables together and we ordered our meal. After some hesitation the media did the same. I guess they were not used to someone being so co-operative. Some of the questions were personal; some were too personal and not answered. Some were about the band and the tour and the ones I couldn’t answer fully were the ones about the future. I explained that we could, and made sure they understood the word ‘could’, be doing a tour of India with Anudeep but I did not have any details at this point. And yes, I had been in a movie scene with him that we filmed in Bollywood but I didn’t know when or where it would be filmed or even if I would any further part in it. By the time we had finished eating we had almost made some new friends and ones that would be good to know.

Marianne G 2021

Part 32

Gaurav and I had a few days to ourselves and we found that we were more in love now than we were when we married. I suppose that shared experiences give you something you both can talk about without a need for explanation.

I had a deep think about that and realised that, of all the marriages that I had heard of falling apart, it was because the couple did not share their lives, usually because the man would not give his time to his wife willingly but expected her to be at his beck and call. I hoped that we wouldn’t get that way, wondering what I would think if we both became film stars. I would put my foot down and demand we both appeared in the same films!

I got a text on my phone one day to contact the bank to see my account manager. I didn’t know I had one of those so I rang them and was given a time that day to pop in. It was the account I had under Geet and, when we went to see him, he showed me my account on screen. Sometime yesterday a very large amount had been put into this account and it had put me over the threshold of just being a standard account and I was now a bank VIP. He asked what the amount was for and I had to explain that it was my share of the takings from the Dhawanees tour. His eyes get wide and he said “You are that singer! I am so sorry but I do not follow the music scene but my daughters do. They will be tickled pink when I tell them I have met you.” He agreed to let me know if there were any more big deposits and I promised to think about investing.

Gaurav had a smile on his face when we left the bank and showed me his own account on his phone. He had received about one percent of my deposit as wages. We hugged in the street and I said “To think that there must have been people who thought I was marrying you for your money!” I pulled out my own phone and called up the account I had opened in the name of Gayle. It was now very healthy, if not as full as the Geet one it was enough to be satisfied about. Considering that it was only the share of the Four Winds part of the tour and the merchandise I thought we had done pretty well. It was enough for the guys to get settled in without needing to work too hard. I did not think it odd that I had been paid twice as I did my part in both sets and had nothing to be ashamed about.

I sent a text to the four guys which said “Check your accounts if you haven’t done so lately. Meet up at the studio tomorrow at ten.” I told Gaurav that I would be meeting the guys tomorrow and he said that he did need to catch up with the family business as he was still a major shareholder so we decided to do our own things the next day.

The next morning I met up with the other guys and we had a discussion. The upshot was that we would audition for a replacement for me so that they could still record and do shows. We realised that the fado disc would be the last in that genre unless we were very lucky. They all said that the money from the tour would set them up for a year or two so they will be able to pick and choose. They thanked me for my part in their success and I told them that they were good enough to have found a singer anyway, if not quite so quickly.

A week after that Janet sent me a message to meet her and Lajpal at an up-market hotel the following day for lunch. Gaurav was also invited. Anu, who had gone home, would be back again for the meeting and it would be a celebratory lunch from Lajpal to thank us for the tour. We dressed well for lunch and took a cab to the hotel. It was quite a big table with Anu, Anna, Lajpal and his wife, Jack and Sheila, Janet and her husband as well as us and the rest of the band plus Bill, Aganee and the salon girls, The meal was sumptuous and wine flowed for some. Afterwards we were ushered up to a meeting room where we sat at a boardroom table with Lajpal at the head.

He said “Firstly I would like to thank you all for the success of the tour. You all did your part, some more than others. The reason for this meeting is to tell you about the things we have put in train. We are well into putting a tour of India on the calendar. I expect it to be four night shows in fifty cities. This means that those on tour will need to commit a year of their lives to it. I have spoken to Janet and she tells me that the Four Winds will not be available and that is good, because it will be an Anudeep Dhawan and the Dhawanees tour to mark his farewell. By the time that is over we will be ready to start filming ‘The Singing Rajah’, his final film and I expect that would take at least six months.”

He stopped so we could all take it in. One of the girls from the salon asked “Why are we here?” and he said that they were an integral part of the UK tour and that a successful team should stick together; so, if they wanted a year visiting every major city on the sub-continent this was their chance. “And” he smiled “we do not travel by coach when we are with the stars in India.”

He then went on to say that the tour would start in the first week of January so we would need to fly out to Mumbai between Christmas and New Year. Between now and then, about five months, he wanted me to learn a number of songs in Hindi to sing in the show, as well as a few more duets with Anu. He had brought over about ten CD’s that Anu had put out that had some of his hits on it. He also had the masters to those albums. “What I would like you to do is to take those masters and rework the songs I have noted in the way that you did the others. We have released the second traditional album this week so you should all see some income from that coming in. My plan is to put out a double album of ‘Anudeep Dhawan in a Reflective Mood” for the Christmas market and to promote the tour.”

He then went on to say that all of the marked songs would be part of the show so it would be a single working for two results. We would be paid on delivery of the new master. Janet said she would block book the studio so we could work there. Lajpal then told us that he had organised the film studio in Mumbai to work on the footage from the London shows and that he would be able to supply the single disc Four Winds one and a double disc Dhawanees one later in the year. He said that Jack would be handling that distribution in the UK and he would do so in India. He then deferred to Anu, who said “I too, would like to thank you all for giving me my life back. The UK tour taught me that I should revel in what I do, not what I have. I am looking forward to the next tour as well as to the film. Speaking about the film, a very canny lady gave me a synopsis of a movie and I have been thrashing it out with our best director over the last week or so.”

“It will be along the lines of a ramrod straight Rajah, used to getting his own way, seeing a girl singing in a nightclub and falling in love. The band will be, I hope, the Four Winds who I have grown to admire. This girl has a number of friends who play around with traditional instruments and the story has a sub-plot with them all forming another band. There is a further sub-plot in that the singer has a boyfriend who is the owner of the nightclub. Of course, you can all see who the singer and her friends are. I would like Gaurav to be the nightclub owner.” I smiled and Aganee snorted. Anu went on “The Rajah does win the love of the singer in true Bollywood style and takes her home after the wedding in the scene we already shot. The wedding scene is already causing some cameramen to salivate with excitement.”

“After the wedding, the Ranee works on making her Rajah to be a lot more normal. His love will allow that to happen. She will get him singing in the palace and brings her friends in to play along with it. The old boyfriend comes for a visit and hears the Rajah singing and organises a show for him to sing in. The final part of the movie would be segments from that show and the final number will be a huge extravaganza with about twenty singers, all who have sung with me in other films and want to be a part of this one, in a massive number which will put that elephant scene to shame. It will be my uplifted finger to my detractors over the years and I am so much looking forward to filming it.”

Lajpal took over again and told us we would all be on a base rate from this week if we sign a letter of agreement, with a contract to follow before the tour. Bill would be on the books as an audio specialist and Aganee, if she wants, could be a Hindi language mentor for the band. He wanted to know if any of us needed time to think about it and no-one did so we all signed onto the payroll on the spot and then there was a group hug.

When Anna hugged me she said “I have been waiting for the bitter end for some time but this is going make it all so much fun. I know that you and he will be magic on the screen but he has been magic with other leading ladies before. I think Gaurav will be a fine actor if he puts his mind to it. I watched him loosen up during the tour and I am certain he has the talent that Bollywood is looking for. Pity he doesn’t sing.” We both laughed.

Marianne G 2021

Part 33

The next day we all assembled at the recording studio. Tom had extracted the twenty tracks required from the CDs and made a new one with just those needed. He had also sorted them into his idea of difficulty level.

Aganee was with us to check the Hindi numbers and she took a copy of the CD and the lyric sheet with the English to Hindi translations then left us to it to sort out the music. Some of his early songs were much simpler and less orchestrated than the ones we had first worked on. However, the biggest problem was that his voice was younger and much more agile than it is now. If he tried to sing like that on tour he would become a laughing stock.

The other problem was that an early Bollywood had embraced another culture and most of the songs from that period were in a disco style. I made a decision and rang Janet. When she asked me what the problem was I told her that we needed permission to change a lot of the early work and she said she would call Lajpal to get his OK with it. We took a break and twenty minutes later she rang back to say that we could do whatever we needed to do to make it work.

I then rang Aganee to see how she was getting on with the translations and she told me that they had used the modern language and that she was reworking it with the older version that tended to suit Anus’ voice now. That led to me realising that we could not keep his voice on the new masters as it would not fit what we had to do with the songs. I told her this and wondered how we could work it with him being back in India and she said “Why not let Gaurav sing in his place, he used to sing in the school choir and has a good baritone. They can always replace his track on the masters in India when they get them.”

We discussed it and Tom said it was not a problem as he could work the masters so that there was a spare, unused, track that they could use. The band said they would carry on reworking the material in a more acceptable way and I left to find Gaurav and tell him that his time will be needed in the studio. I phoned him and he told me that he was in the supermarket and we arranged to meet for lunch. I explained our problem and his likely involvement and he protested that he had not sung for ages and certainly was no artist. It took me two complete explanations before I got it through his head that his track was only there to provide Anu with the base that he would follow when he overdubbed the masters and he finally relented to help out.

This all led to a hectic few weeks as we ended up recording a complete set of new masters with Gaurav singing with the smoother tunes that we had worked out; in a different version of the Hindi, and it all became a new Gaurav album and we all had a laugh about that. As we worked through the numbers he really got into the groove and it was like recording with a proper singer. We made the duets with me and him singing really sizzle. We did a complete set in Hindi and then another in English and Tom made a number of CDs. We sent them and the masters off to Lajpal to comment on and then sat back waiting for the explosion from India. We all had copies to remind us of the experience and Birgitta had hers on repeat in the house at high volume, much to Guptars’ dismay. He started to go out a lot while she was in that phase.

The year was drawing to a close and we were preparing to go to India as soon as we got the word. Things had been strangely silent and I wondered if we had overstepped the mark. Janet rang me in a state of excitement one day and told us to gather at the studio for a meeting, she said that the whole band was to be there. When we arrived we found her, her husband, Jack and Sheila already drinking champagne with Tom. On the table in front of them was a box of CDs. The cover showed Anu on stage with us during the London show and the title was “Anudeep Dhawan, the Dhawanees and friends, in a Reflective Mood.”

I had a look on the back and it listed the band but it had Gayle and Gaurav Hidjeet as featured singers. Aganee Hidjeet was listed as Hindi language tutor. When the whole band was gathered, Tom put the CD on the speakers and we listened to it with amazement. There were the tracks we had recorded with Anu now replacing Gaurav in Hindi and English. Then there were tracks where he and I did our duets in Hindi. And then there were three tracks where Gaurav and I did our duets untouched in English and, finally, another three tracks where they had managed to mix Anu singing with Gaurav and I and the two guys doing alternate verses, all in Hindi. It was a double disc album and Janet showed me the note that was with the box. It was signed by Anu and Lajpal and they thanked us for the work and saying that the CD was already on the Indian market and racing up the charts.

Gaurav had to sit down while we all congratulated him on becoming an instant star. It was a lot for him to take in but we plied him with enough champagne to deaden his jitters. Janet then produced a sheaf of airline tickets for a flight on Boxing Day, all first class and there was one each for Jill and Joyce the salon girls, Bill and Aganee. Jack said that Sheila would review the disc in their next magazine and that he would organise its release as soon as possible. Janet took advantage of Gauravs’ slower wits to get his signature on a contract and I got him into a cab with a few of the CDs and we went to see his parents.

When we got there he was a little better but still in a state of denial. Birgitta let us in and asked if he was ill and I told her he was just in shock. I showed her the CD and when she read the names on the back she let out a scream that brought Guptar and Aganee rushing up. She had to go and put it on her player and while Gaurav and Guptar sat in the lounge with her, I helped Aganee make some tea. We sat there and Birgitta got more and more excited as she heard her son and daughter-in-law on record and she came over and hugged us both with each of our duets together. When she asked about Aganee being listed I told her that it was her work with the language that made the songs sound better and that I believed that Anu had taken to Aganee as almost a mother figure, having lost his own when he was very young. They had certainly had lots of chats during the tour.

Jack had given me copies of the tour videos that had come back from post-production in India a couple of weeks earlier and he had told me that they were being shipped as we spoke. Birgitta rang Grette to come around and then rang to order an Indian take-away delivery for later in the day. Grette and Guntaj arrived and we all settled in to see what we had managed to achieve. Grette was totally amazed as she had never seen it and was jumping up and down as I went on singing the first duet. The cameramen had done a great job and the editing turned it into an experience. I got tingles myself as I watched it unfold and there was a group hug when it finished.

The food arrived and while we ate, Birgitta put the new CD on and Grette nearly fell off her chair when she heard her brother singing. Our sizzling duets got her standing up and enveloping us in a huge hug each time they came on and, when it was finished we sat there with a sense of wonderment all over again. Guptar then said “Didn’t they film the first half of the show as well?” and I pulled out the ‘Gayle and the Four Winds Live’. We went back into the lounge and sat to watch that one a lot more quietly. Gaurav cuddled me close as it went on and was eager to take me home when it finished. We gathered our stuff and Guntaj drove us home were we did not take long getting into bed.

The next day I had a text from Tavleen to meet at a café we knew so we went along to see what she wanted. When we walked in the whole band was there and we sat down with them. Tavleen announced that she and Balnoor were going to marry in a civic ceremony the following week as they did not want to go to India as an unmarried couple. Then Jenianna said that she and Bill would tie the knot straight after as a double ceremony. This gave them a week for a honeymoon before we headed off. The girls would be having a joint bridal shower and the guys had planned a joint stag night on the weekend. It was all very rushed but it did fill up the period before Christmas. I nearly fainted when I realised that I had not bought any presents yet and now there were so many. When we left them I dragged Gaurav to the city where I shopped until I dropped.

We did most of our shopping in an up-market store where we could get everything wrapped and delivered to the apartment. We did joint gifts to the band, the Four Winds, his family and others for Christmas as well as wedding gifts for the two couples. Of course, spending on this scale came to the attention of the management and I had to let them take my credit card to get approval from my bank. My account manager was, I was told, effusive in his answers and they apologised for doubting me. Actually, I arranged it so the store manager found us at the record section when he came back. I was standing next to a life-size cut-out of me in the evening dress on stage. By it was a display of the various CDs as well as a batch of the two live DVDs. Not one to flaunt my fame, no!!!!

Marianne G 2021

Part 34

So the period before Christmas was very full. The double shower was very low-key, considering that we had once played at others. I was told that the stag night was very ordinary as neither Balnoor nor Bill were heavy drinkers. I just had to put up with Gaurav coming home with a heavy curry smell about him and he snored all night!

The double wedding did attract some fans and the local press but it all went well. Neither couple were up for a reception so it was not a long day for the rest of us. Christmas day we spent with the Hidjeet family for a large lunch. Aganee was getting a bit excited about flying off again. Guptar announced that he had realised that there were lots of opportunities outside London and he had been in contact with a real estate firm to find properties in Slough, Manchester and Birmingham that he could lease or buy. He planned on opening them as Hi-Jet supermarkets with a good Indian content and he also had one that he was looking at in the city that would be purely Indian products. He and Birgitta would be coming to India while we were on tour to further explore the supply side.

Gaurav tried to apologise for not pulling his weight now and was told that they had discovered that it was his fear of responsibility that made him hard to get along with and that he was not only a much better person now but the stores were running smoother as well. We went back to the apartment and had an early night as we were going to be at the airport next morning. As we walked in I gave James a kiss on the cheek and he thanked me for his present. I had given him a copy of the two DVDs, both autographed by the bands.

Next morning we were picked up in a coach by Janet. She would join us later so it was just the band and spouses, Aganee and Jill and Joyce, our personal beauticians, who were very excited at getting their first stamps on their new passports. We were flying Indian Air and the cabin crew was very attentive and made sure we were well looked after. This was the first time Jill and Joyce had flown and I was sure that the whole experience would spoil them from flying any other way. Gaurav had not been back to India since the early days setting up supplies for the supermarkets and they did not go first class then. As we approached Mumbai we wondered what we would see when we got there.

When the plane finally stopped and the engines had spooled down, the chief steward asked us if we could leave first so we walked up the air-bridge before anyone else, being ushered into a separate lounge in the terminal to wait while our luggage was being sorted for us. An immigration official came in and went through our paperwork and then we were taken back down to the tarmac where several small golf buggies waited. These took us out under the huge wings and on a track leading to another area where I could see six yellow helicopters waiting for us. Our luggage was on a trailer coming behind us.

We stood beside the helicopters while our bags were loaded and Jill asked me if it was all going to be like this and I told her it may be so she could get used to it. Gaurav also looked a bit serious and I hugged him and told him that he was an Indian record star and this was how we got treated here. We loaded up in the four of the helicopters as the other two just had our bags. When we took off we circled around the terminal and I could see the crowds and flashing lights on the police cars. I pointed them out to Gaurav and told him that this was what we had avoided and he gulped.

There was a big crowd at Bollywood when we arrived but they were much more refined. Anu greeted us and pulled Gaurav into a man hug, saying “You had your light under a bushel, my friend. Now it is out and will show us the way to the future!” I saw Aganee look at me and shrug again. Well, it was almost intelligible, wasn’t it? We were ushered into limos for the short ride to the hotel where we were allowed to freshen up before dinner. Once again we were supplied with our clothing and a make-over for the meal and we all looked like stars when we went down to dine, even Jill and Joyce had been outfitted and looked radiant. Jill said “What is all this, we were dressed and made- up for this, why are we here?” I told her that she would be getting her work to do when we left this hotel but that this was Bollywood Central and this was the way they did things here.

When we walked into the dining room there was a general mingle before we sat down. My old ‘friend’ the Head of Studio was there surrounded by minions. I saw Lajpal with some other guys and I recognised the one who took me through my screen test. Anu pulled me to meet a very elegant but aged man in a nice suit who was introduced as “my very old friend, Mr Singh”. I smiled and he took my hand saying “It is a pleasure to meet you, Gayle. I had heard a lot of good things about you from your last visit. You are the sort of actress this studio needs for the coming years.” I thanked him for his kind words and introduced Gaurav and they shook hands. He said “Gaurav, I have to wonder at how you could have got so old without being in the charts already.” Gaurav said that it was because he had been involved in the family business and Mr Singh said “Yes, Anu told me about the Indian supermarkets in England, an admirable business, to be sure.”

When we were seated there was no head of the table but Mr Singh was on the corner with Anu and Anna next to him and then Gaurav and me. The band was facing us and all the studio people were towards the other end. The meal was excellent, as to be expected, and I could see Jill and Joyce tucking in with gusto. They had the head make-up woman between them and were chatting away quietly. At the end of the meal the Head of Studio stood up and nodded towards our end of the table before saying “I would like to welcome these talented visitors back again, I hope that the year goes well. Gaurav Hidjeet, you have an appointment tomorrow for a screen test to verify that you can do the film next year.”

He then introduced the screen test guy, the choreographer and then pointed to a chap with a pony tail and said “This is our maestro, the orchestra conductor.” I interrupted, saying “Excuse me but what orchestra?” He said “The hundred piece orchestra that will be touring with you. I have decided that you and your band will open the show and then Anudeep will perform in front of it.” I looked at Anu and saw that it was a surprise to him as well. I stood up and said “Lajpal, can you organise our flights home again, I can see we are not wanted here.”

The Head turned a shade of puce and blustered “You can’t walk out on the show just before it starts, I cannot allow it!” I counted five and then said “Mister Head of Studio, did you listen to the Anudeep albums that we delivered?” He said no but he has staff to do that sort of thing. I looked at Lajpal, took a punt and asked “Lajpal, what were the sales of the album with the orchestra against the one we copied exactly but without the orchestra?” Lajpal smiled as I knew he could see where this was going and he said “The original one sold a few while it was out there alone but as soon as the reworked one went on the market we took the first one off as the sales stalled. I would say that the second one sold about twenty or more times the number from the figures I have seen, but those were some months ago.”

My target said “So what?” and I went in for the kill, saying “If you had bothered to listen to the things that you think you are in charge of you would have heard that the orchestra drowned his voice to make the whole album sounding like single pappadum, interesting but not satisfying. If you bothered to watch the DVD of our show in London you would have heard Anudeep Dhawan back at his best but with a stronger and smoother voice. He is a great singer and the sales of the last couple of albums have shown that his fans think the same. If you insist on hiding him inside an orchestra again, I do not want to be there to see his slide into obscurity. Sorry Anu, but if that idiot gets his way that is where you will be long before the tour ends.”

My target walked straight into my sights with the expected “You can’t talk like that to me!” So I turned my attention to the aide beside him. “Does he ever want to hear anything that isn’t good? Do you ever tell him anything he doesn’t want to hear?” The aide gulped first and then smiled, saying “The only thing I have ever said that he didn’t want to hear was the last time you were here. He was going to sack everyone then but some of your friends showed him the error of his ways.” I said, “It wouldn’t surprise you that there were a lot of women in this studio congratulated me in the days after that?” and the make-up woman said, loudly “Right on, sister, sock it to the rapist bastard. I had to have an abortion after he raped me but it was the only way I could keep my job. I am about to retire now so I will take this opportunity to tell the bastard that I hope he rots in hell!”

Just then I heard the tinkle of a fork against a glass and I saw that Mr Singh had stood; drawing himself up to his full five foot four he said in a strong voice “This is enough. Sit down young lady; you do not have to go home. The orchestra is a step too far. How many would help, Anu?” Anu thought and then said “About twelve, I think, just some strings and woodwinds would fit in with the rest of us on stage.” Mr Singh looked at the conductor and said “Right, two violins, two Violas, two cellos and the rest can be a couple of French horns and clarinets and flutes. Can you work with that?” The conductor had a big grin on his face and said “Unlike the Head of Studio, I have listened to the CDs and watched the DVD. What you have listed would be just the right mix. I can tell the others that they can go home.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 35

The Head of Studio was now starting to turn grey and Mr Singh called over the hotel manager, saying “Sam, do you think you can help our friend there to his room and then get someone to help him pack. Then, I think, you can call a cab and see him off the premises.”

The now ex head of studio was led away, probably wondering what had gone wrong. Mr Singh pointed to the aide and said “You, young man, I admire your bravery tonight and I want you to report to my office manager in a couple of days. That should give you time to pick up anything you need from your old office.” The aide said ‘Thank you sir, it will be an honour to work with you.” He then turned to me and said “I repeat what I said when I first met you, dear Gayle. You are the sort of actress we need for the future. Now I feel very tired, can you help me to my suite, young man,” nodding towards his new aide. The aide seemed a bit reluctant to touch him at first but Mr Singh took his arm for support as he made his way out of the dining room to a silence that you could cut with a knife until the make-up woman said “That went well, didn’t it?”

Gaurav looked at me and asked “So what did happen the last time you were here?” and I told him that the aide had been sent to invite me to a bedroom and I had refused in no uncertain manner. “Following that Anu and Lajpal got into the bastards ear and he left the hotel in his helicopter.” The screen test guy was standing by us and he chipped in with “You should have seen the trade papers after that. It was all conjecture though, so Mr Singh could not actually do anything until he overstepped the mark or one of his victims stood up and accused him. I consider myself honoured to be here tonight and see both events happen in front of the owner of the studio.”

Anu came over to us and I apologised for causing a scene and he said it all had to come out sometime. The screen test guy then laughed and said “I just realised who you were berating at the end of the screen test, it was magnificent to watch and I was sorry to have stopped you. I sometimes look through that clip to see if there were any swear-words that you didn’t use in either English or Hindi but I have not been able to pick one yet.” He looked at Gaurav and said “With your looks and voice you will pass the test if you are just one tenth the actor that your wife is. I will see you in the morning.”

The conductor came over to us then and Anu gave him a hug saying “I know you will make it work, old friend. There were times that I just didn’t have the strength to complain but I am now a new man and you will see that we will do great things.” He then said “Meeting tomorrow at eight in the Intimate Sound Stage; we will go through what is needed before our first show in two weeks. We will have some work to do before then.”

Jill and Joyce came over while we stood there and one asked “Just what was that we saw then?” Anu laughed and said “Here we had life like a game of tennis. When Gayle was here last time the nasty man sent and aide to proposition her for him. She said no and some of us followed that up with him. He left the hotel in a huff. I think that may have been thirty- love to us. In between he has been plotting his revenge and the addition of the orchestra so that Gayle and the band would be squeezed out gave him, he thought, an overhead slam. Now we are at thirty / fifteen and I think he expected Gayle to react so that he could shut her down completely. What he didn’t expect was her approach shot and rally, followed by her getting a bonus point when one of the ball-girls hit him in the goolies with an ace. Mr Singh, the owner of the studio, called game, set and match before our ex-head dug himself into the ground.” The girls looked amazed and wandered off, muttering to themselves.

The guests now all took their leave to go and get some sleep. In bed I gave Gaurav the thing I had denied the Head of Studio and we slept until six when there was a knock on the door and the maids brought in our breakfast. We had that sitting at a small table and then our maids came back to take away the trays and one told us to be dressed casually for seven thirty. Gaurav asked me if it was like this all the time and I told him that we were told what we needed to know so that no-one stood out, unless they were meant to. “That is the way they do things around here.”

When we went downstairs we were all taken to the Intimate Sound Stage which had been set up like a meeting room. It got quite crowded with the addition of the twelve musicians now added to the inner circle, as well as twenty dancers and some technical guys. Mr Singh was there, looking a lot better and his new aide was now being very attentive to him with reverence, rather than fear. Beside him sat Anu, Lajpal, the choreographer and the conductor.

Mr Singh opened the meeting by thanking us all for being here and that he hoped that since last night we all realised that we were here to create a legendary tour that will be spoken of for years to come. He deferred to Lajpal and sat down. Lajpal listed off a long stream of place names, some I had heard of and others I hadn’t. This created a buzz among the crowd. He then went on “As those of you who know the country can tell; we will be going around anti-clockwise with the last show back here in Mumbai. Each stop will be four nights, Thursday to Sunday, unless there are religious reasons that any night cannot go on. In that case we will add to the front or back so that the four shows will occur.”

He looked around the room and went on “As you can tell; it will take most of the year and there will be just two or three days a week for resting. You will all amass paid holiday time at the end of it and I do expect that those who get through to the end will get a bonus. We do have a list of replacement personnel should they be needed through injury or illness. The timetable will be that we go into rehearsal starting tomorrow. The dancers already have some moves that have been planned and can work on those. Anu and the band can look at the playlist and see if there are any changes they want to make. We will be on stage in the Main Sound Stage and will be working from there until we leave for the first show in Poona. Our intention is to film a complete show for showing on TV and the issue of a ‘Live’ DVD. “

He deferred to Anu and sat down to applause. Anu stood up and looked around. “Friends” he started “This time last year I had expected to just fade into the mists of time. Then I heard myself in a setting that had eluded me most of my life and my world spun on its axis. Through the work of Gayle, Tavleen and the rest of the Dhawanees, I have a new sound and a new voice that has been shown to be popular. Last year I spent six weeks touring the Indian centres of the UK in a coach and it was like being reborn. I want, no, I demand that we make this show one that we will be proud to say that we took part in. It is not just another show, it will be my epitaph, and, for some of you, it will be your springboard to fame.”

He looked around and carried on “Since the DVD of our London show was released, we have had enquiries from singers that I have worked with, as well as some who I haven’t, asking to be on the show. With that in mind, almost every show we do will have a guest singer from the city area where we are playing. We will set aside two songs for that guest and they will supply a disc and the music well before the show. We will have Gaurav here, who only a few here have heard singing, unless you have bought our latest CD; along with Gayle, who you all would have heard on our previous two albums. We have a head start on the show as we will work it around the UK tour show as well as the new double album of my greatest hits and there will be a showing of the DVD here, in this room, this afternoon where we can discuss the play-list and where we can add a guest singer. It will allow our extra musicians a chance to see where they fit in. I think we can wind this up for now so we can have smaller meetings and I will see you all here after lunch. Thank you all.”

There was applause as he sat down and then we all started talking among ourselves. The choreographer gathered up his dancers to go to another rehearsal room and the extra musicians came over to us and started asking about the tunes. Gaurav was dragged away for his screen test and I found myself standing with Anu, Anna and Mr Singh, who ushered us into another, quieter, room. We sat down and the aide organised cold drinks for us and Mr Singh opened up the discussion with “I have known Anu for a lot of years and have always felt that he was being smothered by the weight of the studio. However, I do not rule the place by force and allowed things to go along as they were. I am so sorry, my friend, for not seeing what Gayle and her friends saw in you. When I heard the original set of masters that had been produced by unknowns in London I had my eyes opened.”

“The fact that you embraced the new you made my heart sing; and when I looked that the London DVD I wished that you were at the start of your career rather than at the end. I will tell you that I will do everything in my power to make the tour, and the following film, the best things to have come out of this place. I will put my trust in you and Gayle and my office will listen to anything you have to say regarding the two projects. If you want someone in, just ask. If you want someone out, they’re gone; no questions asked. This young man will be the link between us. By the time you go on the road he will have all the contacts and authority he needs to make things happen. Thank you for the opportunity to make amends.”

He stood and the aide assisted him out of the door. I sat there wondering just how much responsibility now sat on our shoulders. It was ours to make or break.

Marianne G 2021

Part 36

Anna was the first to recover her wits. She put her hand on Anus’ arm and said “Well, dear. It seems as if you have total control, finally. I think we should start by getting a check-list and then work through it. I think that this is going to be a fun year.”

I then put my thoughts into words, “Anu, I think that this is now not just a music show but is a spectacular. The only person I haven’t seen yet is our friendly director. He could be very handy to get the look and also to keep everyone in line.” Anu nodded and got his phone out to make the call. They chatted for a bit and he then told his friend what was going down and then looked at me and said “He wonders if his wife can join him” so I just said “It’s your call, you don’t have to ask anyone” and he blinked as the immensity of the situation came home. He seemed to grow slightly in stature and told the director that he could bring his wife for as long as she wanted. I gather the director asked how long the project would take and Anu laughed and said “All year, my friend, all year.”

I asked them to sit a while and went back out into the outer room, where everyone was in deep discussion. Jill and Joyce were just sitting and watching things swirl about them and I went over and sat next to them. “Girls” I said “I seem to remember that Birgitta told me that you both had been secretaries before you went over to being beauticians.” They both nodded so I asked “How would you like to be secretaries again, but at the centre of this extravaganza instead of on the outer?” Jill asked “What do you want us to do?” and I told her that we needed a PA for me and for Anu as we were now in charge of the whole tour, in effect, and we will need someone to note the thoughts and plans that were thrown up during our meetings and to keep us on track. They looked at each other and nodded, with Joyce saying “Do we get a raise?”

I laughed as I nodded and took them into the back room. I asked who the person was who could organise outfits for the two girls and he said that Sam, the hotel manager, would put things into place. I told Anu that now we had our own PAs and that, from lunch-time, the girls will be our shadows. Anna nodded and said “Good start, we will need to hit the deck running this afternoon.”

I then said “Anu, another thought. With guest singers, our line-up needs to be increased. I think that a couple of guitars and someone on keyboard will be needed for whatever they throw at us.” He nodded, saying “Good idea. I have one of my own if we do that. Why don’t we start the show as we did in England with ‘Nice to be here’ and you can open with me joining for the last verse with us singing the last lines together?”

We went back out in the outer room and Anu clapped his hands for silence. When he got it he said “Mr Singh has given Gayle and I total responsibility for the tour. Whatever we want will be supplied. We will want to have a bit of a brainstorming session this afternoon after we have seen the video so we would like you have a good think about what we need to do. Tomorrow we need to be well into getting the show on the road. Our best director is coming in to oversee the visual package and the show video. If anyone has any questions, come to me or Gayle or else Jill and Joyce here, who will be our eyes and ears for the next twelve months. Treat them well and they may reciprocate, treat them badly and you can pack your bags. We want to hit the road as one big happy family and it will work out. There will be no egos in this team and we will all benefit. Tell your crews, tell your friends. OK, let’s go and get lunch.”

We all went back to the hotel and I led the girls in search of Sam. When we found him I said “Sam, these girls are going to be PA for Anu and myself. Can you please organise them with suitable outfits and they will need a supply of notebooks, audio recorders and all the usual equipment.” He said Mr Singh had already spoken to him and that it will be arranged and he picked up his phone. We went up to our rooms to freshen up before lunch. As I was getting ready to go down, Gaurav came in and held me close, saying “I passed. I am now a bona fide actor! He told me that we will be on the big screen together.”

I kissed him and laughed with him. He was like a kid with a new toy. I told him that we were going to get the director in that did the elephant scene and that he will be in charge of the show visuals. I mentioned that he would also be doing the film next year so not to upset him. We went down to lunch and met up with Jill and Joyce, now decked out in pencil skirts and silk blouses, carrying a satchel each that I expected had everything that a good PA needed. Jill said “We decided that I will be with you and Joyce will be with Anudeep. They even supplied us with two-way radios so we can keep in touch while we are out. How cool is that?”

Gaurav asked “What did I miss?” and I told him that he will pick it up as he went along – but that I expected to be called Mistress Gayle from now on and laughed. The lunch was more jovial than previous meals I had experienced here and the mood carried through to the screening of the DVD. In the session following we decided that the show will start with ‘Nice to be here’, followed by a duet and then I would leave Anu on stage to do a range of his earlier songs that would end with a strong duet with Gaurav to close the first half. The second half would start with Gaurav and me singing one of our English duets and then we would welcome the local guest or guests. Anu would come back on stage and we had a choice then depending on who the guest was. They could duet or we could all sing a few of the later songs with us backing him. The final part of the show would be a medley of his greatest hits and, if an encore was needed, he said that a friend was writing something new as we spoke.

We put a line in the sand and said that the show will be two halves of an hour and a half each and that the final play-list would be arranged to suit the timing. If we had no guests, Gaurav and I would do solo numbers. The dancers would be used sparingly and it was thought that no more than six needed to be on stage at any one time. Someone suggested them hanging by ribbon drapes and it was taken on board depending on what each venue could supply. Bill was attached to a small sound and light crew and they left, that afternoon, to check out the Poona venue and the next three so that we were well informed. An erection crew was formed and would leapfrog us setting up and pulling down the venues as we moved around the country.

The following day we had been joined by the director, Ajay, and his wife Bimala. The new aide, Sabhya, re-joined us with a big box of ID cards on lanyards for us. We also had our extra band members, most of a popular group who had been volunteered to join us. Adorned with our lanyards that gave our names, positions and what access we had, we all went to the biggest sound stage. Anu and Ajay took a look at the set-up while Anna, Aganee and Bimala found seats, pulling some knitting out of their big bags. The keyboard, guitars and the Dhawanee instruments were on the stage, along with places for the orchestral guys. The conductor joined the other two and they had a bit more of a chat.

Ajay then called the stage hands over to move things around a bit and then did some sketches of things he wanted made for tomorrow. The new band members were played my version of ‘So nice to be here’ a couple of times and then we had a go at it. We had the two cello players doing the bass lines and the first run through didn’t sound as awful as I thought it would. As we repeated it, the other players started joining in and, by the fifth time it sounded pretty good. Damini was doing quiet dholak riffs and just about everyone was putting in. The director and conductor then asked if we could do it at concert level with Anu joining in and I must say I thought it was a good start to the show, seeing that a quarter of those on stage had never heard it before.

We left that for the moment and worked on the songs that we had played in the UK. This was straight forward and the other instrumentalist had been given the sheet music. The electric guys were good enough to have some input by the third take of each song. As they played it would gain more and none of us were worried about it being scrappy on the first day. Over the course of that first day we worked right through the first half. I thought that Gaurav acquitted himself well when he was up for his part, considering that this was the first time he was taking part in a show rehearsal.

While we played and sang, the dancers were trying out twirls and steps around us, which was odd at first but, as we got used to it, was strangely soothing. All the while everyone was making suggestions and things were discussed, Jill and Joyce keeping tabs on everything for future use.

Marianne G 2021

Part 37

We were all tired by the end of the day and wrapped it up so we could have dinner. Anu had told the hotel that we would be working so we did not want dress-up meals. It was an animated bunch that sat down to eat. Anu was flanked by Anna and Joyce while I had Gaurav and Jill.

The two girls ran through their notes and let us know what things we needed to talk about after dinner. We let everyone have the meal in peace and then we stayed at the table while Anu went through the list, allocating tasks to people if needed. This became the normal evening as we worked through the set. The hotel staff kept us well hydrated.

Next day we had extra levels on the stage with the Dhawanees set the highest with the orchestral guys off to one side and the electric ones to the other. There was a pathway between them so the singers could move up or down stage and even back up the middle to reappear on a side. It was simple but effective. We also had more lights pointing at us and some more among the band that could be swivelled. I could see how these would work, having seen enough shows on video. I was starting to think that our show in the UK must have looked pretty poor.

Each day was an improvement on the one before. The sound was getting fuller, the stage was getting ritzier, the songs were coming together and the dancers became a part of the scene, all of them getting a workout. We worked at it every day and, on day eight, we had the added interest of our stage costumes. We also had been given the music and video of the first three guest singers so their songs were added to the play-list with one of us standing in for them. Jill and Joyce had taken to their task like a duck to water and we were ticking over nicely with everyone having any query answered or request fulfilled. Aganee was kept busy making sure that everyone kept to the older Hindi when we sang in it. On day ten it was decided that we would go for a full show, without the guest spots, and the cameras were set up that night.

The next morning we arrived to see the stage surrounded by cameras and the director called us to listen. “I have changed my mode of recording” he said “I want you to play the show as you will when you open. That way you can pick any weaknesses yourselves. I will record it on film and on the portable recording unit. Then, this afternoon I will ask you to do it all again and I will have some changes in the camera positions.” By the time we were ready there was quite a big audience and I could see Sabhya getting Mr Singh a comfortable seat with a good view. The biggest difference today was that we were going to do the complete package, lighting and some pyrotechnics as well as smoke machines that had been set on the side with some fans. They thought of everything as we had extraction fans on the other side.

We started with the slap-board to synchronise the sound and video in post-production and then we started with the keyboards and the first tune. As I sang the second line someone dimmed the lights over the audience and we were off. By the halfway mark of the song we had all the instrumentalists adding their part and Anu joined me on stage singing the last verse together. At the end of the song there was a sigh from the audience and then Anu and I did one of our Hindi love song duets before I left him on the stage to work through the works that made him what he was. I stood beside Gaurav until it was his time to join Anu on stage for their song together and we finished the first half with us all on stage and singing in harmony.

As the music faded there was spontaneous applause and we all had a drink before heading back onto the stage, going through the slap-board ritual and doing the second half with the band starting with the music and Gaurav and I coming in from opposite sides and singing our duet. We certainly made that one sizzle. For this show I had a solo number and Gaurav followed me and the Anu joined us to work through more of his songs. We still had not heard the one that was being written as an encore but the last song was extravagant enough to finish the show on a high. Our audience was very generous with their applause, even if most of them could now sing every word themselves.

As we stood on the stage discussing our attempt, Mr Singh came up to us and hugged everyone, thanking us for working so hard. He said he had come today to see for himself what we could do and that we had exceeded his expectations. When he left we all went back to the hotel dining room, still in our costumes, to have lunch. Ajay had given his orders to his cameramen and, when we went back there had been a few changes. That afternoon we did it all again and I felt that it had a bit more edge to it. We had better be good by now as we would be opening in Poona in two nights.

The following day we did it all again and it got a bit better each time. Ajay now had four complete shows to choose from and we were given news that the venue in Poona was ready for us and we would be going there tomorrow, with a guest singer to rehearse with, before the first show the night after. Ajay told us that a complete stage set was already set up and the one we were using now would leapfrog us to the following venue. A truck with our stage costumes had already left and we just needed to take our own luggage. Our dirty clothes would be shipped back to the hotel each week for cleaning and we would be kept dressed as we went around.

We took the helicopters to Poona and landed in the forecourt of the hotel. The guest singer was already there and we all were taken to the venue where we worked through his items. It was odd as all he had to do was replace Gaurav as we had everything else down pat. The other part was to take him through his part in the last song. He had already been given the track to learn so it didn’t take us long at all. Back in the hotel we relaxed for the first time in two weeks. Janet and her husband, Guptar and Birgitta joined us that afternoon after having been helicoptered in from the airport in Mumbai. Guptar said that the ride was fantastic. We all rested the next day and had an early dinner before going to the venue.

The opening night was everything one could want. The venue was about ten times bigger than anywhere I had sung before and was filled with a crowd eager to see their hero. I opened up and there was a roar as his voice joined mine and it went onwards and upwards from there. Gaurav and I were very well received and the local guest singer was appreciated as well. When we finished there was a standing ovation and we had to take at least four curtain calls. We were all on a high back at the hotel and I found it hard to sleep. At least I had Gaurav beside me to help me relax.

The next three nights were just as good and, when our family and friends left us on the Monday morning, they all said that they had been blown away by the experience. That Monday we had the lovely experience of being interviewed and then we got back into our helicopters to move to the next venue. Over the next weeks we played four smaller cities before hitting the southern cities of Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. Then we worked up the eastern coast to Kolkata before working through the north east to Lucknow and Delhi. It was hard at times but was also fun. On our off days we got to visit the best that India had to offer and were feted wherever we went.

It was also getting hotter as we were now in the middle of summer and the days in Delhi were over a hundred degrees every day. We then worked through the west of the country before arriving at Jodhpur. At this point we were just about the biggest thing around and the huge venues were at capacity every night we played. It was hard to even step outside the hotel and when we did we needed guards. Just another five weeks saw us back in Mumbai in early December. It had been an absolute blast and we were all household names by that time, from the dancers on up through to Anu, now classed as a god by many.

Jill and Joyce had done very well, keeping us well in hand and getting in a lot of sightseeing but even they were noticed and had fans. The video of the show had been on the TV at least six times and the DVD that had been produced from it had gone through the roof. All the albums had been number one during the year, even my one with the Four Winds once the fans got the link from the first song. I hoped the boys back home were enjoying the income. Our last four shows were to be in a big venue in Mumbai and Lajpal informed us that the four had become eight as we needed to add another full weekend to cover the demand.

By the end of the tour we were all on a first name basis with most of Indias’ ruling class, its business world and the cream of the entertainment world. It had been a roller coaster ride and, when we took our last curtain call in Mumbai, it felt as if it should never stop but it now had. Anudeep Dhawan was now officially retired from the music business and really looked like he needed a year off. Anna kept close to him at the after-show party and took him off early to rest. I think that the last few venues had him reaching his limits.

As for the rest of us, Damini, Husnia and Kajari had started going steady with dancers and were saying that they would be staying in India now. Tavleen and Balnoor also had ideas to stay. Everyone was now well off enough to get a good dwelling and they may be required to be in the film the next year. Jenianna and Bill announced her pregnancy a few weeks before the end of the tour and had already arranged to lease a house on the coast south of Mumbai. I had asked Jill to remain as my PA and Joyce had gradually become Gauravs’.

One day we were joined, at lunch, by Mr Singh. He thanked us both for getting the tour finished and said that everyone had made a lot of money. He said that he hoped that we had enjoyed our holiday but it was now time to talk about our next step.

He said that he was sorry to be the one to give us the news but Anna had told him that Anu was now too frail to do the film and would be taking a total rest until he got better. They had moved to a secret hide-away they owned and would not be able to be contacted. I asked him if he could pass along our heartfelt good wishes and he nodded. He then motioned to Sabhya who came over to the table with a briefcase. He took two contracts out of it and gave us one each. When we looked at them our jaws dropped as they wanted us to sign on as film stars at an unbelievable amount each. I was pleased that Janet was still listed as our agent and that our musical output would go through her hands.

Mr Singh said that the ‘Singing Rajah’ may be shelved for the moment but he had been inundated with scripts and requests for us to get in front of the cameras as the year had gone on. I looked at Gaurav and asked “What do we do now, my love?” and he just asked Sabhya if he had a pen on him.

Marianne G 2021

Part 38

We all flew back into London for Christmas and it seemed drab and in need of a coat of paint after the glamour and glitz of India, although it did smell a bit better. We had a couple of weeks at home, catching up with family and friends, before all flying back to India to see what our future held.

When we arrived we were again asked to leave the plane first and taken to the helicopters. Gaurav held me close as we waited to board and said “You know, last time we were here it seemed out of this world. Now it feels as if it is our world.” We would still keep our apartment in London so leased one near the Bollywood site, filling it up with good furniture and filling the wardrobes with our huge mass of clothes. It was secure enough for us to live in but we did stay at the hotel as much as we could as it was very handy as we worked.

We also leased two apartments below ours for Jill and Joyce. They had been keeping in touch with their boyfriends and the two guys had waited for them to work through the year. I gather that they had been told that it would be India or nothing so they both decided to come back with us. Their first trip on the helicopters was something to behold. The two girls had become integral to our world, which was fast becoming more surreal.

A few weeks later I was getting sick at reading scripts that showed me as a weak woman singer, waiting for a strong man to carry me away to his castle / hovel / island / tent where I was to love him for ever. Gaurav thought they had merit but he was going to be the handsome brute in these movies. Then I read one that did look as if it may work. The working title was ‘The Singing Detective’ and that would have to be changed as it had already been done. The story was set in a nightclub where I was the owner and main singer. There was a series of murders that led back to the club but there was no hard evidence, and what little there was pointed to me. Gaurav was to be the slightly damaged detective who was actually afraid of women.

The plot twisted and turned but the upshot was that the murderer was one of the club members with a hatred of homosexuals and the story only started to make sense when it was found that all of the upright and married victims were members of a secret sect that called itself the Blue Shorts and raped little boys; our murderer having a young brother who had been a victim some years ago. The link was a pair of cufflinks each had in the shape of enamelled shorts that, when worn upside-down, looked like a Vee.

The final scene is a shoot-out in the club in the middle of a show and the detective kills the murderer but takes a shot that was meant to kill the owner. The final scene is her cradling the detectives’ head as they wait for paramedics and he admits that he loves her. You don’t find out if he dies or not and I thought it was a great story which allowed for both of us to sing, me in the club and Gaurav as the detective singing in the shower where no-one can hear him.

Gaurav said that we could never do it as it wasn’t Bollywood and I pointed out that if we wanted to have a solid career we will have to make solid movies that could be up for international awards. We ran it past Lajpal and he was sceptical so I got Jill to package it up and send it to Mr Singh with a copy to Ajay, the director. Ajay came back to us first to say that it could be impossible to make in this studio unless it had approval from the top. He said that he was already building scenes in his mind with a noire feel to them and he was quite excited at what he was imagining.

We kept on reading insipid scripts and had a large pile of rejects when another one took Gauravs eye. This was a picture that was set in a semi-war zone between India and Pakistan. That was immediately a point against it being made. The male lead was a brave Indian Army officer who falls in love with the voice of a sultry Pakistani woman who sings on the Pakistani radio. What he doesn’t know is that all of the songs have been pre-recorded some years in the past and that the woman is actually living over a shop where he goes for his pastries. One day he hears her singing in the shower from out in the street and the love story starts from there with the usual dance. The kicker is that they both perish while making love, for the first time, in an orchard and they roll on a land-mine. That would be some ending – going out with a bang while having a bang. I was sure that the more squeamish in the studio will insist on a forever after ending but we would have to see what transpired. I could see, in my imagination, the camera panning back from the two bodies as the credits roll and the soundtrack being a bitter-sweet love song sung in harmony by the two of them.

We packaged that one and sent it off to Lajpal, Mr Singh and Ajay to see what they thought. As we waited, we worked on an album for the two of us in front of the band which would be the next Dhawanee disc. We kept the touring group together and it would be a fuller sound that we used to have but the others thought that we may as well use the talent that had been offered. We already had a few songs that had been in the show so just needed to find some more. Luckily, with the studio now behind us we had lots of songwriters clamouring to give us material so a lot of our time was, like the scripts, weeding out the crass and the cringe-worthy to get to the good ones.

Three months back in India we received a message from Sabhya, through Jill and Joyce, to attend a meeting at a private residence in the hills. We would be taken by helicopter on the Friday afternoon. Jill and Joyce were included and we would be staying until Monday morning and would only need our personal toiletries and casual clothing but was warned to pack warm as it was a bit colder where we were going.

We were taken to a remote area where we flew around a large hill to see a sizeable mansion set facing north. It had a helipad set behind it and our transport settled down on it and we got out. Our luggage was handed down to us and we took it to the edge of the helipad and our helicopter spooled up and took off again, leaving us standing and trying to take in the magnificent scenery that lay in front of us. “Magnificent, isn’t it?” said a voice behind us. We turned to see Sabhya standing with a trolley for our bags. “I have to pinch myself every time we come here. It’s like being in another world and I must thank you, Gayle, for your stand that night. It has changed my life in more ways than you could imagine. Now, let’s have your bags and I will take you into the house.”

We loaded our luggage on the trolley and then followed him down a path to doors that were set into a rock face. “Are we about to meet Doctor No?” I asked and he laughed and said “When it comes to you, Gayle, I think that he is Doctor Yes. You will see when you meet our other guests.” Through the doors we found ourselves in a corridor that led to the main part of the house. We were actually on the bedroom level and our bags were given to maids to take to our rooms as we passed. In a large lobby with a view over the countryside we were ushered into a lift which took us up a couple of floors and we came out into a huge lounge area with full wall windows that made you think you were flying.

Sitting around the lounge were a number of people who stood as the lift doors opened to welcome us. First was Mr Singh, who introduced us to his wife; then was Anu and Anna who both enveloped us in hugs. After that Ajay and his wife gave us hugs as well and then we met two guys and their wives who I realised were the writers of the two scripts we had sent. Of the others in the room, most were film people and then we had our orchestra conductor, Girindra, and a number of aides and PAs. Mr Singh announced that it was time for a casual dinner and we all went into a similar sized room which had a long dining table that easily took all of us.

There was general chatter as we ate a very normal meal, but beautifully cooked and presented, mostly about the tour and what had gone on since. I was sat in between Anna and Mrs Singh and we had a lovely conversation. She told me that she had a crush on Anu ever since she first saw him and she had gone to one of our concerts in Mumbai and absolutely loved it. Anna told me that the tour had taken a lot out of Anu but that he wouldn’t have missed a moment of it. She said that they had a small army of secretaries sorting the mountains of fan mail that was still arriving.

As we came to the end of the meal, Mr Singh stood up and tapped a glass for silence, which was immediate. “Good friends” he started “I have brought you all together this weekend to work on a couple of projects that have caught my interest, thanks to Gaurav and Gayle, here. But first, I would like to propose a toast to the people who made the tour last year such a success. To Anudeep, Gaurav, Gayle, Ajay and Girindra, whose talents, skills and damned hard work pulled it all together and kept it that way over a gruelling year.” We five sat and blushed while the others stood and toasted us.

He stayed standing when they sat again and carried on. “I am sure that you all realise what has brought you together today. Gayle sent me two film scripts that I read and immediately wondered why I was asked to look at them. The synopsis of both looked like they were impossible but my wife read them and saw the same things that Gayle and Gaurav did so I then took time to read them myself. Then I was speaking to Ajay about another project and he asked me if I had seen them and when I said I had, he started describing a few scenes that he had imagined and I then realised that we could do something amazing. I sent both scripts to Anu to see what he thought and the result of his looking at them has brought us together today.”

“We have, here today, the two writers of the scripts, my best director and cameraman, the best conductor and one of our most interesting songwriters who does not usually write for film. This weekend we will work through the possibilities of making both films in a studio I own in Delhi that does not work on Bollywood movies. I am certain that you all know who the lovers will be in both films but my surprise was that Anu wants to play the part of the murderer in the detective one and the part of the commanding officer in the other. Both are non-singing parts and he has told me that he would like his final films to be with him playing a serious part for once in his life.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 39

That was something I had not seen coming but, on reflection, it made perfect sense. Anu did not need to prove again that he was a great singer and proving that he was also a great actor to those who panned Bollywood films as just fluff would be irresistible.

Mr Singh then deferred to Ajay who stood up and gave us a brief idea of how he wanted to film the two projects. He wanted to get the first in the can as it was able to be shot in a studio with the right sets. Much of the outside work would be in the night and almost any street would be good as background. The second film, he said, would be mainly on location, somewhere up towards the border, so it had a sense of realism. He had expanded the first part of the script to give the commanding officer a couple of good scenes and he had a few more ideas on the final scene that made me wonder why I had not thought of it myself. But, there again, I am not an experienced director.

The conductor was in on the ground floor but his work would be needed once the initial cut had been made so he had the visuals to work with. He did suggest that the last scene cried out for ‘The Lark Ascending’ and I agreed because it immediately gelled with the scene I already had in my mind. I suggested the use of a drone and that brought smiles from some of the others as they saw the possibilities. I think that everyone knew that this would be the more powerful statements when it came to the screen, even if I did like the detective one better.

The weekend was a lot of talking, taking notes and making changes. Saturday saw Anu, Gaurav, Jill, Joyce and me talking to the detective writer, going through the script and suggesting where he could add a few scenes or detract one or two. We decided that the working name would be ‘The Blue Shorts’ and he needed to make revisions so that every scene up to the big reveal would show them worn to look like a blue Vee. He promised Anu that he would work on packing his part a bit more. Over lunch I took him aside and told him that Anu would often spout a seemingly ancient saying which usually meant nothing and he had a grin on his face as he took it in. The film guys spent their time with the other writer.

On Sunday our positions were reversed and we went through the script of the other film. I could see that his copy already had copious notes already on it and I expected that the film guys had noted the changes to the detective film. On Sunday night we had a proper, dress up, dinner with all the clothing supplied by our host, no doubt supplied by the hotel stores. It was a very jovial affair and the two writers looked like they had won the lottery already.

After the meal I found the song writer, who had been a bit quiet, and we discussed the range of songs for the two movies. The first needed to be cabaret style and very roaring forties, while the second needed to be Pakistani pop. He had written quite a lot of the second but had not done much of the first. He said he would listen to music of the era and write some songs that would fit. That day both teams decided that we should make both films in English and Hindi but to actually film them as separate takes to ensure reality.

Monday morning we had breakfast together and, one by one, the others took their leave. Sitting at the table we could see helicopters arriving but there was very little sound of them as they flew in. Mr Singh asked us if we would hold on for a while and it eventually came to a point where it was just the two of us, Sabhya, Jill and Joyce and Mr and Mrs Singh sitting in the lounge watching Ajays’ helicopter heading south. Mr Singh said “Just over a year ago I gave you and Anu the responsibility to make the show happen and the tour work. I must say that I was astounded that you got to the end of it without a single dancer, musician or even roadie leaving or getting sick. The team that you had was something to cherish.”

“Today I am tasking the four of you with getting these films onto the big screen and in a shape that commands respect. They both have powerful stories to tell and I must admit that a year ago I would not have had the nerve to approve them. I now realise that to achieve greatness you have to take chances.” He looked at Jill and Joyce and said “I have been very impressed with the level of dedication and skill you brought to the tour last year. I believe that you both will be excellent in the jobs I will now give you. Please tell me if you do not think you can do it. Jill, I want you to be the Executive Producer of the detective movie. You will report directly to me. Joyce, you will be Executive Producer of the other movie, again reporting directly to me. That reporting will only be required if you hit a snag you cannot overcome. Do you agree?”

They both said it would be an honour. He then turned to us and said “Gayle, you are the main character in the detective film and will be in more than half of the scenes so I want you to take on overall control, alongside Ajay, to bring it to completion. Gaurav; most of the second film is about you and your compulsion so I want you to take a similar position for that one. If you both agree I will send a memo to everyone to instruct them of your responsibilities, are you in agreement?” I could see Gaurav have a little fight with himself and then draw himself up and say “Yes, I’m in” in a strong voice. We girls added our own agreement and we were then able to hug the Singhs. Before we left the room Mr Singh said “Jill and Joyce, I believe that both of your boyfriends have skills that they could bring to the production. Feel free to employ them.”

In our room I hugged Gaurav and told him I was proud of him and that I realised that the decision must have been hard. He told me that he thought of everything that he had achieved already since he first came to India and had realised that he did not need to fear what people said any more. “Before I met you I was just an extension of my father and was forced to mirror him in everything I did. I was not happy and I was frustrated but could not extract myself from the family business until I was replaced by Grette and Guntaj. I have totally loved becoming a singing star and doing so alongside my wife has been a double bonus. These films will be more hard work but there will be a lot of others adding their skills so we will not be alone. It will be odd doing straight acting with Anu but I can see that he really does want to be a serious actor and I think we will all have fun along the way.”

Back in Mumbai we all went to our homes and Gaurav rang his family to tell them the news. After he had spoken to his parents he passed the phone to me and said “Aganee wants to speak to you.” I took the phone and, after our hello’s she said “Anu has sent me a text asking if I could come back to India to help out with the Hindi versions of your films. Can I stay with you while I am there?” I told her that it was no trouble and we hung up.

I then texted Jill and Joyce to come up to our apartment, and bring their partners. When they joined us I put on a kettle and we sat in the kitchen to have our drinks. I said “This may be the way we work through the next year, discussing things around a table. We are going to have to relocate to Delhi to be close to the studio so we had better start as we mean to go on.” Jill and Joyce said that they would organise somewhere we could use as headquarters so we left them to it. Their partners had been told that they were now on the payroll and were much happier they were not living off the girls. One had been a baker and would now work with our catering crew, while the other had been a handyman with a real estate firm that concentrated on rentals so would join our set builders.

Over the next two weeks we had located a big house that would be useful as our headquarters as it had once been a hotel. The girls took their partners and went there to make it suitable for the rest of us. It was big enough to house the core of the film crew and a couple of coaches were bought and drivers employed. By the time that Gaurav and I had put our luggage on a truck and organised a sub-lease of the three apartments furnished, our rooms in Delhi were ready for us. With just a single case and carry-on bags, we flew to Delhi to start the next phase of our life together.

When we were picked up at the airport we found that Jill had organised a mini-bus for small groups as well. It was only branded with the Studio name on the side so was almost anonymous. The house was magnificent and our rooms doubly so. Joyce explained that they were befitting the stars of the movie and we had a big bedroom, a lounge, our own kitchen and two bathrooms. She said that it had been the previous executive suite but they had repainted it for us as she thought all of the gold had been a bit over the top. The gold plated taps and door-knobs remained, though.

Ajay was already settled in and we found him at the studio putting the finishing touches to the initial plans. He had commandeered two sound stages and the first was having the night club set being made, along with the set that showed the detectives rooms at home so that the scenes of him singing could be shot. The other sound stage already had a military commanders’ office being built as well as a mock bakery shop. While we were there we were offered some small pastries which were delicious. “I don’t know where you found him” said Ajay as he munched happily “but the new baker is fantastic.”

Marianne G 2021

Part 40

So our year carried on in Delhi. We rehearsed and shot scenes in English and Hindi. Aganee had flown directly here and was now working with all of us to make sure the Hindi version was right for the era as so many new words had crept in.

We did the nightclub songs as a single take so that Ajay could cut into them as he needed. We also did audio studio masters of the songs. I had the guitars and keyboard from the tour and Husnia exhibited her skills on a standard drum set. The Dhawanees did get various roles as nightclub patrons and Balnoor played a good bartender. The shooting went as expected and we finished up our shooting at the end of July. It would now go to post-production.

We also shot the indoor scenes for the other film. I must say that Gaurav was really good in both. For the first he was a shambling sort of man who came on strong in the end. In the other he was an upright war hero who became obsessed and manic towards the end but very loving for the final scenes. Anu had a ball in both. They had him as an enigmatic person at the bar and when the Blue Shorts were being murdered in most violent and graphic ways, he would be seen standing with a drink in his hand and the writer had given him beautifully wistful and meaningless epithets to their memory. The original boys in the story had become girls, something the writer didn’t have the nerve to include in the original script.

The case was broken when a secret compartment was found at one of the victims’ homes and a number of photos had been seen, showing young girls being abused. Another detective recognised one picture from a case he had been part of some years ago and the girl was the young sister of our murderer. The photos also showed a hand with the cuff that bore the cufflinks. In the final scene the murderer pulls out a handkerchief and some of these cufflinks are pulled out of his pocket to land at the feet of Gaurav and the final shoot-out starts from there. Anu was magnificent and his death scene was something to behold.

We then switched to the second movie. Anu was now a ramrod stiff commander and the scenes with Gaurav had plenty of bite. Most of the interior work had been done and we took a chartered plane up towards the border. The story was now set in a ‘no-go zone’ between the two countries and we were put up in a hotel. There was a small village near an orchard and it was a good location to have been found. We spent some weeks filming the body of the films’ outside scenes and then we got to the final take.

This was slightly changed from my original thoughts as Ajay had excelled himself. It opened with Gaurav and me walking down a country lane hand in hand. I spot a gate to the orchard and pull him in, not seeing a ‘Land Mines’ sign that had fallen down. We go over to near a tree which had a suitable grassy slope before it and we kiss. Then we sink to the ground and kiss. Ajay would now show the brass button of a mine and he had a small camera set in the ground showing the button and, as we kiss, we fall back so that my head covers the screen.

He had shot a scene later one day as the birds were starting to roost and they had let off an explosion which caused all of the birds to leap in the air with a huge fluttering of wings. The very last shot was to be from a drone that backed away from two headless bodies on the ground by a tree with a hole in the ground where their heads should have been. As it tracked back, in the final scene that made it to the screen, he had some CGI birds flying around and we did, indeed, have the “Lark Ascending’. It was quite a lingering scene as the credits came up and then the music became a beautiful duet as the drone camera moved to show the sky. These days it can take several minutes to show the credits and the patrons needed to stay in their seats to get the whole experience.

By the time we finished the two films we had another pile of scripts that Jill and Joyce had a small team working through. They were now looking for stories that the two of us could get our teeth into, always assuming that the first ones got some acceptance. Anu had now finished, or so he thought, with public appearances but was still being pestered to be on various chat shows. We stayed in Delhi while the post-production was being worked through. Sometimes we had to re-record some dialogue and we recorded a soundtrack album for the second film, in a studio with the whole band. We had recorded the songs that Gaurav had fallen in love with as pure Pakistani pop for the film but the new album was much fuller in sound. The song-writer had done us proud and we put him on a contract to work on a new album for us to be recorded the following year.

In November I was informed that both films were ready for release and everyone agreed that the second one would be first out the door. We didn’t want to kill Anu off until later. Mr Singh decided that he wanted to have a party to launch the first one and that the whole film crew was invited. It was to be a private showing and he invited various reviewers, dignitaries and other influential people. Our family was flown in from London along with some UK cinema executives. The party was to be held at the Bollywood studio and the big sound stage was fitted out as a cinema.

As everyone would be there, both films would be shown. The love story was going on in the afternoon, followed by a dinner and dancing. Then there would be a surprise showing of the other one in the evening. It was a huge crowd that gathered in Mumbai that day, we greeted our family off the helicopter and Grette said that she was totally overwhelmed with the attention, this being her first time here. Birgitta took me aside and asked what we were feeding Aganee as she looked as if she had shed five years. I told her that it was because Aganee had a purpose in life and had been a real help over the year with the language.

We got everyone seated in the ‘cinema’ at last and Mr Singh came out in front of the screen and gave a nice speech which thanked all the people in the crew and also the dignitaries and reviewers for attending. He then said “The picture you are about to see is not one that would have come out of this studio. If you expect lots of glam and glitter be prepared for something totally different. I have had a private viewing and I must warn all you ladies to have your tissues ready.”

The film was shown and, I must say, I got carried away with it. You do all the scenes but you do not know what the finished article will be until you watch it. The audience gasped at the final scene and stayed silent as the final credits scrolled up the screen to the sound of our duet. When the screen went blank there was applause and some cheering, especially from the members of the crew who had been the backbone of the supply, catering and admin side. Guptar hugged Gaurav with tears in his eyes and Birgitta wrapped me in her arms; she had panda eyes from the tears that ran down her face. I was then besieged by the Dhawanees who had not had much to do with this one. Anu was pounced on by the reviewers.

Eventually we got everyone into the fleet of coaches to take us all back to the hotel building where we all retired to our rooms to get ready for the dinner. Gaurav held me close as if he never wanted to let me go, saying “I didn’t realise the point we were making until I watched that today. It will either bomb or win awards. With that final scene there can be no middle ground.”

We had some very elegant evening wear laid out on the bed for us so we stripped off and made love on the carpet before going to shower. Our dressers came in to help us get ready and our make-up girls did their magic. We were held back and made our entrance accompanied by Anu, Ajay and Girindra to a standing ovation from the assembled guests. It was a good time with excellent food and a little dancing to a small orchestra. We were all having discussions with various film people when Mr Singh got up on stage and announced that there was to be a second showing tonight and ushered everyone into the waiting coaches and back to the ‘cinema’ where we looked at the “Blue Shorts”. Again I was carried along by the plots, the convolutions and the dramatic final scene in the nightclub. Again, as the screen blanked there was applause and cheering.

The following morning, after breakfast, Anu, Gaurav and I were sat in the lounge while a queue of reviewers and film executives spoke to us about how the films were made and our plans for the future. I could hear Anu being forceful in his denial of any more films and I did hear him once reply to a question about why he had not done a serious film before by saying “Because no-one asked me!” Gaurav and I just said that we had scripts we were looking at but first wanted to take a holiday.

At lunch we were ushered into a private dining room where Mr Singh and his wife held court. Jill and Joyce were thanked for their hard work and expertise, we three stars were thanked for our artistry and Ajay and Girindra were thanked for their skills. Mr Singh told us that the guests yesterday had been very positive about the new direction and that it will take time to see the public reaction before we all congratulate ourselves but he had been told they would be shown country-wide. The love story would be released before Christmas in both the English and Hindi versions here and would be going world-wide with the English version. As we were new to the movie scene, it will be a new experience for those outside India. The same would occur with the detective story in March next year.

Well, that was last year and today we are in the USA getting ready to walk the red carpet for the Oscars. Both films had been shown at the All Lights India Film Festival, all three of us had won IFFA awards, Anu had been given the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and the soundtrack album had been given the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Indian music, as well as both soundtrack albums getting into the Indian top ten.

Tonight we are nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best supporting Actor and Best Foreign film. We have two more movies in production at our Delhi studios, now known as Hidjeet HQ. We now cannot go anywhere without being recognised and, in India, mobbed. So that is the story of how I went from a bongo playing bloke in a street band to a married acclaimed actress. It has sometimes been a hard road but I have loved every moment of it.

The end

Marianne G 2021