This is my man circa 1966. The picture was taken in his school during a performance of the school rock group aptly named the Logarythms and a self confessed clone of the Beatles. He was George. The band was a huge success, so I am told, with the boys but also with the girls of their sister school. Those were the good old jam session days, remember? When this picture was taken I must have been in Algiers all of 14. Had I been in the sister school I guess I would have been of the hysterical fan followers. In those days in India, I guess boys were a rare treat and one had to lap up every occasion. But I was thousands of miles away. The only thing we had in common, my man and I, was our love for the Beatles. 66 was Rubber Soul. I presume their repertoire included songs from Please, Please Me, With the Beatles, A hard Day's Night and so on.
Of all the Beatles, my favourite, and this is no joke, was George Harrison. I had all their records and listened to them on my turntable day in and day out. later I would go on to the Doors but 1966 Beatles it was.
Ranjan is a born musician. Even this morning he was practising his flute and now that his guitar has new strings, he plays both piano and guitar when in the mood. These re stolen moments and blessed ones.
He wanted to be a musician and would have if he had beeb born today when parents are more understanding and open. But in those days every parent wanted his son to be a doctor or an engineer. Ranjan wanted neither so the middle path was an MBA.
I wish Ranjan had lived his dream as he would have made a mean musician and who knows become famous. I can see the little boy's dream even today in his eyes when he is in the mood and picks up his guitar. But had he lived his dream, I guess we would have never met. He would have had to go to the UK or the US and I needed to sink my roots. And anyway in those days no boy from a 'good' family became a musician. I wonder what my parents would have said if I had brought a rock star home!
But the dream never left and Ranjan is and will always be a musician at heart. God bless him!
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