Anniversary Special – Hanuman vs Narada Singing Contest – {Ep.173.5} – Stories From India Podcast

I know I said the next episode is going to drop this weekend. And that is still true. We are continuing Chandrakanta’s story this weekend. But today is a special day. It’s the 3 year anniversary of the start of this podcast! So to celebrate this occasion I thought I would do a little bonus episode as a way to thank you for your love and support. It’s a singing competition between Hanuman and me!

This short story appropriately features me! In a singing competition. Broadcast TV in this Era seems to be full of music competitions – there’s the Voice, Rising star, Indian Idol. But here’s the very first singing contest featuring two of the most accomplished singers in the Universe. Of course one of them is me. As I have said in every episode over the last three years, I am a traveling musician! You’ll see that I’m never shown in any imagery without my Veena. That’s how important music is in my life. 

I’ve been playing my Veena and using songs to tell stories since the dawn of civilization, so as you can imagine given all the practice I’ve had – I’ve gotten pretty good at it.

Today’s story begins with me visiting Hanuman. Yes, the one and only Hanuman. The superhero from the Ramayana who can fly across Oceans, lift mountains, can shape shift. And those are only some of his superpowers. One other superpower that isn’t as well known is his voice. I knew that when I visited Hanuman. But what I didn’t know was the extent of this power. Honestly, I was so confident in my own abilities that I thought I might listen to Hanuman and give him some tips and suggestions on how to improve. Naturally, I was about to find out how wrong I was.

Hanuman had been sitting in his garden at home and politely welcomed me. I sat on a rock and placed my heavy veena on another rock. I wouldn’t dare put the Veena on the ground. I love it dearly and it is my prized possession. Come to think of it, it is my only real possession. I don’t have a home, and I usually eat as a guest in someone’s home. Speaking of which, I was hoping to stretch Hanuman’s hospitality to at least a lunch and high tea, if not Dinner as well. 

Beyond that it might be stretching it. We were acquaintances at best and I hadn’t met Hanuman before one on one.

I enquired, perhaps a bit condescendingly, that I had heard Hanuman dabbled in singing? I was a singer myself, and had been singing since the dawn of time, practically. If he liked it, I could give him a few lessons and stuff.

It’s to Hanuman’s credit that he responded politely at this point. His response was a humble one. “I’m just a beginner, Narada. I haven’t had the opportunity to practice much. The only thing I can say is that when I sing about my favorite topic I completely lose myself in it”

There are no prizes for guessing what Hanuman’s favorite topic is. It’s obviously Rama. Just as I am a Vishnu devotee, Hanuman is a Rama devotee. If you think about it, it’s not that different because Rama is after all just an avatar of Vishnu.

“Alright, let’s have a listen then. Go on, sing your favorite song” 

And Hanuman did. And I can tell you, my dear listeners, it was not bad. Not bad at all. In fact, it was positively amazing. Still I thought at the time, it was not as good as my own singing.

“You show a lot of promise, Hanuman” I told him, at the conclusion of his song. “A voice can be a powerful weapon. There are legends that speak of ” No doubt, over time I can show you how to use your voice as a weapon. At the right pitch you can even break glass!”

“What’s glass? And what’s the use of breaking it?” asked Hanuman.

“Oh, I’m sorry Hanuman. Sometimes I forget which century I am in. It happens when you time travel a lot. But I mentioned glass breaking to illustrate the power of voice. I suppose a more realistic example for this era might be….shaking tree branches”

“How about melting rock?” asked Hanuman

“Hahaha, I see you know the legends. But believe me, melting rock is just fantasy. Someone’s overworked imagination. I’ve studied it a fair bit and came to the conclusion about a few centuries ago – it’s impossible to melt rocks with your voice. You need something like a volcano to do that.” 

He didn’t respond to that, and we moved on to other topics. After a while, it was Lunch time, and Hanuman graciously invited me to join him. As you know, I had been angling for just such an invitation and I of course accepted. But when we got up to walk towards the house there was a problem.

I couldn’t pick up my Veena. It was heavy, but not that heavy. If you remember, I had placed it on a nearby rock when I first arrived. I looked at it carefully and a part of it seemed to be submerged in the rock.

Submerged?! In the rock?! What sorcery was this? And then I realized what had happened. Hanuman’s singing had melted that rock. The Veena was floating in liquid rock for the duration of the rock. But then when Hanuman stopped and the Rock solidified again, the Veena was embedded in it this time.

Needless to say, I was quite embarrassed by my earlier attitude. I was the one who needed to learn from Hanuman, not the other way around.

Hanuman was quite magnanimous. He quickly sang something else again to melt the rock so I could retrieve my Veena. And to his credit, to this day he has never even teased me about it or even mentioned the subject. But I learned a valuable lesson that day. For my part, I’m just grateful this is a lesson I learned from one of the most gracious persons in the Universe.

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

This weekend, we’ll continue Chandrakanta’s story as previously planned.