The Accompanist - Anitha Desai (Summary)

The Accompanist - Anitha Desai

Anitha Desai is one of the literary luminaries of the contemporary Indian fiction writing in English and being honoured with Padma Shri for her literary forte. She is prolific post-colonial writer who is like Virginia Woolf deals with the psychology of souls and goes down-reaching into the hearts of her characters to expose their inner affection and dig out the concealed questions that spring at the core of their hearts. Her short stories are known for their witty, suggestive, tender and perceptive, and perfect in revealing  her skill and style.

Anitha Desai’s “The Accompanist” is an extract of her collection of short stories “Games At Twilight” published in 1978 portrays the emotional state of a tanpura artist who proves as a true disciple and accompanist to his master Ustad Rahim Khan.

The short story “The Accompanist” deals with the lives of the Accompanist and Ustad Rahim Khan who feel happy to pursue the path of virtue and commitment. The Accompanist (Bhaiyya) and Ustad Rahim Khan are two major characters around whom the whole story revolves. The Accompanist is a  truly devoted follower of his master. He is a tanpura player to his master Ustad Rahim Khan, a noted classical musician. The Accompanist is now thirty years of age who had come to his master just as a boy of fifteen years. As a boy, The Accompanist gets a lot of elementary knowledge of music as well as training from his own father, who himself was a musical instrument maker. The Accompanist (Bhaiyya) remains a life-long tanpura accompanist to his master. He admires his master very profoundly with unbounded love for his master and does not see any blemish in him (master) as a true and obedient pupil strictly in the traditional sense of the teacher-taught relationship. 

The Accompanist recollects his childhood memories when his trust was shaken out due to the provoking of his childhood friends, Ajit and Bhola. 

They said “Bhai, go back to the sitar. You even know how to play the sarod and the veena. You could be great Ustad yourself, with some practice. We are telling you this for your own good. When you become famous and go to America, you will thank us for this advice why do you spend your life sitting at the back of the stage and playing that idiotic tanpura while someone else takes all the fame and all the money from you?”

On hearing this provocation he cried continuously. Everything appeared to be unpleasant and evil and then he recollected the past incidents of his life when he was a vagrant or a vagabond who was without hope, with out aim and without destination and was passing a meaningless life. He goes back to his childhood days and reminiscences how other things were of importance to him. 

The Accompanist was brought up under humble surroundings where his family carried the tradition of making musical instruments. His father, Mishraji, as a maker of musical instruments, expected him to play a wide range of instruments to keep the family tradition to continue. Music was worshipped in his family. The central hall of his house was famous for the musical instruments made by both his father and his grand father. But The accompanist felt that it was not his desire to carry his family tradition to be continued further. Initially, the accompanist himself had strong likeness for music and also started learning all ragas and raginis from his father while he was at the age of four. His father sternly tested his knowledge in music with rapid persistent questioning in his unmusical grating voice and frequently grabbed his ears pulled them during his teaching. He felt the need to escape from such harsh and intense musical classes.  Frequently, he bunked off his musical classes to play gulli-danda, kho, and marbles with mischievous boys of his mohalla. When, he had grown up into a teenage boy he engulfed in the bustling life-style of the city by moving around in the bazar and watching as many as six cinema shows for a week. Nargis and Meena Kumari were the queens of heaven for him.  In order to fulfil his desires he never hesitated to steal money from his father’s pockets or from his mother’s savings. Not only cinemas but also he was fond of sweets. His mouth watered for halwa or jelebi made by his mother. He considered that his mother was wonderful cook. He used to steal his brother’s and sister’s share of sweets for which he was beaten and cursed by the whole family. Stealing the shares of his brother and sister proved him unkindly, irresponsible, unsociable and naughty boy. 

When the accompanist first met Ustad, as he was boy of fifteen at his father’s instructions to deliver him a newly ordered tanpura. On seeing him, who came with a tanpura in his both hands, Ustad asked him that he could play tanpura for the concert in the place of his regular old accompanist. From that moment the accompanist changed himself completely. The love for music and Ustad Rahim Khan changed everything in his life and he gave up all his childhood pranks and pleasures. All his attractions regarding playing with mischievous boys of mohalla and cinemas disappeared from his life. Music had taken their place and it had become the goal of his life. Ustad Rahim Khan’s company brought several changes in his life and gave birth to him as Bhaiya, the tanpura player.  Thus he devoted his whole life to Ustad and became his true friend and accompanist to his master. 

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