Yesterday was an ecstatic day. Balaram Candra came back from India and delivered me my very own mrdanga! A mrdanga is an Indian drum with two heads, one large and one small, traditionally used in the temple during kirtan. Like an organ is to catholicism, a mrdanga is to Vaisnavism.
Because it was questionable whether or not the mrdanga would actually come, I tried not to have any expectations. Regardless, I daydreamed about all the wonderful service I could do if accompanied by a mrdanga. The kartals (Indian hand cymbals) just weren't doing it for me.
It wasn't until last Thursday, on Ekadasi, that I was even able to get a decent sound out of a mrdanga. Something drew me to pick the temple mrdanga up and a soft boom boom rang with the touch of my hand. I was amazed. I knew my mrdanga was coming.
I haven't been the caretaker of a drum since i had dreadlocks. At that point, I would carry a beautiful little djembe around with me everywhere. I traveled with her throughout Mexico and made so many wonderful friends and connections due to her companionship. For awhile, la banda and myself had a regular working route going from one market to another. The three of us would drum and I would sing devotional Afro-Cuban folk songs then pass around a hat. All the senoras were extremely generous. Sometimes folks would buy us fresh-squeezed orange juice in a bag with a straw, Mexican style, or a pepsi bottle full of mezcal. That's when everything fell apart. At night, if we were really hungry and there was a bunch of us, we would play at some of the familiar comedores and then get invited for dinner. A culture that appreciates music and musicians is a beautiful thing.
So the temple will have no rest, mark my words! A new era of musical exploration has been reawakened in my life. May transcendental sound vibrations surround my every movement and fill the void within this empty, materialized world!
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