Sharada had sat looking thoughtfully at the covered tanpura before her, then picked it up and stood it in its corner. Janaki was filled with fear, embarrassment, despair. What was she supposed to do now? Sharada had sat down again and pulled the harmonium towards her. Uncovering it she had said, ‘Let's try one last thing. It's like this. An actor chooses one of two paths to find his way into the character he is playing. The first is from the inside out, the second from the outside in. If he takes the first path, he enters the emotional space of the character. He builds up the character with the aid of his own life experience. Once he “becomes” that character, his body moves in consonance with the character's mind. So that becomes the character's body language.

‘If he chooses the second path, he endows the character with external attributes, that is, he creates a body language for the character and decides that it expresses what the character is. We’ve tried the first path till now. Let's try the second.’

Janaki didn’t have a clue to what Sharada was saying, but she had listened intently to every word. ‘For now, let's forget all about teaching and learning singing. Let's just search for your voice. Your physical voice.’

Sharada had pressed a key. ‘This is the “sa” in your key. Sing it. Not from your throat. That voice has no depth, no truth. Expand your diaphragm and let your voice come up from your belly and try and hit this note with that voice. This is a boring exercise, but it's the only way to do it.’ Sharada's expression was serious. After that, twice a week for an hour at a time, Sharada would press that black key on the harmonium and signal to Janaki to catch the note with a belly voice. ‘No, not from your throat, your navel,’ she’d say. ‘Sit up straight. Right. Now take a deep breath. Hit this note.’ Today Janaki had hit the note with this raw, new voice.

Janaki laughs with Sharada. ‘Gosh. It's really taken the wind out of me.’

‘What did you think, singing is like eating channa? There's a lot of work before us, Ms Patil. But enough for today.’

Sharada has no engagements after the lesson. Shekhar is at his mother's with Shantanu. His mother's not well. In the extra time she has, Sharada wonders if she can work on her new composition. ‘Wait if you have the time,’ she says to Janaki. ‘I’d like you to read a poem. By Indira Sant. I have an idea for a new bandish based on it. I’m not sure I can pull it off.’