Every week-end, The Beatles Fan Club meets in our little flat in Vile Parle.
Suresh Baliga is the lead singer and Ram, the lead, or rather the only, guitarist. The rest of the band is a motley crew consisting of Bisque, Moni, Bhoj and a few others including myself.
“In Penny Lane there’s a barber showing photographs...” starts Baliga.
The rest of us cannot sing to save our lives, but what we lack in musical talent we try to make up with some earnest, full-throated singing that gains approving nods from our lead singer, which in turn, urge us on to explore hitherto unconquered peaks of discordance.
Baliga is a short, stocky guy with a thick moustache that lends his face a certain severity. But once you start him on the topic of music, he is a person transformed and a broad smile lights up his countenance.
Baliga is what you might call, a Born Again Beatles fan. Of course he knows all the songs and the lyrics by heart. But he is also an expert in Beatles trivia and have answers to questions like “Which of The Beatles got married first?” or “Which of The Beatles were left-handed?” Baliga knows all the birthdays, the recording dates, the wives, the girlfriends, the inside jokes and more importantly, can translate Liverpudlian slang into common English speech.
We are in awe of him.
In “Penny Lane”, one of the most enchanting of all Beatles’ songs, there is a reference to “a four of fish and finger pies”. With much relish, with miming actions that leave little to the imagination, Baliga holds us in thrall, explaining the sexual allusion behind that particular line.
No. This being a family blog, I shall not be annotating that line for you. You can look it up, if you want, on the Internet.
Meanwhile, Baliga is starting up another song.
It is one of my favorites. It is “Hey Jude”
3 comments:
Hey Rada,
Nostalgia rules:-)
But you forgot Sasi with his bulbul
Who is Bisque??, jog my memory
Yippeee...how about a Beatles-loving-bloggers' meet? I can claim to know at least 20 of their songs. My current favorite (and this keeps changing since there are so many of them!) is ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.
ramdas dear...ooops sorry! dear ramon diaz, of course the bisque is our good old shahi kurma and who else. rads, baliga use to mimic the ole turkey buzzard song including the opening commentry. remember? and the bbc interview with ajithpal singh- what fun we used to have - the bharath resturant with the two pegs under the chair- the good old recipe restuarant and its maitre de hotel who is reluctant to eat the delicacies of the restuarant like cockroach scented fried rice etc -and don't forget the guju merchants from whom hari chettan used to buy toilet soaps kept in higher shelves, which the guju girl has to fetch with great strain yes? Oh thanks rada for that wonderful nostalgic trip- Sasikumar- Pl keep writing
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