No 13383, Friday 22 Oct 2021, Sunnet

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ACROSS

1   Link note to former (6) RELATE {RE}{LATE}

4   Remove unknown abrasive (8) SCRATCHY {SCRATCH}{Y}

10 Somehow change current unit inside a toaster? (9) CHAMPAGNE {CH{AMP}AGNE*}

11 Pose with hollow air instrument (5) SITAR {SIT}{AiR}

12 Team’s strategic dialogue which includes India (5) SQUAD {'S}{QUAD}

13 Storytellers quickly moved back with artist to the upper house (9) NARRATORS {RAN<=}{RA}{TO}{RS}

14 Not in favour of strong move over preserving visibility (4-3) ANTI-FOG {ANTI}{F}{GO<=}

16 Colour of map in Kindle (4) PINK [T]

19 Grain I lost in jungle (4) MAZE MAiZE

21 Probationer’s part in ape’s transformation (7) PAROLEE {PA{ROLE}E*}

24 A position had some significance for deserters (9) APOSTATES {A}{POST}{ATE}{Si...e}

25 Film where doctor avoids maid in Mumbai (5) BAMBI {BA{MB}I}

26 Phoney Guru hugged young Chinese national (5) UYGUR {U{Y}GUR*}

27 Fix duct for dental procedure (4,5) ROOT CANAL {ROOT}{CANAL}

28 Made listener join again (8) REENLIST*

29 Finishes with zero wickets and leaves (6) ENDOWS {END{0}{W}S}

DOWN

1   Transport for Richard, the Mumbai opener (8) RICKSHAW {RICK}{SHAW}

2   Result in captain having till... (4,2,2) LEAD UP TO {LEAD}{UPTO}

3   Bound to initially copy and then delete (5) TAPED {To}{APE}{D} 

5   Explain Shakespearean character breaking a drinking vessel (5,2) CLEAR UP {C{LEAR}UP}

6   He stays away from Jack’s teacher without reading (9) ABSTAINER {AB'S}{TrAINER}

7   Fibre bed’s the current fashion (6) COTTON {COT}{TON}

8   It represents the tree of knowledge. Why? At the end, it has pain (1-5) Y-CROSS {whY}{CROSS}

9   Drink gone bad? Add a drop of ginger and some grape-juice (6) EGGNOG {E{Gi...r}{Gr...e}NOG*}

15 Relating to breaking French law on river (9) FRACTURAL {FR}{ACT}{URAL}

17 Angry duck/bird (8) FLAMINGO {FLAMING}{0}

18 Transports very fresh lichees (8) VEHICLES {V}{LICHEES*}

20 Obtains money from old wrongdoings (7) EXTORTS {EX}{TORTS}

21 Not a drop over a plunger (6) PISTON {NOT}{SIP}<=

22 Raja guaranteed to trap an animal (6) JAGUAR [T]

23 Go and tune out speech (6) TONGUE (GO+TUNE}*

25 Philosopher’s company in bar (5) BACON {BA{CO}N}

Reference List

Note = RE, Unknown = Y, Artist = RA, Upper House = RS(Rajya Sabha), Strong = F, Maid in Mumbai = BAI, Young = Y, Wickets = W, Jack = AB, Delete = D, Reading = R, French = FR, Very = V

TalePiece

By Dr RKE

S.N.Banerjee, the aging  SITAR maestro sits cross-legged on a PINK COTTON chaddar, in his crumbling ancestral house in Shyambazaar area of Calcutta (calling it Kolkata would be alien to my TONGUE).   What brings me all the way from Britain is that I have been enamoured by a TAPED recording of his concert in London in the late sixties. SCRATCHY as the recording was, it was enough to make me take this pilgrimage. Used to the comfort of my JAGUAR back home, it is a  bone-breaking ride on a RICKSHAW through the MAZE of Old Calcutta streets, with people and vehicles going in all directions at once.   The rickshaw-wala extorts a huge sum from a gora like me. The wooden stairs that LEAD UP TO his room are creaky. All these minor irritations are immaterial, for now I am here in front of the man himself.

 

I hear him CLEAR UP his throat and I am all agog to listen to him talking about his music. His assistant (I suppose, a student who doubles as a Man Friday) whispers in my years “baba has had a ROOT CANAL treatment this morning and is observing silence today, but he will play for you”. Some solace that. The perfectionist player that he is, Banerjee takes what seems an age to tune his sitar to the perfect pitch. He begins in Bilaskhani Thodi pondering over every single note. My mind RELATEs to what Francis BACON said “the job of the artiste is always to deepen the mystery”.

 

I close my eyes and allow the music to fill my being. I am transported to another world- now on the Rann of Kutch at sunset by a placid lake, an EGGNOG in my hand,  with FLAMINGOs dancing with their partners, now in the grape gardens of La Valée de la Marne, the CHAMPAGNE region of France (never mind the noisy SQUAD of Japanese tourists) and where have you? After working up to a crescendo, he ends his virtuoso performance for an audience of one. Although a life-long ABSTAINER, I can see this is far more satisfying, relaxing and enriching than the ‘high’ from the best wine or spirit. No word has been said but his music has said it all. I gesture a Namaste and leave quietly, wondering what ENDOWS his music that soul-filling quality. I am still searching for the answer.

 

Nicholas Fisher

Music critic, The Times, London