A Guitar Lesson

Her brown fingertips strum each string, giving no thought as to how many strings she plucks at once or where she places her upper fingers. She smiles and begins to hum aloud. With no melodious or consistent sound to her strumming she continues along happily. I brought the guitar to her today because everyday I see Thuk Je in the kitchen sitting near the phone anticipating the phone to ring so she can make someone’s day by calling out to them to tell them their parents are on the line. Sometimes I see her humming or singing to herself. Thuk Je is a famous traditional singer in Ladakh and yesterday I was able to catch a glimpse as to how well known she really is when I brought her to Leh. We were visiting a festival put on by the Ladakhi Buddhist Association. As I walked the streets with her holding and directing her when we came to steep stairs, numerous people would approach her with “Ah, Julley Thuk Je!” I felt like I was walking with a celebrity-everyone knew her. The festival was put on to honor the 100th anniversary of the gentleman who sparked a huge Buddhist movement among lower cast Hindu people. There were speakers of all religions, including Islam, Christianity and Hindi to honor this celebratory day. Although most of it was in Ladakhi, Thuk Je was able to successfully translate most of it for me. When dancers dressed in beautiful traditional Ladakhi outfits danced on stage, I explained to her how they looked. It was so hot out so we shared a scarf to cover our heads from the blazing sun. On the way back to the bus we stopped at a music vendor and Thuk Je bought me her CD called “My Parents.” I thought how wonderful it would be for her to learn how to play the guitar so she could sing along with it and have something to do during the day at SECMOL. I think past volunteers have tried teaching her but end up giving up which is why she is so eager to just randomly strum whatever hits her fingertips.

I place the guitar on her lap and take her fingers and glide them down the guitar. I sternly tell her if she wants to learn she has to listen to my every word and be patient. I stop at each fret and have her say aloud first, second, third ect. Her face is in complete concentration mode as she slowly becomes familiar with the strings and frets. I gently take her fingers and show her how the top fingers are in charge of pressing while the bottom fingers are in charge of plucking. Her face lights up when she figures it out. After 45 minutes of feeling the different parts of the guitar she was ready to learn the chromatic scale on the first string. I train myself to use the word “feel” instead of “see” and realize that in a way, she has the advantage over me. She can’t cheat and look at the strings rather she has to completely rely on the sound and position of the note. Delighted after moving down the entire chromatic scale she laughs joyously and repeats again and again.

After spending the morning with Thuk Je I decided to spend the afternoon finishing Jack Kerouac’s Dharma Bums, a book about Western Zen Buddhism. I found my favorite spot on this giant rock jutting out of the vertical cliff overlooking the Indus. I ended up failing to even open the book. I spent 3 hours just thinking. My thoughts were like a movie on TV. They would come and when they began to overload my mind I would make myself sit up with a straight back and meditate, clearing my mind and concentrating solely on the presence of my breath as a reference point. My neck becomes slightly bent and my tongue touches the tip of my upper palate. My right hand lay in the palm of my left, connecting both thumbs. You control your mind and it begins to naturally focus effortless. After a while I would open my eyes and once again begin thoughts of the past, present and future. The running Indus sparkles gold from the shining sun and moves around the bend smoothly. Above I see a tornado form on the ridge of the mountain opposite from me. My eyes tear up from the beauty of what I am witnessing. I feel as though I am experiencing something from the planet earth series as the sand tornado makes it’s way along the ridge and around the peak. It then vanishes into the clouds and I become inspired by them.

After a beautiful and relaxing afternoon I head back up to SECMOL to find Thuk Je sitting outside her room with the guitar in her arms.