By: Arush Jagan 

Hi, my name is Arush Jagan and I have been playing the tabla for about 4 years.  First let’s start with the basics. The tabla which is also known as the “indian drums” is a North Indian instrument. One day when I was just 7 years old, I overheard my mom talking about something related to enrolling me into a class. I went to my mom’s room and heard the word tabla.

In the middle of her call, she asked me, “Arush, do you want to be in a tabla class?” I said yes and she said, “The teacher is strict, are you sure?” I still said yes but she said that the more strict teachers you have, the better you learn something. When my mom enrolled me, I thought the teacher would not be that strict.

The next Wednesday, I woke up and saw a large red bag with black outlines in my room. I jumped out of bed and opened the bag and saw 2 big things. The first thing I noticed about the drums is that the bigger drum was lighter than the smaller drum which was very strange. A few seconds later, I heard my mom say, “Arush, come outside.” So I closed the bag and rushed out as if someone was chasing me. My mom said, “You have your first tabla class today, don’t miss it!” As the day went on, my mom said it was time to go. I sat in the car with the bag and went to the place where my class would be hosted. 

After going there, I learned about this instrument and learned all the hand positions of the tabla. I learned that the bigger but lighter one is called the dagga and the smaller but heavier one is called the tabla. I realized that only the smaller but heavier is called the tabla but the entire thing of called the tabla.

Coming back home, I was thinking if I could be the world's first tabla player who had ever been starting to play at such a young age. A few years later, I became a master at it. I practiced and whenever I played smoothly and nicely, I felt in my heart that someday, I would be a teacher who would teach students properly and would courage people who are not passionate about this instrument.

At my very first tabla recital, my teacher told me what to play. When I went on the stage, I was imagining how I would play to make my teacher proud. When I was done, my teacher said that was the best performance he had ever seen from a 7-year-old. Ever since then, I would be thinking of having a career of music and being the most popular tabla player to ever exist.

I was really starting to think that my parents wanted me to have a singing career as well. At approximately 5:30 pm on a Thursday evening, I told my parents what I learned in my first ever singing class. Today, the Indian instrument tabla is fun to play once you get into the mood of playing it. From the day I got my very first kaida to play, I was confident that I would be the most popular tabla player to ever exist on this planet. My mom says I always have a fantastic imagination. 

Also, there are many ways of proving that your skills in music like the tabla can be used to develop your math skills. One way I can prove that music skills can apply to math skills is that if you are in the mood of playing the tabla, you have the confidence to persevere and do incredibly difficult math problems.

Epilogue

Dear ISW parents and kids,

In this article, I wrote about my feelings when I play the tabla very well. If you are an Indian American who plays drums well, I would highly suggest the tabla to play when you are in a good mood, ,because it relaxes you. If you are a beginner tabla player but wanting to play like a master, Choose Amit Kavthekar as your tabla teacher. And again, I feel relaxed, happy, and grateful for the tabla to exist and it to be played when in a good mood. 

Sincerely,

Arush Jagan