'बेटा, मी ऐकतो आहे!' 'Son, I Am Listening!'

पी. जनार्दन आपल्या वादनविद्यालयाचा पहिला जाहीर कार्यक्रम सुरू करतात. त्यांना शिरीष या नुकत्याच आलेल्या विद्यार्थ्याला कार्यक्रम द्यायचा नसतो, कारण त्याच्यामुळे विद्यालयाचे नाव खराब होईल अशी भीती त्यांना वाटत असते. तरीही पडदा उघडतो आणि शिरीष वाजवायला सुरुवात करतो.

At the very start of the story, P. Janardan opens the first-ever public programme of his violin school and announces to the audience that the programme will begin with the violin performance of Shirish Bhagwat, a student who has only just begun learning. In truth, however, he privately does not want to give Shirish a slot at all, being certain that this newly-arrived student will tarnish the school's reputation. As the curtain rises, the glare of the footlights momentarily unsettles Shirish, but he closes his eyes, steadies himself, gently sounds the tonic note (shadja), and begins to play a composition in the Bhoop raga.

सुमारे सहा महिन्यांपूर्वी शिरीष स्वतः जनार्दन मास्तरांकडे शिकायला आला होता, तेव्हा त्याने एक विचित्र अट घातली होती की तो शिकायला येईल पण रोज त्याचे वडील (नाना) त्याच्यासोबत वर्गात बसतील. जनार्दन मास्तरांनी रागातच ही अट व मोठी फी मान्य केली आणि नाना कधीच एक शब्दही न बोलता रोज शांत बसत असत.

Looking back in the story, Janardan sir recalls that about six months earlier Shirish had come to him on his own and boldly asked, 'Are you P. Janardan?', explaining that he loved music. Shirish then gave the curious answer that it was actually his father who would be happier to see him learn, and went on to lay down a condition: he would come to learn, but only if his father accompanied him and sat in the classroom every single day. This unusual condition irritated Janardan sir, but he agreed to it, along with a fee of fifty rupees a month. The next day Shirish arrived with his father Nana, who sat down in a chair without saying a single word, and from that day on Nana came every day, always sitting silently without ever speaking.

शिरीषचा हात हलका होता आणि त्याची आकलनशक्ती इतर सर्व विद्यार्थ्यांपेक्षा दांडगी होती, त्यामुळे तीन महिन्यांतच त्याची प्रगती पाहून जनार्दन मास्तर आश्चर्यचकित होत. संस्थेच्या पहिल्या कार्यक्रमात त्याला संधी द्यायचे मास्तरांनी ठरवले, पण हे ऐकूनही शिरीषच्या चेहऱ्यावर आनंद दिसला नाही, उलट तो उतरलेला दिसला, आणि तो म्हणाला की नानांना याचा आनंद जास्त होईल.

Shirish's hand was remarkably light when playing, and his grasp of the instrument was far sharper than that of any other student, so much so that within three months his progress left Janardan sir astonished. With the school's first programme still three months away, Janardan sir decided to give Shirish a slot and told him so -- but instead of the expected delight, Shirish's face fell, and he answered gravely that his father would be happier about it than he himself would. A few days later Shirish suddenly stopped coming; he was absent for a full fifteen days, and on the sixteenth day a man arrived with a message and the fee, explaining that Shirish could not come because Nana was unwell. In a fit of irritation, without waiting any longer for Shirish, the teacher cancelled his slot and prepared the remaining students instead.

समारंभाच्या दिवशी सकाळी दारात अचानक शिरीष एकटाच उभा असल्याचे मास्तरांना दिसले. शिरीषने सांगितले की नाना कायमचे गेले. त्याने तरीही आजच कार्यक्रम द्यावा अशी विनवणी केली, कारण त्याला वाटत होते की परवानगी दिल्यास त्याची मनःस्थिती सुधारेल. शेवटी मास्तरांनी परवानगी दिली आणि पहिलाच कार्यक्रम त्याला दिला.

The day of the ceremony finally arrived, and from the morning the teacher had been strangely restless, thinking of Shirish. He had barely settled down after finishing his morning tasks when Shirish suddenly appeared alone at the door. The teacher went to him at once and asked why Nana was not with him, and Shirish revealed that his father had passed away for good. After a good deal of comforting, Shirish asked whether the school's programme was indeed today, and then, desperate, pleaded to be allowed to play, promising never to touch the violin again after this. The teacher initially refused, feeling it was not right to give him a slot given his state of mind and his two-month absence, but Shirish said that if he were permitted to play, his state of mind would recover on its own. In the end, unwilling to wound his grieving heart any further, the teacher relented and decided to give him the very first slot on the programme.

शिरीषने अप्रतिम वादन करून टाळ्यांचा कडकडाट मिळवला. नंतर त्याने मास्तरांना सांगितले की नाना गेल्याच्या रात्री तो व्हायोलिन सोडणारच होता, पण नाना आता प्रत्यक्षात त्याचे वादन ऐकत आहेत असे त्याला वाटले, म्हणून तो पुन्हा वाजवू लागला. आजही घाबरलेला असताना डोळे मिटताच नानांची आठवण आली आणि आपण वाजवावे, नाना ऐकत आहेत असे त्यांनी आश्वासक शब्दांत सांगितल्याची आठवण मनात जागी झाली, आणि त्यामुळे त्याला जोर चढला.

Shirish played on with the polish of a seasoned performer, and it was the roar of applause that finally brought the teacher back to his senses. Coming inside, Shirish placed his head at his teacher's feet and then explained everything in detail -- on the very night he had sent his fee and note, his father Nana had died, and once the person for whose sake he had been learning was gone, he had resolved never to touch the violin again. He explained that Nana had once been an excellent singer, but after an accident had gone completely deaf, and the loss of his connection to music had struck him hard; this was exactly why he had encouraged Shirish to learn an instrument and had come with him every day, even though he could not hear a note of it. On the day Nana died, Shirish had decided to give up music, but a moment later the thought struck him that Nana, sitting right beside him now, could surely hear his playing, and it was this very thought that made him pick up the violin again. Even today, having faltered at the start of the programme, the moment he closed his eyes his father's image appeared before him, saying, 'Play, son, I am listening' -- and it was these very words that gave him the strength to play.