Singalong Prayer

Banoo Apa and Yusuf Rassiwala
browse the Internet

Reciting the suryanamaskar prayer every morning after the exercises has been a challenge of sorts ever since Sitaram Hivarkar stopped coming to the Club (ref post of January 23) five years ago. Nobody has been able to do it as well as he did.
Arun Patil did try though, till such time he was with us. Bhaswati Bose replaced him and in her absence, Urmila Sinha read out the prayer from a piece of paper. But none of them could quite recreate the magic of Sitaram’s invocation, the power behind that voice, clarity in pronunciation and the feeling he conveyed with every word -- “Om suryai namaha, Om mitrai namaha…”
Today, Shekhawat took his chance and predictably, made a mess of it. He repeated many phrases, forgot most, mispronounced words like “hiranyagarbhaye” and “suryanarayanayan” and ended abruptly, laughing at his own gaffes.
This was when Yusuf Rassiwala and Banoo Apa stepped in and decided to standardise the invocation once and for all. It was clearly, the

Zarina Khan (c) in happier times (file photo)

only way to stop making a mockery of the morning prayer. And what could be any better than browse the Internet?
Together, they checked on a cell-phone the various options available on YouTube till they zeroed in on an incantation of suryanamaskar (closest to ours) against the backdrop of instrumental music. It is a 16-minute rendition by Rattan Mohan Sharma, which can be easily condensed. Since we have a portable speaker to play music during the exercises, this manner of sing-along prayer can be a wholly new experience. It is well worth a try.
Meanwhile, those wondering where Zarina Khan has disappeared, here is something they might try. Just call her number and you will be greeted by a baby voice at the other end. This is Zarina today. Her voice has turned into a delightful squeak following a horrid bout of cough and cold – this, when she was already down with an alarming surge in her BP level. But Zarina, true to her nature, is more amused than anybody else by the double whammy.