Kesariya Balam: Far From Home
Home is where the heart is. It’s where we want to go. But it’s also where we can’t stay long.
I started teaching my first, ten-day, international “Hero’s Journey for teens” course only a few days after “Kesariya Balam (Padharo Mhare Des)” had been released.
“Kesariya Balam” is the second single off my album, Impressions of Devotion. In it resounds a narrative voice requesting her Beloved to come to her home country. If one ascribes a spiritual meaning to this song, one might say the voice is supplicating (because Home and Self aren’t complete without the presence of this divine Beloved).
Before I started the class, I was home. Happy. I had just moved a few months prior and was finally settling into my musical life again — playing, composing, teaching. Then, this call to adventure caused the dust to rise.
The moment I said yes to the teaching opportunity, I was far from home. Knees shaking or locking but never quite stable.
I was used to teaching adults, poets, writers, professionals and took weeks to re-work the curriculum to make sure it was suitable for kids. I also emotionally prepped for rolling eyes and rude comments. I mean that’s how kids are in the movies, right? But these kids were smarter than I realized they would be. They were also kind, grateful and attentive. This… I had not prepared for.
On the very first day, one participant was talking about the “shadow self” and another talking about how villains are really “within” and require confidence and fearlessness to conquer.
None of it was psychobabble. It was straight up wisdom. I could see it in their eyes.
These kids came to daily Zoom classes from Syria, Iran, England, Kenya, India, Pakistan and the United States and were ready to dive right into the Hero’s Journey with eagerness and focus. Only one participant complained. Right after my lecture-cum-magic-wand demonstration on Harry Potter, he said, “I am ready to be a Hero, but Miss, I am lacking in only one thing… I don’t have magic!”
That was it. My nervousness faded. I would not tolerate a child believing that he doesn’t have magic.
Regardless of a person’s spiritual, religious, political or other views, I was not going to let anyone believe that they were not capable of affecting their reality in a meaningful way. That they were not permitted to be their true, authentic self and live out the life they were meant to live.
With these kids, on July 20th, I set out on a journey that lasted ten days. When we started, we were all so far from our true home, our true selves. Me included. Many believed they did not truly have the gift of music, the magic of poetry, or the smarts of their peers. I’m sure there were other hidden fears, too. Many, many, many of them.
But I’m also sure that we all heard the call that day… “Padharo mhare des!” And, I know that we all responded to it with the kind of enthusiasm we couldn’t have predicted.
