My Quiet Second Wind with the Flute

I grew up with music around me in small, simple ways. People in my neighborhood would sit and play the flute. They did not always have a guru. They followed their own ear and their own feeling. I watched them and listened, and something in me paid attention. That attention stayed with me.

When I was about sixteen to eighteen, I made a local bamboo flute and learned to play a little. It was honest and rough, but it felt like my own voice. For reasons I did not question much then, I did not keep the flute long. I moved to tabla. The tabla gave me rhythm, a steady pulse to hold on to. After some time I wanted to learn a song on the harmonium, but fate had other plans. I was fortunate to get a job in the railway service. Work and responsibility filled my days. My dream of deep music study waited.

Years went by. In 2014 something in me remembered those early, small flute moments. My son and I started practicing tabla together. I also picked up the guitar. We learned by watching videos on YouTube. It felt good to be making music with my child. The work life was still there, but the music returned as a quiet need. Watching online lessons and videos reminded me of the flute again. I thought, I want to try that once more.

I bought a local flute and taught myself with help from YouTube. It was slow at first. I learned the basics, sargam and alankar, and then decided to try an online class from Delhi. The class gave me structure, but I was not fully satisfied. I wanted something that would reach deeper, that would help me fix the things I could not see myself. I kept practicing. I kept listening. The effort was steady, not dramatic.

In February 2026 I found a webinar from Flute Gandharva and decided to join the batch. The timing felt right. I had patience now. I had the discipline of years of practice. For fourteen weeks I followed the course. The lessons were thoughtful. The teaching felt mindful and careful. Little by little I noticed changes. The hardest part for me had always been the M to P transition. I worked on that note change until my hands nearly ached. Then I kept working some more. The change that had once felt impossible became a smooth shift. I remember the day I could do it without thinking. It was one of those small, quiet victories you keep to yourself.

When the FFC certificate arrived by mail and the welcome message came in, I felt very happy. It was proof, yes, but more than that it felt like recognition of the time I had given. I registered as a Diamond member for a year. I wanted to keep going. I wanted this second flute journey to be different and more mindful. I hoped my dream would be fulfilled with guidance from the teachers at Flute Gandharva.

Patience was the real teacher. The first online class I took in November 2024 did not satisfy me. I thought learning more quickly would fix everything. It did not. The important part was showing up each day, even when progress was invisible. Some days I played for twenty minutes. Some days it was an hour. Some days I could not touch the flute at all. The patience was not dramatic. It was steady practice and a willingness to return.

What kept me going when it was hard was simple: the flute stopped being a hobby and became part of my day. I made room for it like I make room for tea or a walk. I worked on fitness to keep my breath steady. I practiced scales, ragas, and short phrases. Over time the practice became a comfort. The flute gave me a way to pause the noise of work and life. It gave me a place to be present.

When I am in the middle of a tough period, I play a raga that I love. Bhopali and Durga are two that change something in me. When I play Bhopali, there is a calm that comes. The world slows. When I play Durga, I feel steadier, as if a small light is holding me. These are not big miracles. They are ordinary changes. But they are real. The music softens the edges of the day.

If someone is in the middle of the struggle now, I tell them this: patience is not waiting; it is the art of small returns. Keep coming back to the flute. Work on the small technical things that bother you. Do not be afraid to learn from many places. I learned from YouTube, from an online class in Delhi, and from the Flute Gandharva course. Each gave something. Some things you will like more than others. Keep what helps and leave the rest.

The flute has given me things I did not expect. I thought it would only teach me notes and fingering. It gave me a certain mindfulness instead. Playing became a way to steady my breath and my mind. It made me more aware of small details — how a sound opens, how a note glides into the next. It taught me to listen to myself. That listening changed daily life in quiet ways. I noticed my patience growing outside practice, too. I found I could be calmer in small troubles. The flute did not fix everything, but it changed the way I met life.

This journey is not over. It is part of my life now. I do not think it will stop. I hope the second journey will be more attractive and more mindful. I hope to keep improving, note by note. I am grateful for the teachers who guided me and for the simple joy of playing. Most of all, I am grateful that that small boy who made a bamboo flute many years ago kept a promise to come back, slowly, and learn again.

— Durga Prasanna Chattopadhyay, India