Twin Melodies – Class 9 English Chapter 6 Notes & NCERT PDF

Overview

Chapter 6 of Kaveri is about music, and bridging tradition and change. It has a three-act play, Twin Melodies by Mitra Phukan, about a young violinist and her strict classical-musician father, and a short poem, A Friend Found in Music by Bryanna T. Perkins.

Twin Melodies (play) — Mitra Phukan

Characters:

Act I — Iqbal's room. The four friends finish rehearsing an Indo-Western fusion piece. Posters of flautists Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Shashank Subramanyam hang on the wall. Iqbal reads out a newspaper review from the Parbatpuri Daily Clarion: "Melody runs in the veins of Miss Shruti Sharma…". Shruti, though, is worried. She has not told her father about the fusion concert. He believes Hindustani classical music, "with its ragas and aalaaps", is the only music a serious artist should play, and would think playing the violin to Western tunes a "desecration". Her friends encourage her, and she decides to "bite the bullet" and tell him at dinner.

Act II — after dinner. Shruti finally mentions the concert. Nabin says no. His rule is one performance every six months, because "familiarity breeds contempt". When he hears it is fusion music, he says his views have been "iterated in this house on several occasions" and mocks it as "'phoo' music". Shruti pleads with him to attend one practice. Leela scolds Shruti for hiding the "practice classes", and Shruti promises not to hide things again.

Act III — Iqbal's house. In an aside, Shruti plans to practise one last time and then withdraw. During the practice her parents quietly arrive. Nabin taps his feet, then claps with pride: "Wah, how soulful!… You did not lose sight of the notes of the raga even once." He offers the group the music room at his school. Privately, he tells Shruti it was Leela who opened his eyes. Leela explains that Nabin came from a family of vocalists, and that his father saw his choice of the violin, a Western instrument not yet part of Indian classical music at the time, as a betrayal of tradition. Nabin "worked his fingers to the bone" to succeed. Nabin admits, "I underestimated the power of our own music… my fears were baseless. After all each bay, its own wind," and promises to "root" for the group.

Message: Tradition and new ideas can live together, like twin melodies. Honest communication and understanding between generations resolve conflict.

A Friend Found in Music (poem) — Bryanna T. Perkins

A short rhyming poem of three stanzas. The poet uses metaphors for music:

Music lifts her spirits "to make sure I pull through" and is present in her happiest times. The word music is repeated for emphasis. The poem has a rhyme scheme and a thoughtful, grateful mood.

Beyond the Text

Word Power

Grammar & Language Focus

- rhythm — pattern of beats

- tempo — speed

- bass — lowest part

- scale — series of notes going up or down

- pitch — how high or low a sound is

Speaking & Writing Tasks

Common Mistakes