MY TRYST
WITH JOAN BAEZ
When I was a student at Harvard I knew very little about American folk music. Then one day when I was in my dormitory at Conant Hall, Harvard, I switched on a small transistor radio I had. And there was someone sing
When I was a student at Harvard I knew very little about American folk music. Then one day when I was in my dormitory at Conant Hall, Harvard, I switched on a small transistor radio I had. And there was someone sing
ing. It
was a voice that was so melodious, so emotionally moving and so divine that it
touched my heart so that tears began rolling down my cheeks.
I asked my room mate, "Who was that singer?"
And he told me it was Joan Baez, a popular folk song singer in the US. I was so touched by her voice that I purchased her album. Soon Joan Baez was in the news. She was for peace in the world and fought for peace. She opposed America's war on Vietnam and protested. She was so brave that she took on the government and refused to pay Taxes to the Government which she thought was supporting an unjust cause. She underwent sever penalties and arrests but stuck to her resolve.
Came the summer that year and I was teaching Summer School Physics to Freshmen who were on their way to becoming doctors. My senior teacher was Dr. Albert V. Baez.
One day when we were sitting together "over a cup of coffee" I casually asked him whether he knew of the famous singer Joan Baez and whether he was related to her.
To my great astonishment he said: " I am the father of Joan Baez!"
I told him how much I admired her singing, her soulful voice, and golden heart and brave spirit, and how I wished I could meet her one day!
One day I read in the newspapers that Joan Baez was in Boston and Cambridge. She was mobbed by thronging milling crowds of fans in the thousands. It was impossible for anyone to get close to her.
When Dr. Baez and I were at the blackboard in the Physics Lecture Hall, quite suddenly I heard Dr. Baez say to me,
"Priya, meet my daughter, Joan!"
A young girl stood before me, her hair tied in a bun, and dark glasses on her eyes. It was Joan Baez! I could hardly say anything, except, "It is so nice to meet you, I have always been a great fan of yours!"
She smiled and made a slight polite and humble bow, and within seconds had left the lecture hall. Her father had called her to the class especially to meet me!!
The large gathering of students never knew who had come and left to hall. It was the one and only time I met Joan Baez, and it is a memory that I have carried with me over the years when her voice kept on reverberating deep in the innermost recesses of my heart.
In memory of those days, the past, which is often like a home, I present this song of Joan Baez from You Tube,
"The Green Green Grass of Home."
Years later she still sounds the same. For me she is still the greatest singer . There will never be another Joan Baez again.
I asked my room mate, "Who was that singer?"
And he told me it was Joan Baez, a popular folk song singer in the US. I was so touched by her voice that I purchased her album. Soon Joan Baez was in the news. She was for peace in the world and fought for peace. She opposed America's war on Vietnam and protested. She was so brave that she took on the government and refused to pay Taxes to the Government which she thought was supporting an unjust cause. She underwent sever penalties and arrests but stuck to her resolve.
Came the summer that year and I was teaching Summer School Physics to Freshmen who were on their way to becoming doctors. My senior teacher was Dr. Albert V. Baez.
One day when we were sitting together "over a cup of coffee" I casually asked him whether he knew of the famous singer Joan Baez and whether he was related to her.
To my great astonishment he said: " I am the father of Joan Baez!"
I told him how much I admired her singing, her soulful voice, and golden heart and brave spirit, and how I wished I could meet her one day!
One day I read in the newspapers that Joan Baez was in Boston and Cambridge. She was mobbed by thronging milling crowds of fans in the thousands. It was impossible for anyone to get close to her.
When Dr. Baez and I were at the blackboard in the Physics Lecture Hall, quite suddenly I heard Dr. Baez say to me,
"Priya, meet my daughter, Joan!"
A young girl stood before me, her hair tied in a bun, and dark glasses on her eyes. It was Joan Baez! I could hardly say anything, except, "It is so nice to meet you, I have always been a great fan of yours!"
She smiled and made a slight polite and humble bow, and within seconds had left the lecture hall. Her father had called her to the class especially to meet me!!
The large gathering of students never knew who had come and left to hall. It was the one and only time I met Joan Baez, and it is a memory that I have carried with me over the years when her voice kept on reverberating deep in the innermost recesses of my heart.
In memory of those days, the past, which is often like a home, I present this song of Joan Baez from You Tube,
"The Green Green Grass of Home."
Years later she still sounds the same. For me she is still the greatest singer . There will never be another Joan Baez again.
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