I Sang Bohemian Rhapsody Today
15 people egged me to get my mojo on. I couldn't say no and I loved it.
Oh my God, I'm in India and surrounded by so much love. There is goodness and wonderful people seeping through the streets. Everywhere I look I find a pleasant chaos I didn’t know I missed. I knew that India was a magical place, but I didn't understand what kind of magic they practiced here.
I’m here with an Indian friend. We met a year and a half ago. I didn't know what to expect. Would I be comfortable with his friends? In his home country? Tonight, I found out who his people are. We were sitting in his living room, about 15 of us. Some were drunk, some were happy. We were listening to music. The speakers shut off and they decided that now we're going to sing. One of the guys who looks like a Colombian drug king points at me and says, you're gonna start. And I freak out inside, I'm like, fuck.
I can’t sing in tune if I had a gun to my head. I didn’t grow up with much music and I don’t understand sound the way I see most people do. Enough people have said something about my singing voice to shut it off. I haven’t let loose since. I really am freaking out, but I assume I’ll get out of it as I have every time. This isn’t karaoke. This is pure bare-those-pipes acapella time.
I can't say no. The only reason on earth that I'd be saying no is because I'm scared. I don’t do that. Not only that, but I'm in India with a guy I met twice before. I’m going with the whim of things. 'I’m not scared to travel across the world for a stranger. How could I say no to sing a song?
All 15 people look at me and say, come on, choose a song. I tell them something rock. They chose Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Someone goes into the kitchen to grab a drink and they forget about me for a moment. They start talking in Hindi between themselves again. I think, whew. I didn't say no, but at least I was saved from singing.
Then, they remember me. They look at me like, oh yeah, we need to sing. You start the song. Start the song! After a couple more back and forth, I pull up the lyrics. And I start. I say/sing the first words. I try to be loud because I don't want to sound not confident in front of 15 Indians that I don't know. I sing a little more. A little more. I sing the first two paragraphs. They join in and they help me sing. They're clapping and we’re happy. I sing about a third of the song before they choose their next victim. Someone else has to sing. I’m done.
It's kind of crazy. Singing acapella in front of 15 strangers is its own kind of magic. I never thought that I would go to India and overcome one of my biggest insecurities. I fucking love this place. I love how the people make me feel. And, oh my God, I can't believe I'm really in India. I'm so, so, so grateful.
I just got back from singing in front of those 15 now-friends. It’s 5:45am. Please excuse my potential typos and grammatical errors. I’ll share so much more next week. Thanks for your support <3
Convinced your life is a movie and I love the vignettes so much. I also dig the newsletter name: “pleasant chaos.”
"Pleasant chaos!" I think you should rename your newsletter with this.