Faster is Better?

My harmonium teacher makes me practice certain exercises over and over again.  He constantly wants me to increase my speed.

Initially, I wondered why - after all I never play the harmonium at those high speeds in actual life. And I am a person who believes that slow is beautiful - especially when it comes to music.

Later on I realised why it is necessary to be fast at a craft or skill.  The whole purpose of training for any skill is to equip the person to operate in a System 1 mode (i.e. Reflexive) where the person does not need to think while performing -but yet performs beautifully and flawlessly (without mistakes). Thinking requires time, and is therefore inefficient.  Moreover in music or in sports, there is not much time to analyse, think and then react - it is therefore important to develop spontaneity.

So now I understand why I need to be able to play the harmonium really fast - it goes beyond the mere thrill of speed.  If I can play it flawlessly at really fast speeds, then I will be even more creative and spontaneous when I play it slow.

The Open Window

Midway through the function my wife suddenly asks me "I hope you closed the Pooja room windows before we left home?".

I carefully observed her tone of voice, and therefore said :"Of course, I closed the windows".

She looked at me a little doubtfully as if saying "this guy is obviously fibbing".  But she kept quiet as there were several bored people in the room eagerly waiting for any entertainment.

In the car on the way back to home, my wife asks me "Did you really shut the windows?"

"If I had told you any response other than Yes, our whole evening would have got ruined - so I said Yes.  So at least we could enjoy the evening." I told her.

"You mean the Pooja room window is open?" suddenly spoke my normally somnolent son from the back-seat of the car.  "I am not sleeping in my bedroom tonight - last time dad left the pooja room window open, a rat had entered through the window and camped in my bedroom" he said.

"Not one, but two rats" added my wife.

"Be thankful that it was only rats - and not monkeys" I said showing my legendary sense of humour.

My wife frowned : "I had told you several times......"

"And I am not sleeping in my bedroom tonight. I am sleeping in your bedroom, and on the cot" my son said.

"I hope you will find it easy to bring along your cot into our bedroom" I said.

My sparkling sense of humour was ignored.

"And the mosquitoes - how many of them would have entered the house, I wonder" my wife said.

"The sales for the mosquito liquidator are a bit down for my favourite client - so I am trying to help them" I said.  I of course said it in a very low voice so that my wife does not hear it.

We reached home, and the wife and son went to the pooja room to check how many rats, monkeys, and mosquitoes had entered through the open window.  I stood in the hallway trying to appear cool and relaxed.

There was silence.  And then my wife appears and says "The windows of the pooja room were shut. So were you trying to pull our leg when you said you did not close the windows?"

My son looked a bit disappointed :"So that means I will have to sleep in my own bedroom".

My wife again turned around and said beseechingly :"Tell me truthfully, you did shut the windows, did you not?"

I let my eyes wander over the various pictures of the Gods in the pooja room and then said "No, I did not".