Day 098: John & Anjali (Romeo & Juliet)
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day 98
— John & Anjali (Romeo & Juliet)
08-November-1971
(Mon.)
TRANSCRIPT
Busy and full day. Horn lesson, piano lesson.
Practiced horn, piano, guitar. Went to German class,
studied German. Relaxed at night.
Felt good to get a lot done. Even though still not
satisfied with the horn playing.
REFLECTIONS
1971.
Quite a
full day. No wonder I’m tired. I’m glad that I feel
like there is progress being made.
It wasn’t quite the Montagues vs.
the Capulets, but there were
similarities—basically the boy and girl thing.
I'll play Romeo (see left) and my Juliet is
below right. Ok, ok. If Anjali were reading this
today, she was say that I'm taking this
relationship a bit into fantasy land. But, hey.
She isn't reading it, so let me have some fun.
On the tape, Anjali talks a little bit (she is shy) and then sings and plays some folk songs on guitar. Mostly Simon and Garfunkel. Remember that pop-folk songs in the 60s and 70s were popular and on the radio. Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and others were huge stars and had many hits. It was good music with a message.
A message? So what are the opening lines of the first song she sings? “I cannot follow you my love, and you cannot follow me.” Was it a message to me? A hint? Yes. Just like Romeo and Juliet, we were separated by our families, cultures, and countries. How tragic. Well, happily, we both survived, unlike R & J.
On the tape, Anjali briefly gets her sisters to say hello. Cute. Then at the end of the tape her mother comes in the room as the tape is recording.
Of course, you know that I am slightly exaggerating our relationship.
I am sure that Anjali had her feet
on the ground, where I may have been flying in
the clouds a bit. Though we did write each other
for several years after Vienna. At the end of the journal, I’ll
tell you more about Anjali after 1971.
See you tomorrow.
John
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