Lesson 3

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small-
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes-
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
Rudyard Kipling

Given the time English poet Rudyard Kipling spent in India this is an appropriate poem for more than the questioning technique it encourages! If time allows consider too sharing some of Kipling's 'Just So Stories' and the 'Jungle Books' with your students. These reflect a colonial presence in India which still carries a significant responsibility for present day India. Understanding India means recognising the enormous impact of a variety of conquering cultures across its history. My 'first impressions' are of southern India. The Tamil people of Tamil Nadu take great pride in their maintenance of a 'Dravidian' culture, the 'last stand' of those peoples driven back by the incoming waves of 'foreigners' such as the Mughals whose influence is most reflected in north Indian culture exemplified by architectural marvels like the Taj Mahal.

Equally you might encourage your students to share their opinions and feelings about the music and discussion of these. There may be no right or wrong answers; all reasonable offerings are welcome. Replay sounds and music from the previous Introductory lesson. Invite students to respond to each in turn. Use 'who, what, how, why, when, where, which' questions to help elicit responses.
Your students might thus be encouraged to talk about who performed and who listened, what they heard, what was playing, how the music took shape (its structure or form), how it was performed, how it might seem different to music with which they were more familiar - and how it might feel the same - why it might seem different, why people might enjoy listening to this kind of music in India, when it might be performed, where it might be performed, and which instruments were being played.