The French flute⁴⁶

The other day I was in Sam Ash Music Store here on Queens Boulevard. For the first time I saw a flute with holes in the keys. Of course, immediately I wanted to try it. The salesman asked me how many years I had been playing. I said, “Five years.”

He laughed and said, “Five years is not enough. The French flute is much more difficult to play than an ordinary flute.”

For a few minutes I struggled and struggled, and he laughed and laughed. Then he went to the other side of his store. In two or three minutes he came back again to the counter, and he saw that I was playing the flute. He couldn’t believe his eyes and ears!

I played for five or ten minutes. He was so moved and he asked many questions about me. Then he asked for my autograph. He also had back trouble. Once when he bent down to get something, he could not get up. He was holding the counter and pressing with his arms to get up.

Leonard Bernstein once signed an autograph for him. He was so proud of Leonard Bernstein’s autograph. I told him I had met with Leonard Bernstein. When I told him I had also had an interview with Pablo Casals, he couldn’t believe it!

From:Sri Chinmoy,I love shopping, part 2, Agni Press, 1986
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ls_2