The Sky’s the Limit

Damayanti Bhattacharya

In the early 20th century, there lived a girl named Herald Watson in the heart of a small village named Portree, Scotland. She was a very creative and vibrant child and she had a keen interest in music. Whenever she would have some leisure time, she would often think about the various melodies and the endless possibilities of creations a human can make with his or her voice. 

To Herald’s surprise, her school had recently introduced singing lessons which any student could attend for free from the grades of 6-12. Luckily, Herald used to study in grade 7 and she excitedly asked her father to enroll her name. Her father was initially a bit hesitant, doubting Herald’s ability. However, once he realized how motivated and determined his daughter was, he happily enrolled her for the singing lessons provided by her school. On the day of Herald’s first singing lesson, she was a bit nervous but was also ready to give her best. Yet, the day had other plans for her. 

Once the class started, the students present in the room had to sing the melody taught by the new music teacher, Ms. Camilla Williams. One after another, the students sang the taught melody and the teacher was partly satisfied, considering it was the first music class for the students. Once it was Herald’s turn and she started singing, Ms. Camilla gave a frown of disapproval and waved her hand, ordering Herald to stop. 

Ms. Camilla spoke up, “Miss Herald, may I ask you why you chose to take these singing lessons?”, Herald was taken aback by the teacher’s sudden question. Nevertheless, Herald replied, “Miss, I really like music, I want to take it up as my career and-” Ms. Camilla didn’t let Herald finish her sentence and said, “Miss, please don’t be upset but… if I have to be absolutely honest, your voice is too hoarse and doesn’t sound too pleasant to the ear. I don’t want to discourage you but you should pursue other interests.” The brutal honesty, the sharpness, the words themselves pierced through Herald’s heart like an obsidian needle. She was in complete disbelief, her very determination shattering into pieces. 

After school, Herald’s father stood near the gate to pick her up. However, as soon as Herald walked up to her father, she burst into tears and declared she didn’t want to continue the singing lessons. Herald’s father was shocked and asked Herald about what disturbed her. Once they went home, Herald had a session with her father about the words of Ms. Camilla and how it had badly demotivated Herald. Herald’s father was heartbroken, and also disappointed by Ms. Camilla’s lack of generosity. It was Herald’s first day, of course her voice will not be as good as a professional singer, wasn’t the teacher hired to train the students? 

Herald’s father gathered himself and finally declared that Herald will now take personal singing lessons and follow her passion, and that he will also motivate and be by Herald’s side forever, as long as Herald is true to herself about her motivation and efforts. Herald, even though badly hurt and demotivated, promised to always chase her dreams until she succeeds. The grind initiated; Herald started attending personal singing sessions. At first, Herald’s voice used to hurt since she was sculpting it to her own accord. Her voice would often be cracked up and even extremely hoarse, but she didn’t look back even once. She gave it her all, practiced daily and later followed all the steps of healing her voice after the treacherous sessions. 

Slowly, Herald started noticing some changes in her voice. It was smoother and the occasional cracks were reducing day-by-day. She felt motivated again, followed by her father’s endless support. One day, she saw a poster of a singing competition which would be taking place in a hall situated just 500 meters away from her home. She ran home and informed her father right away. Her father reached out to the organization and successfully enrolled Herald’s name. The competition wasn’t a very professional one, it was more like a friendly game. However, Herald knew that this was the chance she could truly understand her efforts had paid off or not. 

The competition took place and all the candidates sang mesmerizingly, and so did Herald. After the anchor announced that the results were out, all of the participants waited anxiously to know the winners. Surprisingly, Herald had become the runner-up in her very first singing competition! Slowly, Herald grew more and more confident and her father had also started to reach out to bigger opportunities. After a few years of hard work, Herald finally got a chance to audition for her dream league, “The Winter Fest”. On the day of the audition, she performed well and all the judges had positive opinions about her and she was selected to participate in the fest. This was the first time she realised what she was truly capable of, and what she could really do if she was motivated and tried her best. 

She trained hard for many months before the competition started. In the initial rounds, she captivated all the judges’ minds by her beautiful voice. Her voice was no longer the one she had earlier- it was changed, it was sculpted. She had effortlessly reached the semi- finals. However, there was a break so Herald decided to visit her grandparents. When she was travelling, oh no! Her car…it got into an accident.

It was the most miserable tragedy Herald could ever even have a nightmare of, she was rushed to the hospital. Her frontal lobe was damaged and her speech became… incoherent. She was shattered, the last broken shards of determination about to fade away, but she remembered her father’s words, “Herald, the sky’s the limit…” She had come so far, could she back off now? 

However, even though her father’s words motivated her, she knew that the reality was far more disappointing and that she would need significant time to fully recover. So, she was ready to start afresh and to come back stronger than ever. After a few days the doctors released her from the hospital and she came back home. One day, Herald subconsciously started humming her favourite song and she came to her senses…she realised she was healing! She knew there was a chance she could do it, she just needed one thing, that was…some divine intervention? 

Herald started humming a few lines, initially, and within a few days could feel a marked improvement in her vocal quality. She healed rather miraculously and within a few weeks, her voice was just as good as new. When her father saw this, he immediately rushed to the event organisers and requested them to enroll Herald into the competition again. He also submitted her medical reports that declared her medically fit to sing. Initially hesitant, they eventually agreed and let her in. 

On the day of the competition, Herald was equally anxious and eager. Her father as well as her grandparents had come, not only to see her win but also to motivate her, to comfort, and make sure she gives her best and doesn’t break down. After a few candidates, it was Herald’s turn. 

Herald slowly walked up to the stage, the anxiety kicking in. She slowly picked the mic up and walked towards the audience. She knew she could do it, she knew she had the capability… all she had to do was to focus. She waited for a few seconds, gathering herself and then finally, she started the singing. The audience as well as the judges were thrilled and delighted on hearing Herald’s voice and style of singing. Once the results were out, Herald knew that even if she didn’t acquire a position, she gave it her best. The anchor started declaring the runner-ups. When Herald heard the name of the 1st runner up, she had almost given up but… “Herald Watson, 1st place” declared the anchor and Herald’s family instantly burst into cheers.  Herald refused to take the win alone and requested the other competitors to share the glory. 

Her father watched from afar, tears of happiness rolling down his eyes, knowing that he had fulfilled Herald’s late mother’s ultimate wish, to let Herald follow her passion. And, the divine intervention that Herald had wished for had come true…thanks to her late mother.

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Setu, May 2025