Plans in the making

I've been slacking on this blog... mainly i guess because i haven't had too much exciting stuff to write about. The other day we went to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park which is actually in Bombay city limits, about 20 minutes from where we stay. 46 tigers live there, we didn't see them. We went to explore the Kanheri Buddhist caves from the 6th century (i think). We were there with a friend, Dharam, whom we had met at a party the week before. The three of us rode on his motorcycle 6 km to get to the site of the caves. Then we walked around the cite and enjoyed the views. Both Jesse and I would have liked to spend some time in silence but our friend Dharam kept talking and talking... anyway, it was nice to get out of the city for a few hours. That night we met up with one of Jesse's college friends, Charlie, who had just finished vipassana at Igat Puri (the same place i was at years ago). He was glowing and inspired us to make the decision to leave bombay and do a course up in the mountains. So we have told our landlord that we are leaving by April 7th. Jesse spoke with Srinivas's brother and decided that going to Chennai in June to study would be best. So that leaves us with 2 months to travel up north, sit a vipassana course, fly to Israel for my friend's wedding (yay!! i can't wait!), and continue practicing... Jesse's gigs have slowed down quite a bit. It may be that the heat stifles business (?). Last night he mixed The Chicken and it was really fun to listen to that stuff, especially to Matt's banter. :) We'd love to be able to go hang out at the Jazz Estate for a night, but I guess that will have to wait. It will suffice to drink King Fisher and listen to Hindi pop for now... Miss you all!

Jesse and Cow in Goa

Me and Kira

backtracking

Here's a taste of the recording in Goa.

HOLI

I have a very good new friend, Kira. She's from Geneva, but has American parents and did college in the US. She's studying hindustani vocal also and she's Jewish ;) So we've been hanging out everyday since I got back from Goa. We went to a concert that was held at Sangit Mahabharati (the school i'm learning at). The opening section was Paul Grant, an American living in Geneva (coincidentally) who played tabla and santoor. He has been studying Indian and Iranian music for decades. After him was a singer who was also very good, but the best part was getting to talk to Paul after the show. Kira and I were really inspired by his dedication and perspective after doing this for so long. The next day both of us practiced harder than usual I think. He also reinforced for me that I must be patient and not hurry through all of the stages of learning this complex style of music. During the week I had 2 lessons with Krishna at the school, and it is going very slow but steady. Now I have started to sing the major scale along with the teen tala which is a 16 beat cycle. Exciting! I went with Kira to 2 other classical concerts this past week. It's nice to hear as much as possible to start to get a sense of the variety of singers. We also saw a bit of dance. The concerts the past 2 nights have revolved around the celebration of Holi, a hindu festival in honor of Krishna. It's a crazy, fun holiday, that happens to fall near purim... Jesse returned from Dubai (he told me his trip wasn't very exciting, dubai looks just like america was arabic lettering,) just in time to celebrate. We went out yesterday morning and got powdered color and joined a party at a housing complex in Andheri (a nearby suburb). We spent a couple hours getting soaking wet and covered in color. On the way home we threw color at people passing by and everyone yelling "Happy Holi!" That night at Kira's teacher's concert she was singing semi-classical thurmis (songs) that were specific to this holiday and there was a man there explaining some of the mythology around it. Krishna is a playful god who absorbs all of life's colors and experiences. On this one day of the year, the divine comes to play with the people and everyone is allowed to break conventional codes by getting drunk and acting out. Krishna himself has a lover, Radha, whom he normally is not seen with in daylight, but on this day they flirt and play together. This form of desire and momentary pleaure which comes out on Holi is not always acceptable as it threatens order, however it is a wonderful part of life which should be celebrated. That was a short summary of what I got out of the lecture. So... Happy Holi to everyone and Chag Purim Sameach!

GOA

We flew to Goa on the 6th. A short and easy flight of 1 hour. As soon as we landed we breathed in deep the fresh air that is impossible to find in Bombay. In Panaji we met the crew of a movie, "The Pool" being made by Chris Smith of Milwaukee. Jesse's friends Didier and Joe are in charge of the sound track. We hung out that night, dinner and fenney (the local alchohol made from cashews and distilled). Next day we took a jeep out of town about 45 minutes to do the recording of a Goan song for the movie. The house where they set up the recording "studio" was an old portugese villa. We were only using one of the huge rooms (great acoustics) and we didn't get a chance to see the rest of the house. It was a long day of recording but I really enjoyed hearing the Goan folk style and meeting the musicians of the place. By the end of the day, they had recorded 2 mandolins, 2 violins, guitar, 3 female vocalists, and percussion (not in that order). The song sounded really great and had a kind of authentic feel. That was a quick tempo upbeat kind of song. They also recorded a softer song, a version of the movie's theme, with only the 2 mandolins. We finished the whole thing by 6:00 pm and packed up back into the van. That night we had dinner with the crew and 2 of the cast members who are young Indian boys. I saw a clip of the movie on the editor's computer that night. Pretty cool!!!! (And Jesse's name will be in the credits). The next day we were free to do what we wanted. Jesse was supposed to record something else in the evening but instead they just used his equipment so that we could have fun. We took a scooter out to the beaches which was about 45 minutes away. Jesse handled the bike very well and I wore a helmet most of the time :) It was gorgeous and fun driving around. We both got a bit beaten by the sun though. After we located sun screen, we went swimming for a while. Then we went to a little beach side place for a drink and discovered this little verandah on top of the resaurant. It was an awesome place to watch the sunset! We met another couple there and together went to a bar... Long story short, we ended up crashing that night on the floor of someone's restaurant, woke up early and drove back to Panaji so Jesse would catch his flight back to Bombay. After he left, I took the bus back out to the beaches. I was heading for Arambol, the furthest beach resort which I had been to years ago when I was here. When I arrived, I hitched a ride with some English guy who gave me a nice tour on his motorcycle. Then I went into the town area, hung out on the beach, met different people. I stayed for 2 nights and now I'm on my way back to Bombay. It was great to have a little vacation but I'm actually excited to go back "home". Being away made me realize how content I am in Bombay and happy to be doing something productive there. I like living in India. I feel more at home in India than I do in resort towns.
Hope all is well with everyone. My birthday is coming soon: 12th of March. 25 years old. So feel free to send birthday greetings :) Miss you all!

vocal teacher...

So yesterday I finally met this woman, Krishna, who is supposed to teach me at the school and it was not what I was hoping for. They are going through all the basics with me and though I feel that I am making progress by practicing everyday, the pace is so slow as far as learning indian music. They have a system that I guess they don't like to stray from atl all. If I were planning on staying here for 3 years maybe I'd have more patience. I'm thinking of finding someone different to study with. I have 2 leads on different teachers who will take me more in the direction I want. But I'll make those arrangements when we get back from Goa. We're going there tomorrow for 2 nights. Yay beaches!

take a look

Jesse on the big screen!!
The view from a rickshaw...nice toes, na?

Getting a shave!!
This is the enterance to our building.


Our humble abode!

Garbage fire

So, I know I haven't posted any pictures of our room yet. It's so small and not that interesting. But when a large garbage fire started burning outside right below us the other morning, Jesse was inspired to capture the moment... Soon after that the room filled up with smoke and we went to eat breakfast.

Summertime!

Yay, I finally got to sing on stage in Bombay. Jesse had a gig at a restaurant last night. The singer was Kira, an american 22 yr old really sweet girl. We talked quite a bit and there was another girl who got up to do a few songs so I asked if I could do one also. Summertime... I think it sounded pretty good. I can really feel a difference from singing those scales for 2 hours every day. I have a busy day ahead of me... Miss you all!

Guru ji: his son and his tabla

So this is the world renouned Tabla master Nayan Ghosh!!

Nayan ji

Last night we went to hear Nayan play for the first time. It was a concert held by a local group of Tabla fanatics who have a special concert each month. Apparently they had been waiting for Nayan to perform for them for 2 years. We arrived to the hall (which was actually a dilapidated kind of karate center or something...) in time to hear the end of the opening set. There were about 150-200 people sitting on the floor listening. The guy sitting on stage was quite good and Jesse and I eyed each other at least once like, "not bad!" Then there was a break in which Jesse set up his recording gear and the audience, 98% men, ate cookies and drank chai. Then Nayan got on stage in his pure white kurta and seemed to me to be truly glowing. This was a tabla concert, which means that there is a very basic drone kind of melody repeating itself over and over played by a sarangi (indian bowed instrument) and harmonium. The tabla then solos over this basic rhythm and melody. Finally we really got a taste of the guru's ability. The speed at which this man can move his fingers in rhythm seems almost unnatural. Not only that, but he gives you the entire piece in words, moving his tongue at that crazy speed and then duplicates it on the drum. The amount of material he knows and the precision with which he plays is incredible. At times I felt a bit out of the loop when the entire audience piped in on the one beat (which I cannot yet follow). But that's what happens when you're in a room full of people who are obssesed for years with something you have only begun to study. The recording jesse did sounds pretty good and Nayan may consider releasing it. That would be cool.
We recently found a really great restaurant in a nearby neighborhood. I don't know if I can describe the tastes but we are very fond of it. Our lives consist of sleeping, eating , and music. so eating is one third of the excitement.
tomorrow we're going with merlin to a gig at some resort a few hours away. Then on Sunday we're going to Goa for a few days. Jesse is doing some recording for some friends' movie soundtrack. Finally we'll get out of the city a bit which I am very eager about. I'm looking forward to some fresh air.