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!