Time is flying by since my last blog entry. It was a busy week for me here on the UWC campus. I also made a mid-week trip to Pune. At this time my devotion to blog writing has slowed down… but who knows, that may change again.
On Monday morning I did my usual few hours of practice. I am learning anew a piece that I have not studied or performed for many years. It is interesting how connections from the recent past in New Mexico are springing up here in far away India. One of the teachers here, Parag, spent 5 years doing his graduate work at NM State in Portales. He sings North Indian Classical music and plays various instruments. We have not yet gotten together to jam, but when I told him I would be playing a concert in Pune sponsored by the Pune Music Society, he asked me if I knew the “Tango” by Issac Albeniz. He said that for some reason regular concert goers at the Pune Music Society concerts love that piece and that if I could perform it they would be very happy. He said he had the music in the same edition that I had originally learned. Just a few days before leaving for India, I had come across an old recording I had made of that selection and had played it for my musician friend Scott. I was impressed with how good it sounded and mentioned to him that I would like relearn it. Well, here I am learning the piece with a score provided by a local Indian teacher at the UWC. I have spent many hours memorizing the piece and plan to perform it as a oncore for my Pune concert.
Monday, around 1:00 pm, I attended Ben’s second year music class. They were having a discussion on improvisation and he asked me to talk about my recording “Rainbow Spring”, an ensemble recording all done with free improvisation. We played a couple of selections and I explained some of the process used to make the album. They had many questions and are all interested in improvisation. They also had questions about my musical background. They had all been to my concert a few days earlier. Later in the afternoon I taught a guitar lesson to a student from Chekoslovia, who approached me about taking lessons. She is an almost total beginner, but is very enthusiastic and we will be doing another lesson this coming Monday. I told her, for us to continue her lessons she will need to do some serious practice.
Later in the afternoon I went to the library and checked out a book I have been interested in reading for many years, “Unfinished Journey” by the great violinist, Yehudi Menuhin. It is his autobiography. He has led an amazing life and there are many connections to India and its music. Also now that I am starting to write a bit more I am also looking at the book as a fledgling writer.
On Tuesday I spent an hour in the afternoon with a German student who is a good cello player. He was at the class the previous day and has never improvised. We spent time together improvising, which we both enjoyed. He is also going to look for some cello/guitar music that we can practice together. In the evening after dinner I got together with the guitar club, which had a huge turnout (15-20) and taught a group class. It was very successful and they want me back every week until I leave. There are also 4 more advanced players who have run the club who asked me to teach them a more advanced class.
Wednesday afternoon I went to Pune with Ben and Sindhu. We had set up a meeting with Jehangir and Binaifer in the evening to discuss a date for my upcoming concert. Ben and Sindhu had business of their own so they drew me a little map of places I wanted to go and dropped me off. It was my first time wandering around central Pune (the 5th largest city in India) and I really enjoyed myself. Amazing amount of people and traffic. I needed a few shopping items. I got some new Indian cotton pants and shirt, some other things and went to a music store to look for a new school guitar and get some strings someone wanted.
Busy..busy. Crowded streets with people in many kinds of dress, beggars on every block, motorcycles, bicycles, motorized rickshaws, and in the midst of all this seeming speed and ,confusion a cow slowly crossing the street. This in the heart of downtown Pune. I had been very careful up to this point crossing the busy streets, weaving through the traffic and enjoying the process. Well, just as I began to cross a busy intersection, I see this cow making his way across the busiest street in Pune. My attention was momentarily distracted watching how all traffic shifted gear to create a flow around this ambling cow. Well in those few seconds of inattention to my street crossing I was clipped by a bicycle. The rider briefly lost his balance as he went by, but was quickly back in stride. I was not hurt, but I learned a very important lesson… never get distracted when crossing an Indian street. Thank goodness it wasn’t a truck that clipped me.
Later I met up with Ben and Sindhu and we went to a restaurant to meet Jehangir and Binaifer. We had tea while waiting and then went into a different dining area to eat. A nice place where middle class Indians go. I shared a food dish with Ben, whose name I can’t remember. We talked business, the music life in Pune and some of J & B’s recent travels. They had just returned from Poland. They have arranged for some Polish musicians to come perform in India. My concert is set for February 13 and I will be teaching a master class on the 14th. They said I can likely expect and audience from 100-200 people. I gave them a copy of my program and have since emailed them an updated biography. Sindhu took a bunch of photos at my UWC concert so we will be sending them a few of those for publicity purposes. They have also emailed me a contact in Mumbai and said they will be able to give me contacts in other cities for possible future concerts. So I begin my concert performances in India and look forward to the opportunity for more as I travel around India.
On Thursday I booked my train ticket to Chennai (Madras) which is in the state of Tamil Nadu. I got a sleeper, 2nd class, air-conditioned. The distance is approximately 1091 KM from Pune. I leave on March 4 at 6:10 pm and arrive in Chennai around 24 hours later. The ticket cost me around $23.00 US. To get a sleeper car on Indian trains you almost always need to book 6-8 weeks in advance. They do have a limited amount of tickets reserved for foreign travelers, but you must go to the train station where you are traveling from to reserve a place, if available.
I also spent some time with Michael, who I have spoken of earlier. He graduated from the UWC India last year and stayed on to work with children and adults in surrounding villages. He has amazing language skills and has become very involved with local culture. He is also very interested in developing his musical skills and we have spent time working on his flute playing. Since I arrived he has purchased a bamboo flute and a book explaining the Indian musical system of scales and rhythms. We are spending time going through the book together. I am adapting the information to the guitar.
On Friday I had dinner at the home of Jack and Frieda, a couple from Australia, who have spent most of their life together traveling around the world teaching at various international schools. They have one son, now 30, who grew up living different places. They do have a home in a small village on the coast of Australia where they periodically return for a year or two. Their son now lives in Australia and has an infant son. They have been teaching here since September and have a lovely home overlooking the valley. I had a great time conversing, eating and drinking Indian wine and the local hard brew that cost around 10 rupees a pint ($.25) It actually went down quite smoothly. They had spent a few years teaching in India around 20 years ago so have lots of interesting insights into Indian culture. There also invited Shruti, an Indian women, who is now the student councilor. She has been here around 2 years. She studied in the US, traveled abroad with her parents as a child and speaks perfect English. A very easygoing likeable person.
On Saturday I spent around 2 hours with Micheal as we continued exploring his flute playing and Indian scales. On Saturday night I went to a student production of “No Exit” by Camus. They did a very good job. It was the first of a series of student productions over the next 5 weeks. When I am around I will attend.
So the above is an outline of my weeks activities. Around all this I continue to do many hours of guitar practice a day and I look forward to giving an exciting performance in Pune in February. I enjoy getting your comments on my blog and any personal emails are welcome.
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