Stretchin’ out

What a great week it has been.  On Mondays and Tuesdays I have scheduled various teaching and musical interaction projects around campus.  So on Monday, in addition to my usual 6 or so hours of guitar practice I taught a couple of 1 on 1 guitar lessons.  It is fun getting to know my new students and giving them ideas for self exploration through the via of music.  I have loved teaching throughout my life and continue to gain new perspectives on how to make the time spent together richer for both teacher and student.  On Tuesday I continue my almost daily morning practice in the “butterfly garden”, which is just a few hundred feet from my apartment.  It is so peaceful and beautiful.  (See a few photos of that place on my Picasa site).  I also practice at another favorite site overlooking the valley with its farmland.  I am continuing my read of “Unfinished Journey” by Yehudi Menuhin.   I am finding it very interesting and reading his life experiences are triggering many valuable reflections on my life.   In the evening I taught my beginners guitar class and then had a 2 hour session with the 4 more advanced students that ended at 11:30 pm.

Last week I had sent an email to the US consulate Cultural Affairs Officer in Mumbai asking her to get back to me about setting up an appointment to discuss my performing a concert in Mumbai and possibly other locations.  Not having heard back, I gave her a call on Wednesday morning and set up an appointment to see her tomorrow, February 8.  I will be taking an express train from Pune to Mumbai, which takes about 4 hours.  I will be getting  MUWCI transport into Pune with some other the teachers children, who commute daily for the schooling.  I will spent one night in Mumbai and expect to check out a bit of the nightlife.  I also have some shopping to do and most important, I need to find someone who can do my right hand guitar picking nails which are due for a new coating.  I am looking forward to the upcoming meeting because I potentially will be able to set up some sort of concert tour of India.  I will be taking my guitar and doing an audition.  I spent the day reading, playing music talking with students and faculty during meals.

On Thursday I met with Ben’s second year music class and talked about my time in Peru with particular emphasis on my musical interactions and knowledge of Andean music.  Then in the afternoon I met with my friend Michael who had just returned from a week in Delhi where he had gone to pick up his sister, Carla, who is coming for a one month visit.  She is 20 years old and plays guitar and writes songs.  We ended up having a fun 2 hour jam session out in the “butterfly garden” and then off to dinner.

After dinner I returned to my room and noticed that my neighbor, Sumit, had friends over.  We share a kitchen, and I could hear them preparing a meal through my door.  After my practicing for an hour or so, he knocked on my door and invited me over for a drink.  Sumit heads up the IT center here on campus and his two visitors are managers at the cafeteria.  He asked me to bring over my guitar and I played them a few tunes in varied styles.  We had a good time.  At some point I may begin writing some of my reflections on Indian culture and values of which I am just beginning to gain some  experience and understanding.

Friday was again fairly open.  I taught a new student, Eric, who had asked me for a lesson.  Other then that I spent a day of practice and reading.  My time here is basically open although it is gradually filling up with more teaching.  I love all this time to play, read and relax.  I can’t remember a time like this for many years and I am really enjoying this way of life.

Then last night a special event.  Michael, who works for the community service NGO, Akshara, arranged for us (Michael, his sister Carla and me) to go to the local village, Asde, and have me meet the local musicians and possibly play with them.  We arrived around 6:00 pm at the home of one of the musicians, who is a singer and harmonium (a hand pumped keyboard like a small organ) player.  We had tea and played each other a little music while we waited for the other musicians to arrive.  We met various members of his family from kids to grandparents.  Micheal speaks good Hindi and did all the translating.  After a while the other musician arrived and we had a great jam for around 2 hours.  I had great fun trying to play along with traditional Indian ceremonial songs.  The musicians included a good tabla player, a different more experienced harmonium player/singer, a bell-ringer and myself on guitar and vocals.  Michael recorded and Carla took pictures, so I will put some photos, film clips and sound bits on my blog.

This experience was the first of hopefully many musical encounters that I will be having throughout my travels.  This type of interaction was one of the things I had hoped would happen during my travel in India.  There is a big festival happening in the village this coming Tuesday and my new musician friends asked me to bring my guitar along.  Apparently there will be musicians coming from many of the villages in the area so it should be a special all night event.

Well that is it for now.  Off to Mumbai at 7:15 tomorrow morning.  More updates on my next blog entry.

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