The Splendour of Masters

I am a hyper kind of a person. Someone once said of herself - “My mind is always in constant chatter with itself in which I think about a million things” and I was like – THAT IS SO ME!!!! Only Music, especially the flute has a calming effect on me. From as far back as I can remember the Flute was always my favorite. It inspires me, stirs such emotions and even though this may sound like an oxymoron – it energizes while bringing about a greater peacefulness.

Just the thought of listening to THE Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia energized me!!! The Splendour of Masters - a brilliant coming-together of varied genres from Indian and western classical to jazz with the maestros- Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Gwyneth Wentink on the Harp, George Brooks with the Saxaphone, Fazal Qureshi, Mukul Dongre, Subhankar Banerjee on the Tablas and finally Gino Banks on the Drums - what a mélange!!! Sounded very, very unusual and interesting.

Don’t ask me what ragas were played…I don’t have that kinda knowledge unfortunately. But we were treated to some mind-blowing chemistry between the Flute and Harp, Saxaphone and Drums, Flute and Saxaphone, Drums and Tabla and finally all of them together.

The Harpist - Gwyneth Wentink also explained the basic chords and strings of the Harp…not that it made any sense to me. But it was appreciated by many other in the audience – the musicians. She was excellent and reciprocated Pandit Ji with ease and what they managed to create that day was truly meditative. In the middle, a string broke in her harp, but she didn’t let that worry her too much and continued to play.

Geroge Brooke went Indian - sitting cross-legged, presenting a Western instrument in a Kurta!!! He on the saxophone and Gino Banks on drums then played some real peppy music, which left many tapping their feet.

A soul rendering solo – a lullaby from Brooks followed.

The grand finale with all of them playing together was a spell-binding experiment, playful at time, dark and brooding at others.

A Mesmerizing evening!

Naariyal Paani

The advert was really nice…a man in jeans and white tee sprawled out on luxuriant green grass, holding a tender coconut. Alongside it said - "The play begins with the character madly in love and every time he tries to share his story with others it is of no avail. Frustrated, he decides to present his story and reach out to the general public. He wants himself to be heard. He goes on and books Ranga Shankara to tell his story to the world."

Funny name for a play, was my first thought. Couldn’t figure out how Naariyal Paani fitted in with the love story! The one thing that stands out in my mind was me thinking after the play ... was the description in the advert really apt?

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it.

As the protagonist comes on the stage, he is accompanied by two musicians playing the Tabla and Guitar. At regular intervals during the course of the play they enter the stage from one end and leave from the other end. The protagonist gets irritated with them and wants them to leave. But they in a sing song way talk to him and tell him that he cannot get rid of them, as the guitarist t represents the universe, while the actor playing the Tabla signifies his own physical presence.

During the entire play the protagonist is in conversation with the audience, wanting to tell them about his love for a girl.

He comes across as a man with a disturbed mind, though this is not explicitly mentioned at any point of mind. I guess it is left up to the viewers to interpret and develop their own perception...was he always like that or did he become like that when he lost the girl he loved.

His acting was superb, especially the way he enacted himself cycling for football practice and how he would stop, park his cycle and stand behind the tree to observe the girl. His way of talking like a small innocent child was so endearing especially the way he gets upset when he reaches the place late to find that she has already left. He takes you into his innocent world, his reaction when he comes to know that she is getting married to someone else, his staunch belief that she does not want to get married and will return to him one day soon.

Another thing that I felt was...was this whole story a make belief, a figment of his imagination or did he really love a girl, did he really wait and collect the empty coconut after she had finished the tender coconut and left the stall. Though, I did feel that he had not ever confessed his love to the girl but just liked to believe that she knew and loved him back.

I guess by now you would have guessed where the name came from... he would secretly observe her when she came to drink Naariyal Paani at the stall and collect the empty coconut after she left!!!

Falling in…and out of love – Two nice quotes!

'Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If he isn't there the first time you need him, chances are you won't need him again.'

There are 2 ways at looking it…in a morose kinda way or with a grin...and the kinda person that I am, I just couldn’t help smiling...but wondering at the same time...how true!
The quote came with the 'him'...I didn’t put it there...so I guess it is accepted that it’s the men who are not there when one needs them!

Now before some of my really close friends start reading in between the lines ...the above slightly cynical one is nothing to do with my mood...and so I have for you another really cute one...

'I ran up the door, closed the stairs, said my pajamas and put on my prayers, turned off the bed and hopped in the light, all because you kissed me goodnight'

Manic Screaming

The moment I heard the name of the book –"I heard God Laughing" I knew I had to get a copy...
It’s obvious...with a name like that and the fact that it was not readily available at any of the bookstores!!!

It’s a collection of Hafiz’s renderings and each one is a gem... deeply passionate and always very inspirational.

One of my favorites -

God is trying to sell you something today,
But you don’t want to buy,
That is what your suffering is:
Your fantastic haggling,
Your manic screaming over the price!

Sometimes...

Sometime you gotta runaway
So you can see who will run after you,
Sometimes you gotta talk quieter
Just to see who's listening,
Sometimes you gotta step up in a fight
Just to see who's by your side,
Sometimes you gotta make a wrong decision
To see who's there to fix it,
Sometimes you gotta let go off the one you love
Just to see if they love you enough to come back.

Marriage???

For someone contemplating marriage...this can change the entire perspective...

Loving somebody and...

I recently read a very interesting piece. Its one of the "Lisa Kogan Tells All" series from O, The Oprah Magazine…and am going to quote from it below.

"...Loving somebody and then having the guts to let them love you back doesn't always come easy. For the first three years of our life together I kept waiting for him to rip off his Mr. Nice Guy mask and turn into every boy who ever broke my heart. I poked, I prodded, I harangued, I guilted, I entrapped, I tested, I stopped short of waterboarding. But Johannes refused to take the bait. Instead, he maintained his calm, retained his benevolence, and developed migraines.

He made sure I understood that he was in it for the long haul...The man makes me feel loved - even when he hates me. And that, I've come to realize, is no small thing.

I have a friend, we'll call her Jane...Jane is married to this guy, let's call him Dick...I've had fun with Dick and Jane; we've gone to the theater and dinner and a couple of Knicks games together. With Johannes frequently in Europe, I became like a little dinghy tied to the boat of their marriage, just kind of bobbing along behind them in case of an emergency. One Sunday a few years ago, we were brunching in SoHo...Anyway, Jane knocked over her water glass, prompting Dick to spend the rest of the meal excoriating her for every single misstep she'd ever made. He opened his rant with "Christ, it's excruciating to sit next to you at a table," and closed with a reference to her "fat idiot sister." Check please!

Jane called the next morning to apologize for making me part of their Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? production. I wanted to say, You're not the one who should be sorry. I wanted to say, Your only mistake was in not lobbing the basket of stale sweet rolls at his head...I wanted to say, Janey, Janey, Janey, what's become of your self-respect? I wanted to say, It's not whether somebody loves you...it's how he treats you that counts. I found myself wondering: Is Jane afraid to be alone? Is it a money thing? Maybe she's an unindicted co-conspirator, provoking him in some way that I'm just not seeing? Or maybe she woke up one morning and 22 years and two sons had simply come and gone - right along with her energy and confidence. Maybe she just forgot who she'd wanted to be when she grew up. In the end all I managed was, "I'm here if you need me."

It makes just so much sense...something that I can relate to...especially the 1st para, where I can easily replace Johannes with A.

Long Distance Love...

Is this love

I'm no fan of hard rock...can't even remember where and when I heard this song by Whitesnake - Is This Love...
When suddenly one fine morning I just found myself humming it.... weird...or???
Incidentally didn’t even remember the band's name...but of course Google came to the rescue…

Is this love that I’m feeling,
Is this the love that I’ve been searching for?
Is this love or am I dreaming,
This must be love,
cos its really got a hold on me,
A hold on me...