Chapter 16: In which Shantzy Pants details his neutrally triumphant return to Kolkata

Hello Hello,

I'm back in Tollygunge for more talim and riyaz. Except now I have some kick-ass allergies which have put a halt to both of those things. Its times like these that get me to wishin I played an instrument with my hands instead of with my throat. I've got some allergy pills from home and also a doctor friend here who can set me up if I run out so I'll just weather the storm as well as I can.

Here is a post I wrote a few days ago but never uploaded. Start with this and then I'll continue from there after you're finished...

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Greetings, Namaste, Namuskar, Salam Aleikum, Whats Good,

Today is Saraswati Puja, where Saraswati, the Goddess of music and learning is worshiped. There is basically a fast from any sort of studying or music practice, so now is a good time to blog, with no guilty feelings about not practicing.

I hit the ground running on this trip. Ironically when you’re busy, you do more things worth talking about with less time to do the talking. The first day was Guruji’s birthday, which included two concerts, the second of which –starting at 2:00 am- I didn’t attend due to jet lag. I’ll have my share of all-nighters I’m sure. Last year we had a few days where Guruji played 3 or 4 shows in a night and we got home around 4:00 or even 7:00 in one case.

Day two was Guruji’s annual Sangeet Piyasi picnic. Sangeet Piyasi is the charity/music organization that Guruji founded a while ago to honor his Guru, Sri Krishna Kumar Ganguly, or Natubabu to those who knew him. (If anyone would like to donate to a worthy music-related cause, get in touch with me and I can tell you more.) I went last year as well and had a great time on both occasions. This year’s picnic marked my first performance of Indian music in India and sadly it didn’t go very well. This was my first time in front of an audience that actually knew what a mistake would sound like so I got rather nervous and had a hard time remembering the words. It wasn’t the worst since I kept the rhythm and sang with good pitch but I was pretty bummed that my debut wasn’t very satisfying. Anyway, onward and upward.

Day 3 was my first lesson with Guruma in a year and a half and it definitely went better than the picnic.

Day 4 I had another lesson and then checked in with my friends Kausik (father/husband), Mithu (wife/mother) and Bhutto (son) in Tollygunge. I met everyone last trip and stayed in touch with in the interim. My friend Ehren –who is primarily responsible to sparking my interest in coming here- and his wife Camilla were also hanging out. I’ll soon be studying Bengali with Mithu, which I’m really looking forward too since I find myself pretty frustrated to miss out on so much of the conversation happening around me.

Today was puja celebrations in the morning, nothing to eat until afterwards, around 3:00. It’s a very interesting ritual including some things that are very different from Christian rituals. At one point we prayed with flowers in our hands and then threw them at the figure of Saraswati, which was actually kind of a fun way to worship. The Hindu festivals are quite different from region to region and this one is mostly just in Bengal.

I have to talk to my cousins and uncle since I met some fellow students from Siliguri –near Darjeeling, where we plan to travel- who said the Darjeeling region is prone to strikes which might leave us stranded there, leading to missed flights, etc. So we’ll reevaluate.

Peace Out!

-Shantz

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So that was the first few days, since then I've had some good practice and lessons. I'm learning a new raag called Raag Durga. A raag is a set of notes with certain patterns that generates a strong mood over the course of a performance. I learned a melody that expresses the raag and then I will practice improvisatory elaborations that further develop the mood if done correctly.

Yesterday I had my first Bengali language lesson. It went well. I'm finding the scholastic rigor of this trip rather intense!

Guruji is producing a recording now of a younger singer. Lets all wish her the best of luck!

I'm going to shoot for making a recording myself by the end of the trip, so lets all wish me the best of luck too! (Thanks)

Hasta la proxima,

-Shantz