Semester Break 2010 (Part 1)

Varanasi:

In 1898 American author Mark Twain wrote about his visit to Varanasi: "Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."

Considered the center of the earth in Hindu cosmology and the holiest place in the world, Benares lies in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 200 miles southeast of Lucknow. It is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world.

I realized earlier this year that I hadn't really travelled outside of Chennai in the (almost) three years that I have been living here (gasp!). The first year I was trying to get used to Chennai, period. The second year, I was fortunate enough to get some wild gigs outside of the country and travel with my parents and friends around the south.

I decided this year that I would focus my attention on the north: northern cuisine, culture, and religion. For the semester holiday, I booked my ticket and pilgrimaged to Varanasi; the center of Hinduism; the religion I grew up with. We flew to Delhi and then took an overnight train to Benares. I am not quite sure what I was expecting. The city of Varanasi is revered as the center of Hinduism and given quite a bit of importance in the country - I was expecting a small ancient town, well preserved and immaculate. I expected to see a city that was protected by the public; its significance and honor maintained by government protocol. The city of Varanasi is described in both the Mahabharat and Ramayana and should be preserved as a national religious and tourist destination.


It's not. It's actually a giant heap of poverty, disillusioned temple-goers, and death.

I was told by many who went before me, that once I reached the holy city, I would feel an 'energy in the air'; that I would feel hopeful and optimistic; energized by the spirituality. I didn't. Don't get me wrong. I am not one of those westerners who criticizes everything unclean; who carries hand sanitizer in their back pocket; who brushes their teeth with aquafina, and who cringes at everything uncomfortable. But I live in Chennai and I feel the optimistic energy of Chennai on a daily basis. I did not feel that in Varanasi.

While the ghats were spectacular and extraordinarily interesting for Kavita the tourist, Kavita the Indian felt sad and lost at the sight of women and men bathing in one of the most polluted water bodies in the world. The odor of waste and the stench of death hangs low over the river. We took a canoe through the river and watched the activity: men and women washing clothes, bathing, holding poojas, throwing ashes into the water, burning dead bodies covered in orange cloth. I watched fly covered stiff corpses float by our boat and saw demonic crows pecking at dead children floating face down in the opaque brown water. And I saw the navwallas dip their hands into the same putrid water and aggressively take a sip to quench their thirst. I was simultaneously fascinated, disgusted, and impressed.

We paid Shankar-the-auto-driver (let's call him S.T.A.D.) 300 rupees a day to take us around the city for three days. We visited temples, took boats out onto the ganga, drank bang lassi, and even watched a snake charmer, but the best part of the entire trip was by far the street food. Oh. My. God. We asked S.T.A.D. to take us to eat a typical street breakfast and he took us to eat poori bhaji at a roadside stand. Dripping with oil, the thick moist pooris were incredibly satisfying to dip into the bowl of bhaji. We ate with our hands on dishes made of dried leaves and then washed our hands with water from a bucket sans soap. The stand owners eyed us curiously as I awkwardly took pictures of the situation. We then walked across the street and ate sweet pan which was fragrant and delicious.

The trip was worth it, but I left three days later feeling unsatisfied. If you are a religious person, Varanasi might have had a different effect on you. But walking through temple lines; being squashed by hoards of people on every side of you pushing and shoving to get through, and having angry monkeys throwing food and flowers left and right, was not exactly what I consider to be a spiritual experience. Plus, because of the recent bombings and terrorist attacks on temples in Benares, the security at every temple was fierce. We were frisked, prodded, and searched thoroughly before entering. Not fun.

Next stop: Mumbai. Stay tuned.

Diwali 2010

The astonishment never ceases! India continues to surprise, bewilder and amaze me regardless of how long I have been here. What starts off as a typical day can turn into the best or worst day ever. What I normally see as mundane and average, suddenly becomes new and exciting. Relationships that I thought were a lost cause suddenly spark into respectful and happy friendships. And the religious holidays that I had lost interest in experiencing, unexpectedly become the most wonderful and memorable moments of your life.

That is India – unpredictable, chaotic, and beautiful.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that last year I didn’t have the best time during Diwali. What was supposed to be an exciting time with close friends and roommates during the Festival of Lights turned into a hellish nightmare of fire, flooding, and a grueling legal battle with an angry landlord. A neighboring child had lit a firecracker on the street that hit our roof – our roof made of straw. (A roof made of straw you ask? My roommates had covered the open roof deck with a thatched hut). The stray firecracker hit our roof, burst into flames, and when my roommates, friends and I returned to the house after dinner, we found our blackened, charred roof on the street – water flooding the house, and no electricity. With candles, towels and brooms, all of us pulled up our sleeves, got on our hands and knees and mopped up the mess. All I can say is: thank god houses in India are not made of wood!

This year however, my friend Ayesha invited me to Delhi and invited all of my friends from KMMC. So we set off: Jimmy, Brian, Christy, Emily and I to Ayesha’s house in Vasant Vihar. I finally experienced my first real Diwali in northern India – (I chuckle to myself as I reflect on my only experiences with Diwali: Konkani Diwali functions dancing to Bollywood songs hardly having any religious or cultural relevance to the Festival of Lights – then eating Dhalitoi and sheeth). We arrived on Friday morning and after taking some time to rest, we went to Ayesha’s parent’s office where they were holding a Lakshmi pooja for prosperity, wealth and good health. That evening we came home, dressed up, and spent the evening lighting firecrackers in their front yard and on the street. It was truly the most exciting Diwali I’ve ever had.


The next day Ayesha took all of us out to Chandni Chowk to experience Old Delhi. I’ve been to Delhi many times now and honestly, up until that point I hadn’t been very impressed with it. To me, it has always looked and felt like suburbia hell. It doesn’t have the bustling energy of Bombay, or the small town feel of Chennai. But when Ayesha took us to Chandni Chowk – I understood. The streets are filled with kind, good-natured people. The architecture is interesting, and differs greatly from one building to the next depending on religious origins and British influence. The Red Fort is majestic and stately. And the food – oh the food! We stopped at the famous Parathe Wali Gali and feasted on stuffed fried parathas that ranged from aloo to banana. Oh. My. God. The banana paratha was probably one of the most heavenly things I’ve ever eaten. Then at the end of the street we shared a pista kulfi falooda. I don’t even like kulfi, but man! That was amazing.



We spent the next day relaxing at home and having an amazing home cooked lunch of baingan bharta and rogan josh.

All in all the Diwali weekend was a blast. Unfortunately, we all had to leave on Sunday and prepare for another grueling week at KMMC. But there was light at the end of the tunnel. Next stop: Varanasi.

To be continued…

CIAO CIAO VENEZIA!!!

I know it's been a couple weeks, but it took that long for me to actually just... EXHALE, pinch myself, and say "Yes. That did happen." It all happened so fast, I barely had time to process what was happening. The Delhi Concert, then right after that rehearsals for the MJ Tribute, then immediately after that I had to prepare for Venice. AHHHH!

Let me tell you, the day I left was the worst day EVER. My scooty wouldn't start, so I took Viviane's scooty to work. All of the foreign faculty had been waiting for specific tax documents to be given to us from the school - we had to have these documents in order to get our employment visas registered. Of course these documents never turned up and so the week before Venice I had to scramble around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to get this paperwork from anyone and everyone in the administration - no one had it. So I thought, well, if the school doesn't have it, and I don't have it, what can I do? So I went to the hellish visa office and the lady thumbed through my paperwork disapprovingly and said "Hah! you guys always do this. You guys seem to take immigration very lightly. It's not going to work this time. I'll see you next week with the correct documents." "UM - no please please please, I CAN'T come next week, I have to go to Venice this weekend for a gig!" "I'm sorry, I can't help you." So I went back to school and talked to Faiz "FAIZ! What am I supposed to do? I need this paperwork and no one seems to have it." "Ok I'll do one thing. Let me call Hari, he's the accountant but he's on holiday."

Long story short - we didn't have the paperwork because guess what? The taxes were never filed. We had to go to the auditor and file the taxes and take our chances at the visa office by showing them a receipt - proof that the taxes were filed. Faiz, the lifesaver, managed to talk his way back into the visa office even though it was closed, and the lady finally, FINALLY granted me the registration.

Then there's the dress: I had asked the designer Chaitanya Rao to make a dress for me for the Venice gig. I explained exactly what I wanted, showed him a picture of the neckline... everything. After the visa madness I found out that my flight for Venice was actually in a few HOURS - the itinerary was sent to me while I was at the visa office. So I frantically called Chetan and said "My flight is at 4 am! Can you finish it by this evening?" "Uh oh really???" ..... he hadn't even started. When I finally went to pick up what I thought was going to be a beautiful gown, it was exactly... EXACTLY what I didn't want. The shape was wrong, it was ill-fitting, I had asked him to make it in a way that would reduce my bust and instead of trying to draw your attention somewhere else, he decided to create a giant gold-sequined horizontal stripe across my chest. Even I know that horizontal stripes are a big NO NO when you're trying to slim someone down. Not only that, the neckline wasn't like the one in the picture. He insisted it was and told me to not expect it to look exactly the same as the picture because "your body doesn't look like that." I had had such a horrible day that I just started crying. Instead of being sympathetic and trying to fix as much as possible before the flight, his assistant Tina rolled her eyes and said "WHAT? There's nothing we can do now, so I don't know what to tell you." "Um... it's ALL WRONG. It's not what I asked for AT ALL." "Well we can't do anything - can I leave? Because I left a dinner party for this, and there's nothing we can do." At which point I was so fed up that I just lost it. "Um - ARE YOU A BITCH TO ALL YOUR CLIENTS, OR JUST ME? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF GETTING A DESIGNER TO MAKE MY DRESS IF IT LOOKS LIKE SHIT? I CAN WALK INTO ANY H&M AND FIND A BETTER FITTING OUTFIT MADE IN A SWEATSHOP IN CHINA."

Yeah.... that was obviously not the best tactic. I took the dress to Venice but I didn't wear it. Chetan agreed to work on the dress after I got back from Venice. He hasn't answered any of my calls.

Goodbye 20,000 rupees. It was nice knowing you.

Viviane's scooty broke down on the way back from the designer at 11 pm. What a fantastic day.


Incredibly exhausted, angry, and still unbelievably ill from the flu, I forced my anxiety ridden self to jump in an auto and go the airport at 2 am. I apathetically plopped my bag down and slid my passport across the Emirates counter without even looking at the lady. She handed me my boarding pass and I just stared at it in disbelief. "I think you made a mistake. This says Business Class." "No, no that's right. Enjoy." I was dumbstruck, thinking to myself "Hah! This day is lookin up..." While I was waiting to board, my name was called over the intercom. When I went to the counter, the lady said. "Boarding pass, please." I handed it to her. She crossed out seat 7B and wrote 2A. I didn't think anything of it until I boarded the plane and the stewardess said "Welcome to your First Class Suite". I tried to be as nonchalant as possible as I stumbled over myself to sit in a chair that was too big for me, and accidentally turned the massage feature on full blast. When the stewardess asked if I wanted champagne, I stammered over the vibrations, "Y-y-yess, n-no, w-well, maybe... y-yes...maybe later." She stared. I stared. She walked away. I closed the door and vibrated in silence. Yeah, that was smooth.

You forget how unbelievably beautiful Venice is until you go there again and you feel like you're walking through a giant film set. The cobblestone streets, the absence of motor vehicles, the gondolas, the grandeur of the duomos and piazzas - it's incredible. The food... Oh the food...

I had a day and a half to relax and unwind before rehearsals. I roamed the city, taking it all in. On Saturday I had my first rehearsal with the 13 piece Venetian string orchestra at the hotel. The conductor, Matt Dunkley, motioned for me to come to the front of the room and announced, "ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our vocalist for tomorrow evening." Again, I tried to act as nonchalant as possible but ended up giggling nervously. The Venetians looked dubious. I noticed Shekhar come in halfway through the rehearsal. He waved. I smiled and continued singing. Afterward I ducked out as quick as possible, ran up to my room, closed the door, and leaned against it for five minutes processing what had just happened.

That night we were to all have dinner at a quaint Italian restaurant in San Marco. I was told to meet downstairs at 7 pm. The dinner consisted of the conductor, Matt and his wife, Rahman, Shekhar, David Adjaye, 3 of the big guys from Swarovski, Haley Bennett, and Ryan Eggold who stars in 90210: The Next Generation. I got such a kick out of that, I can't even tell you. A ridiculous multi-course meal featuring beef carpaccio, an assortment of fish, mussels, squid, langoustine, soft shell crab, risotto... and the list goes on and on.

The actual performance? It went really well. I was incredibly uncomfortable meeting everyone, posing for pics, and I couldn't even have wine because I had to sing. The room was lit beautifully, the stage area was beautiful, and I had a mic stand so I didn't have to worry about failing to project. I sand the two arias, then Rahman spoke a bit about the music from the film and did a small demonstration on the piano, and then as an encore I was asked to sing one of the arias again. It was perfect. Haley and David approached me and gushed over my singing. It was surreal.

I spent the rest of the evening relaxed and content. I said thank you to everyone and walked back to the hotel with a smile on my face.

Photos:
Press Photos: Courtesy of www.swarovski.com
Bauer Palladio Hotel & Spa Photos: Courtesy of www.bauerpalladio.it
Piazza San Marco

Mahabalipuram

I had the most amazing weekend; it was so surreal. It all started on Friday when I met Rajesh Vaidhya who is an absolutely incredible veena player - just an absolute joy to watch and listen to. He did a workshop for the KM students and played traditional Carnatic music as well as some really crazy english tunes like Michael Jackson and Beethoven and Mozart. He even played Fur Elise on the veena!! It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to hands down - of any kind of music. He has a certain effect that makes you stop and say "wait a minute, this is Waaay cooler than anything I do. I've got it all wrong."

Then , it was Rahman's mother's 60th birthday on Friday and the KM faculty were invited to a gala party for her at the Park Hotel which included fantastic north Indian fare, media cameras and involved fancy attire. I had just bought a really nice suit from Pantaloons that I enthusiastically showed off (I haven't had a chance to wear anything I've bought yet so this was especially fun) and I hobnobbed with a few people: the singer Sujatha who sang in Roja and Rahman's manager, Noel. I asked Sujatha about how to maintain vocal health in such a humid climate and she gave me some tips and told me about her ENT that she sees for vocal scopes etc. Anyway, I spent the night running away from cameras and uncomfortably sitting with the rest of the faculty who didn't know anyone. But it was fun. And I finally got to meet Rahman's wife and she is stunningly beautiful in person. What a woman!

But it didn't end there - we stayed up all night and early the next morning, Shasta, Robert, Eilidh, Michael, Liz and I jumped in a car and went to Mahabalipuram to watch the sunrise. I was so exhausted and was really debating not going but once we got there I was so happy I went because it turned out to be one of the best experiences I've ever had. We walked directly to the beach and sat on the sand while the sun came up. I don't know if I've ever actually watched a sunrise before but it was just incredible. After about 2 hours we walked back up and climbed the hills to see the rock carvings, temples and caves. It was only 7:30 am when we finished but it was already about 100 degrees outside and by that time I was just plain exhausted.

We got back in the car and were driving back until we saw a huge sign for Golden Sun Resort on the right hand side. We promptly stopped. We walked in and asked how much it would cost to use the beach for the day and it was only 75 rupees!!! I had brought my bathing suit just in case, but public beaches here are just so creepy and people just stand around and watch you so I never attempted to jump in. But the resort had their own private beach and at 8 oclock in the morning there was absolutely no one there except for a goat herder and scattered cows. The best part was that it was CLEAN. We ate a "continental breakfast" which was just eggs, toast and coffee, got into our bathing suits and jumped head first into the ocean. We stayed at the beach till 3 in the afternoon and I now look Nigerian. All in all, it was the best day ever. We came home and passed out for the rest of the day.

The next morning I woke up early at 7:30 am and went with Josh and Liz to the Sahaj Marg Ashram to meditate. Josh practices raja yoga through the Shri Rama Chandra Mission and is actually a preceptor himself. He's been having meditation sittings with all of us who are interested and it's actually quite nice. I definitely believe in the overall benefits of meditation in general, but I am suspicious of groups that say their way is the right way to gain spiritual clarity. The "master" only does sittings on Sunday mornings and it lasts for almost an hour. We sit cross-legged with our eyes closed and the master supposedly "cleans" out extraneous and potentially harmful layers of resistance that we have built over the years. I believe that that's true - we do add layers and layers of resistance to ourselves based on the experiences we've had, but isn't that just a survival technique in the darwinian sense? Don't we harden our psyches as a way to not get hurt again? I don't know how much I believe in this particular technique, but there have been a couple of times where I have felt incredibly potent surges of pure emotion like anger, fear, and guilt for no reason during meditation. So who knows? Maybe there's something to it. After the ashram, I went and sat at a coffee shop called Mocha and enjoyed a lamb panini, which I washed down with cranberry infused lemonade.

Seriously. It was the best weekend ever.

Some pics:

The sun about to come up










The sun starting to come up. It was a teeny bit foggy so the picture didn't come out as clear as it actually was

Eilidh and Robert watching the sunrise


The sun finally coming up




How crazy is this picture?? And it's not digitally enhanced in any way. Nuts.



There were these tiny little crabs running around all over the beach. They dig little holes and walk into them sideways.




The Shore Temple right on the beach. Apparently there are a whole bunch of small temples that have been covered by the ocean. And when the tsunami came and the water receded, all of these small temples were uncovered, so everyone went farther out to look at it and then perished from the wave.

All of us who went: from left to right, Liz, Shasta, Eilidh, Robert, Michael








Large rock carving








Remnants of a temple








A goat precariously perched on the rock wall








A random giant rock. I'd be a great tour guide wouldn't I?








Liz trying to push the giant rock








The view from the top







At the Golden Sun Resort







The view from the thatched hut








Oh how much fun it was!