A Long but Fun Day

I had a really long day yesterday: I started teaching at 10 am and ended at 5 in the evening which doesn't seem like a lot, but I'm learning that teaching really is exhausting; I never realized how much of yourself you have to give for someone to learn from you. By the end of the day, I just wanted to go home and sleep. One of my students and I had discussed looking into taking a yoga class together because we can see the sign from the conservatory and it's just a 2 minute walk from school. So after teaching we went together to check out the yoga studio and the lady was really wonderful. We're taking a three month course for 1400 rupees; one hour, three times a week for three months, and it includes meditation, poses, and nutritional counseling. She does all of her yoga classes on the rooftop terrace which will be pretty intense, but hopefully by evening it won't be so hot outside.

I had put my phone on silent while I was in the yoga class and totally forgot about it. I went to dinner with one of the faculty members, came home, took a shower, got into bed and reached for my phone to set my alarm for the next day. When I picked up my phone I saw that there were like 15 missed calls and 8 text messages all from the other faculty trying to get a hold of me. I finally called Selva back and... drum roll please....

He asked if I was available to do a recording session with Rahman! So of course I said yes, jumped out of bed, got ready and ran over to the studio. I walked in and found that Eilidh and Michael had also been called to record (cello and percussion) and we sat and waited for Rahman to come. He shows up and says Eilidh will go first so I just sit in the studio and watch while her tracks are being edited. A man then walks in and starts discussing the movie with Rahman and I introduce myself thinking he's a Tamil director (I swear I'm not a Hindi film snob; I just don't know anything about Tamil directors or actors so they're somewhat irrelevant in my head).  He asked if I spoke Hindi and I said no but then started throwing out random Hindi words that I know.  The guy laughed and left. Selva immediately was like "do you know who that was? You just met Shubash Ghai." Um. EEEEEEEEEEE!!! I just met a huge director and the song that I'm singing on is in his new film Yuvraaj which is coming out in a couple months. So from what I understand I'm going to be doing background operatic singing in one of the songs because apparently this movie is about an Australian orchestra or something so it includes a choir, western classical music and opera. Should be really interesting and I'm really ecstatic to start recording. There wasn't time to do it last night so I'm scheduled to record Thursday afternoon. The cd should be available in a few weeks!  I can't wait to see my name on the back cover.  Eee!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Flu/Musings

There isn't really much to talk about this week because I was ill for most of it. And NO it's not from the chaat stand and NO it wasn't a stomach issue. I guess the seasons are changing or something (I don't really understand this because every day feels exactly the same: hot, hotter and hottest) and most of the students have been coming down with the flu and of course I was the first one to catch it. For two days I was really actually ill with a fever, chills, coughing and nasal/chest congestion. It is quite odd to have the flu when it's 100 degrees outside. I spent a couple days in my apartment sweating it out (which was oh so fun when the power went out) but after two days I wasn't just better, I was refreshed and completely back to normal. Usually when I get the flu back home, I'm out for at least a week. I've never gotten over a cold so quickly and that too with zero meds. I don't know how to ask for things at the pharmacy here. I asked someone to pick up something for me that alleviated nasal congestion and the person returned with shady looking red pills with no dosage instruction, no directions saying how much you can take or how long you have to wait before taking it again, and an ingredients list that included Caffeine as one of the main active ingredients. Hmmm. No thanks.

Nevertheless I am completely well and back to normal. The students are so sweet. When I came back to school on Friday they huddled around me to see how I was feeling and whether they could get me anything. Can you imagine that happening in the States? I can't. Right now I am trying to prepare tomorrow's lesson plan for choir. They're starting to get the hang of singing multiple melodies at once and I think they'll be really good by the end of the semester. Hopefully we can start singing some exciting music soon. I don't think they ever thought music would be so difficult - or ever considered it to be a disciplined craft. Some students are telling me that they've never had so much fun learning and that they've never felt so comfortable with a teacher, and some students are telling me that I have killed their musical spirit and that they hate music now because of me - because I keep going on and on about good technique instead of letting them continue with their bad habits. So some people hate me and some love me - I guess that's a good sign.

My favorite part of being here is riding on the rickshas. I always feel like I'm in a video game and the goal is to get from point A to point B but there are all these hurdles blocking your path. What's funny is that the ricksha drivers look so gleeful when they see us scared to death holding each other for dear life in the back. Whenever we scream I can see the guy look back at us with a giant smile from ear to ear. I think they get a kick out of it.

Since being here my ricksha adventures have included:

One that almost turned upside down when making a sharp turn
One that just died in the middle of the road where the driver had to push us to the gas station.
One driver decided he needed a break and stopped the ricksha so he could drink water for 10 minutes with his buddies.
One that almost got hit by a bus
One that drove directly headfirst into a cop on a motorbike. The cop didn't seem to care; they exchanged some words and then both went merrily on their way.

I have also learned that I am a champion haggler. We went to this street that has loads and loads of fabric stalls up and down and I bought some really amazing fabric for dirt cheap. They see us and they immediately say like 80 or 100 rupees per meter and I have actually brought them down to like 30. How crazy is that? It's almost exhausting in a way. I'm kind of getting sick of it because it's just so silly. Both people know that both people are acting.

He says "great price madam, 80 rupees meter"
To which I roll my eyes dramatically and scoff "Yeah right, that's ridiculous" and walk away.
To which he says "okay okay okay come, I'll give you, what price you want?"
"You give me two and a half meters for 100 and I'll take it."
"Vaaaat Madam? This is too less..."
"Okay bye then, thank you."
"Okay Okay Okay come.. I give you for 110."
"No, 100."
"10 rupees madam, I give for 110."
"No. 100."
"110."
"100."
"110."
"100."
And with a reluctant side nod I get it for 100.

It's exhausting. Sometimes you just want to see something and buy it.

This is Ram. He is the boy who comes to clean the apartment. He wanted to have his picture taken so we took one together.






These are the construction workers who are working on the house. They always come and say "Hello! How are you!" and we say "Fine!" One of them saw that we had nail polish and asked if she could paint her fingernails. They were so fascinated by it. They were also fascinated by spray-on deodorant.

Celebrity

I have randomly had the most celebrity-esque week and I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. First of all, two newspapers/magazines came to KM; (I think one of them was like Hindustani Times, or Hindu Times or something) and when one of the administrators approached me and said they wanted to interview me, i said "but... why?" I've never been interviewed before... formally. It was a very interesting experience and it's funny how people try and get the "juice" out of you. He kept asking me questions about A.R. and what I thought of him and I think I successfully dodged some pretty serious traps. There was only one moment when I thought "Wait, maybe I shouldn't have said that." The interviewer was suspiciously charismatic and made me feel like I should tell him everthing I know. They're clever aren't they? The attention was delightful.

Then, one of the biggest names on the advisory board of KM came to do a concert in Chennai on Friday evening and did a workshop with the students on Saturday: L. Subramaniam; better known as the husband of Kavitha Krishnamurthy. Yes, I met them both and they are quite humble and lovely. The concert Friday evening was on the beach and it was amazing to hear Carnatic music on a handmade violin with 5 strings, while digging my feet into the sand and hearing the sound of the waves in the distance. Before the concert I ate chaat at a stand and hung out with my fellow faculty members and a new friend who used to play with A.R.: Paul Jacob. He's an amazing musician who has his own studio here in Chennai. He goes to remote villages around the country and records amateur musicians playing rare folk instruments. He played some of his stuff for us and it's amazing how tribal and African it sounds. He then mixes it with typical south Indian music which creates a really bizarre but cool fusion. Really great music.

The next day L. Subramaniam gave his lecture to the students at KM and Kavitha sat in the back with their kids. I got a chance to meet her, but acted like a total idiot. For some reason I was totally and utterly star struck. I'm generally not big on celebrities. I don't read magazines. I don't keep up with celebrity gossip. But for whatever reason I was acting like a total weirdo so I removed myself from the situation immediately. It's strange to think that I've been listening to her all my life and now I'm like working with her husband. Weird.

So that's the news for this week. More to follow.