A Teacher’s mail to a to-be student
Dear Swapan,
I think I remember having communicated with you earlier. I am glad to hear that you have been pursuing your music along with other academic and professional commitments. I gather from your mail that you seem fairly clear with the course that you wish to undertake with your musical pursuit. I would of course hesitate to say with the same degree of confidence, that I would be in a position to ‘spread’ the wealth of Indian music. Indeed, I believe that is something that I cannot for a moment venture to say, only because the tradition has lived through several ages, whether or not people like me choose to be a part of it, let alone contribute to its future prospects! I believe the tradition is far too large for me to consider myself an indispensable part of it, or at any rate make any valuable contribution to its future. I am therefore happy that you have made such an early decision to ‘spread’ this music!
From your email, it is clear that you have had the opportunity to learn from several teachers. I know Suresh Samantji well and am also happy to hear that you are currently being guided by him. I must hasten to add however, that I am not in favour of changing teachers ever so often, as this only leads to a confusion of musical ideas, technique and at times even, repertoire. I will be happy to carry on this discussion on return from the US after a couple of weeks or so. You can contact me on my mobile number xxxxxxxxxx after Sept. 10, and we can decide the best time for you to visit me in Mumbai. We will then discuss the issue threadbare, but for now I can’t assure you that I will be in a position to teach you. There are several reasons for this, and an email will not be sufficient to explain everything to you. It would therefore be best if you made the trip to Mumbai in September.
Regards,
Aneesh
My stint in Goa
I was in Goa for almost an year and understood ,what a beautiful destination it was to be -not for the beaches ,nor for the culture it encapsulates but for the people it contains.They are so devoted and simple.
One really cannot enjoy Goa in a tour of say 6/7 days by experiencing paragliding,scooba diving ,parachuting and all.Adventure is one thing and divine pleasure is altogether another .
I was staying in Verna- a small town very near to the business capital -Margao.
An ideal town for the freaking out.Going to my workspace by a cycle ,I bought for 1850 bucks.
Nice highway that conncts 3 major cities of the Goa-margao,Panjim and Vasco..
Every alternate evening used to go to Majorda beach ,which happen to be the nearest well known beach from my residence.
Waiting for the weekends ,which are spent mostly out of Verna-sometimes in the Ponda (the religious city for the Hindus)roaming around and having darshan of the Gods/godesses(Shantadurga-Kavalem,Mahalaxmi,Mangeshi,Ramnathi) and sometimes thinking about for the nationl future travelling in a Kadamba bus to longer roads ,alone towards southmost Goa (canacona-my favourite spot) where many days I have spent with myself in the Palolem beach .
It was this beach where I have captured one of the most beautiful scenary in my Camera..
Then I meet Ameya Wadekar-with whom on ETERNO ,I explored the remotest parts of the Goa ,the towns, the festivals and the ultimate.
We spent our weekend evenings -listening and singing the songs in praise of the lord in various temples around Ponda.At home in Wadi and Talvalim ,we accompanied each other for lifting ourselves in the great depth of knowledge in Indian Classical Music.
Initially we picked the raag Yaman-king of all ragas and then Bhim Palaasi .It went for 7 months under the able guidance of Pt.Kamlakar Naik .We used to learn from him on Sundays -where I was just accompanieng with sundry studen artists coming for the vocal traing under him under the AGRA and Dhrupad style of singing..
The delicious fish curry(and especiaaly Machral-Bagda),was the icing on the cake..
So many simple ,enthusiastic and energetic people with their bindaas philosophy to live -will always be with me to the limitless..
– By Satchel Paige or Rumi
[Wrote like no one will read it.]
What a great philosophy to travel through life’s journey with! Tough one to follow – but nonetheless a nice source of inspiration! Learn from the past. Release yourself from the past. Live the present moment. Enjoy..