Update #2 - TAAL - The Rhythm of Life Documentary Film Fundraiser

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the TAAL documentary film fundraiser so far! Your generous contributions are much appreciated! Here is another short video clip for the project. Please considering donating a little something. Every bit helps!

In this clip, I am giving a brief overview of the idea of bol, the vocal syllables of the tabla. It is part of a much larger interview that Caroline did with me in Benares last year. It's a pretty special location, on the bank of the Ganges in Varanasi, on the unpopulated side. If you have been to Benares, you know what I mean... All of Benares is to one side of the Ganges, and there's pretty much nothing at all on the other side. It's a relatively quiet place, though you can hear bits of activity around us, as is the norm in India!

Soul of Ganges

If I haven't been posting on a regular basis, it's because Sudeshna Maulik and I have been working extremely hard in organizing Soul of Ganges. This was the public launch of our kathak and tabla school, Sangeet Kala Kendra. We have been offering weekly classes at the local Bharat Bhavan for some time now, however we had yet to present our first performance under the banner of the school.

Presented in collaboration with the Kabir Cultural Centre, Soul of Ganges featured a performance by the great sitar maestro, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, accompanied by the wonderful Subhajyoti Guha on tabla. The evening opened with Sudeshna's kathak dance performance, accompanied by myself on tabla and Raja Bhattacharya performing lehra on sarod.

We opened with a segment in Dhammar Taal (14 beat cycle), followed by madhya and drut Teentaal (16 beat cycle). As the theme was 'Soul of Ganges', Sudeshna demonstrated aspects of flowing water, as well as depictions of Shiva and Parvati.

After an intermission for chai and samosas, Ustad Shahid Parvez took to the stage and blew everyone away with his virtuosity and depth. We are extremely grateful to Ustadji and Subhajyoti for coming to perform for this special occasion in Montreal.

It was great to see that so many of the Indian music and dance lovers in Montreal came out to support our launch. We couldn't be more pleased with the turnout - the Maison de la culture Frontenac was filled to capacity; we unfortunately had to turn people away. We'll have to book a bigger hall for our next event!

I just did a quick online search, and wow! - someone has already posted a blog and videos. Click here to read Bettina Forget's take on the evening. And here is her YouTube videoclip of our performance:

(Now the world can hear me count in Hindi. Oh boy...)

And a clip of Ustadji:

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Special thanks to Arif Ali Khan from the Kabir Cultural Centre for the photos!