letters from england...

good morning everyone! just wanted to wish you all a wonderful day... i'm at work now :( doing boring computer stuff........ :(:(:( danced for the past 4 hours, now working, will dance again in one hour for another 3 hours :(. i shouldn't complain, this is what we came for- but that room we dance in is sooooo depressing and gray. oh! the preformance went so well yesterday- vibha and i messed up a little- but it wasn't really noticable. AND it was really nice to have done our first bharatnatyam performance with our guruji. we wore guruji's costumes, different styles, but same color schemes- yellow and maroon. we performed around 2:30 in the afternoon, then changed out of our costumes, came home- ate and dressed- then had to go to dance class at 5 to learn the piece for the BBC radio launch. the BBC show is next friday, the 11th, and before that on the 10th- we're preforming at some school's cultural festival! so that's all we've been doing lately- practicing for all these events and then doing this company's busy work. hmm........ my guruji's son is coming from india next week- sunday- never met him before, that should be exciting. at least we'll have some one near our age, he's a few years older than me, to hang out with. I visited the one of the local universities here- the University of Leeds-it's SO nice, really, the architecture. i'll wait till nikhil- guruji's son- comes to go see the Uni of Bradford. My aunt has dreams of me coming to school here, dancing fultime..studying full time...so i'm trying at least entertain some of that hope- ha, we'll see if it actually happens. the weather today has been crummy, pouring rain- which i like- but so cold! oh, and you know what? people here eat sandwhiches of french fries! like bottom bun, fries in the middle, ketchup and then top bun. bloody looney these people are. teekhai, i best get back to my data entry stuff. toodle loooooo.

love,
sadhu

letters from england...

hi everyone,
how are all of you doing? doing well, i hope. what are you up to? anything new and exciting? vibha and i saw jhanak jhanak payal bhaje....so surprising, there were more caucasians attending than indians! it's a very very good movie, watch it if you get a chance too. what else? hmm, we're practicing as usual- we (by "we" i mean vibs and myself) have been given an opportunity to dance at the launch for a new, asian, BBC radio station- on the 11th of july i believe. so there'll be live tv coverage and radio coverage, should be cool- if i see a tv camera, i'll be sure to jump in front of it and say hi to all of you :) there's such a huge south asian community here- esp pakisthani muslim, so we hear urdu as much as we hear english. it's really interesting, going down some of the streets here i don't even feel like i'm in england. the streets are lined with salwar and sari shops, desi style vegie/fruit stands, desi restaurants, this arts academy we're attending is right next to a HUGE mosque, so we even hear call to prayer. like a different world- some of the schools we visit are all asian, all muslim students. even the teachings of the school are structured around the childrens' ethnicity....when we get out of the car- there are so many desi restaurants here that the air always smells like desi kana!!
today, we came to work early- helped out with the paper work that builds up here- lots of busy work, then danced for a few hours. the room we dance in is bloody depressing. it's in the basement of this office park we're located in- there are 67 misc rooms in the basement, like a maze...not all on the same floor- so the basement is actually 2 or 3 floors combined...and we dance in room 62- which is actually BEYOND room 67- try to figure that one out. crazy brits. anyway, we go in-the doors are this drak gray and very very heavy, with black handles-the room itself is stone flooring, in this speckled gray and black motif, the walls are concrete blocks painted white, and there's one, small, window- which is locked and has jail cell type bars over it. this is where we spend at least 3 or 4 hours a day, if not more. vibha, myself and our stereo. depressing, but it helps you concentrate, surprisingly. no distractions, i guess. what else can i tell you- i'm getting to be pretty plump and rolly poly on my aunts cooking- we have icecream almost every night :) and "tea", which consists of hot chocolate and cookies for us- every five mins..... people here are obsessed with tea. speaking of obsessions, i'm now totally immersed in this one hindi soap opera- kabhie aaye na judaai- ridiculous story line, but i LUUUUB it :) right now i'm still in the office, waiting for my aunt to finish up the weeks work. this sunday is the wedding....*sigh*, i'm nervous, i can't believe that we got signed up for this!! oh well, will be a good experience, nah? okie loves, off i go- time to go check out that hall where the wedding will be, then home. take care dears, have a wonderful day! talk to you soon~

love,
sadhu


PS- this email was written on firday, but i didn't get to send it- so sowwwwwwwy. i'll write more later :) take care my dears, i miss uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

I know death.
why fear him?
he will come, bearing no special vengeance against me
But I am afraid
not of dying, only that i wouldn't have lived enough to have a
good tale to tell him, on the long walk back home.

letters from england....

Dear ones,

so, my email's haven't been going through...apparently british computers hate me as well. i hope this one gets through though. i miss all of you very much, though it's been only a week. how've you been, what're you up to? i have SO much to tell all of you- we arrived on monday safe and sound. our dance classes started the next day....my aunt wastes no time ;) last wednesday and thursday vibha and i got to assist in teaching dance- classical mixed with folk- to third graders from two different schools. one which is completely asian and the other which is more caucasian. the kids will get together later- july 10th- and preform for the community here. the program is an attempt to promote intergration in the society here. so, that took up quiet some time. Then saturday vibha and i went to a mela- like a carnival, lots of ethnic food, tons of rides, music, street acts- that was soooooooo much fun. then the next day we drove to this city called hull to watch this fusion precussion performance my aunts arts company was sponsoring- 2 artists, one playing tabla and the other playing all sorts of drums, from the trap set to african bongos.
life here is very busy, tiring, but in a good way. this comming thursday we're going to go watch this old hindi movie (jhanak jhanak payal bhaje!!) which is part of this film festival- celebrating music in movies from around the world- called Bite the Mango. OH, and this coming sunday vibha and i are preforming at the wedding. it's a little odd though cause we don't know the people getting married. a lot of people here hire companies to provide entertainment at weddings, rather than ask their friends to dance, so this couple hired my aunts company....so, it's a little odd for the two of us, a lot of pressure, hopefully it'll go well. okie loves, it's a bit late here, i'm off to drink some hot chocolate and get some rest :) i miss you guys so very much, please do write- and i'll try to write more often (on dial up connection here, the internet is a bit flakey- one a side note- much like the weather, cold hot cold hot cold hot...) sweet dreams, take care!

love,
sadhu