letters from england...

Dear all,

What’s up? How are you guys doing? Well, I hope. Sorry I haven’t written in a while- in a long while-, the internet has been down at the office- and the laptop, AND desktop AND phone at home broke. It’s been a crappy time here lately for anything electronic. But now that it’s up and running again, I get to send out my ridiculously long emails once again….pleased aren’t you? ;) The Monday of the 14th was probably the most excitement we’ve had in a while here. My uncle, guruji’s husband, founded a charitable organization here called SACAR. http://www.sacar-trust.org/

They work with people who have Asperger syndrome and Autism and help them lead more productive lives. Check out the website- they do all sorts of artwork (mosaics, candle making, painting, copper tooling, etc- beautiful pieces, really). Anyway, this past monday. Vibha, Nikhil and I went with the Sacar group to a wildlife drive through safari and amusement park.

We were told the morning of that we were going to get to go on this trip. Got up at 6:30, showered and dressed then drove to Sacar by 7. We didn’t really know what to expect- nikhil, he volunteers at sacar, had met everyone before. We were told on the way there that some of the patients there- depending on the degree to which they were afflicted- might be a little hostile towards us, possibly a bit violent (pushing us, etc..) So, naturally, first Vibs and I were a bit apprehensive about meeting everyone. Our uncle dropped us off and gave us a quick introduction to everyone before leaving for work. We stood there, outside the building Sacar shares with a few other organizations, for a few mins smiling at everyone a little nervously before heading inside and upstairs to Sacars office. The office looks like a middle school art classroom, blue doors and trim, white everything else. Cement walls, art hanging from the ceiling, pictures glued to the walls, mosaic art and candles over all the shelves, and large art tables dotted with traces of paint and bits of glue and other materials. You enter the room- rectangular-with it’s length running north to south- from the western wall. The eastern wall is filled with windows, on the southern wall there are a strip of sinks and on either side of those are the mens’ and womens’ bathrooms, then on the northern- is the entrance to the Sacar administrative office. It’s a pleasant room to be in, sunny- good vibes. We stood there for a bit- a really long bit, 45 mins actually- but during that time got to know some of the patients who come to Sacar. Simon was the first to approach us- he had so many questions for us! Most of them about the geography of America and India….or about world capitals. He’s tall, with short cut brown hair- really sweet looking guy- kind of plump in the cheeks- but rarely shows any emotions (later when we were at the amusement park, I’d watch his face as he rode the rides…never a look of pleasure or fear or exhilaration, nothing). His eyes just keep looking around- while he’s talking to you, while he’s sitting by himself, darting around the room- he’s so calm but for those fidgety eyes. Then there was Richard- thin, which stringy blonde hair, he was simply dressed (polo t-shirt and shorts- and accessorized with a GMC baseball that he got in Florida, a bottle of water and a fanny pack- he was my favorite, I think. Such a sweet guy- we came in and he greeted us with little nods and hellos, then welcomed us and asked if we wanted tea….ha, even though he hadn’t any intention of making it even if we did. Those were the two who spoke to us the most- there were a few others I’ll mention briefly: John, he’s the voice of reason for the lot- completely in control of situations, infact he displays no signs associated with either of the syndromes…well, maybe none that I can pick up on. Then there was Adrien, who would suddenly start laughing- at nothing!- you could ask him to pass the salt and he’d start off, a great big jolly sort of laugh- sweet guy though. Then there was Alison- obsessed with putting on makeup and lotions, and would randomly cut her hair- little bits of it. There were about 25 people with us in all, all with some unique obsession or quirk.

The drive was about 1.5 hours. When we got there, we took a drive through the safari first- so all sorts of wonderful animals: baboons (who kept jumping on our bus roof and ripping things up there!), buffalo, tigers, kangaroos, lions, camels, all sorts of deer and antelopes, etc - all free range! It’s a wonder how they kept all these animals from eating one another, guess they all must be really well fed. Anyway, as wonderful as the animals were, it was the company that made it all worth while. The whole time the bus was filled laughter and just SUCH happiness, silliness…for instance, a sample conversation between Richard and John while the camels were all around our bus)

Richard: Sheesh! These are the biggest sheep I'e ever seen!

John: Ahhh, silly- those aren't sheep! Have you ever seen a sheep with two humps??!

(at this point he waited for people to raise their hands ;) )

Richard: No, I can't say I’ve seen a sheep with two humps…I suppose a sheep with even one hump would be curious enough.

John: Then?? You see, they aren’t sheep, they’re camels!

Richard: Camels eh? Well that's good, they make beautiful camels but right ugly sheep.

(approaching the deers…..)

Richard: Oh look! Goats!!!

John: (BIIIIIIIG sigh!)

The rest of the trip was much like this- after the safari, then after the amusement park and shows about parrots and sea lions…it was a bit rainy, but on the whole absolutely wonderful. I was commenting about it later, these patients- all who have difficulties and handicaps that I couldn’t imagine dealing with- put that aside, to take care of myself and vibha. They would keep asking if we were ok, if we needed anything, if we were hungry, thirsty, etc… so warm, so giving. Ahh okie, I’ll probably write again today or sometime soon J till then know that you are all in my thoughts and I miss you guys so much. Take care.

Love,

sadhu

letters from england....

Hieeeeee!

How are all of you doing? It’s so nice to hear from all of you- I check my mail first thing when I get in to the office here, and your emails completely brighten my day...even if it's just a forwarded joke ;) I have so much to tell you guys! I know, I know, I ALWAYS have so much to tell, huh?

So, monday night these english ladies- kate, gillian and caroline- came to stay at guruji’s house with us. They dance for Kala Sangam as a troupe called the Steel Magnolias….named after the movie, primarily because it reflects so much of their personalities. They’re each very delicate, graceful, caring- but totally "no nonsense type" and incredibly organized. They bustled in in full indian garb- from a bindhi and tika to payal on their feet. They go to india each year, have travelled more there and seen more than I have! Incredible.

Anyway, that night was a bit of a slumber party (granted with 40+ yr olds, but still fun). The next morning, we all woke up by 5:30- then we all met at Kala Sangam’s office (nikhil, myself, the steel mags, vibha and jaya (this other really good dancer….if K.S. was a boot camp, she’d be the sargent.) and then left for Wales by 7 in this huge minibus (16 seater). It took a good three hours to get there, we arrived 10 mins late for our first workshop, swarmed the nearest restroom ands rushed to get ready. We met up with another dance troupe there that also works with K.S. called Nritya Kala, a folk dance institute. It headed by this woman, Nayana Whittaker and her photographer husband. She had brought two of her dancers and along with them, vibs and I got to host three workshops and about 4 performances. Totally awesome experience. Live music, this garba/bhangra band, from bombay. The performances were impromptu, we’d get up there and someone would lead, the rest would follow. All the other dancers who came with us- the steel mags, jaymini didi (freelance kathak dancer) and jaya didi (freelance bharatnatyam)- joined in.

I stepped on this thin nail that was sticking up in the middle of the stage, and bled all over the place. But that got bandaged and I had to start dancing again. It wasn’t that painful- suck through my toe-,so I just had to kind of dance a bit more carefully after that. The festival lasts for a week- yesterday was children’s day. Five schools had brought their students for a field trip, all ages. So these little kids would jump on stage too, and mimic our movements.

The festival itself was amazing- lasts till late night every day. There were demos and performances and workshops in little tents all over the park grounds, as well as all these food and craft vendors from all over the world. The coolest part was that there was a world wide dance competition and a world wide music competition held in this massive tent (the tent was over the public seating and attached to the top of this full sized, heavily decorated with flowers and lights, stage). Dancers and singers came from EVERYWHERE- Zimbabwe, Australia, France, Colombia, Romania (KS got invited by one of their directors to go to Romania next august!!!), India (the bhangra/giddha troupe from india was 80 people strong, most of the troupes had about 40 people…serious competition…when the bhangra team entered, they came in with singing, dancing, and beating the dhol, people were completely stunned )…to name a few, there were tons of countries represented. Wales itself is beautiful- very mountainous- and a darker green than what’s found in England. The park is surrounded by hills and mountains, really picturesque.

Wonderful trip. We danced from 10am- 3pm, with one 1 hour break, got home around 7. I came away with a bum toe, mehindi decorated hands, and so many wonderful memories. J

That night, after we got home- ajit bhaiya took us to a lecture on sikh art. It was so interesting. The lecture itself was about the rarity of visual sikh religious art. It was about an hour long, but really informative. The lecture is part of a series. One every two weeks ill mid october, I think I might go regularly to it. The topic varies from session to session but it always an aspect of sikhism, with various guest speakers. Okie, time for lunch then dance class.J tata my dears.

Love,

sadhu

letters from england...

hi all,
this is just a quick hello to find out how all of you are doing. vibha and i are off to a workshop at local college here (like a community college) in a bit. tomorrow we're all off to wales for the llangollen (pronounced land-lock-lan) festival. so we have to be up by 5:30, and driving by 6:30 :(
ohhhh yesterday was So amazing-we picked nikhil, my guruji's son, up at the airport and then went directly to a concert hosted y this group Rupak. kathak recital was first by this slightly well padded woman. it was good, not great but satisfactory. no, i take that back, itwas barely ok. she forgot some beats, she couldn't say any of the bole without assistance from her guruji who was playing tabla. then this hindustani vocal recital- which was, truthfully- more painful than it was pleasurable. but THEN, then came a tabla/sarangi duet which was absolutely divine. Ramesh mishra, he played the sarangi- which is a violin of sorts- he PLAYED. cradled, hugged it tenderly like a child, and then- not one word- just closed his eyes and played. Sapanda Choudhry, the tabla artist. the man played for an hour and didn't even break a sweat. the mike fell, his tabala nearly rolled off the stage, but nothing fazed him. Completely calm. he lives in california, somewhere, not sure. his face is similar to that dude in the sound of music....the father, same hair do- a little more flowy......aaaahhhh, you guys should have seen it. They both walked on stage. the lights were slightly dimmed, not intentionally (poor management of the preformance, but it lent a bit of mistery to their entrance)- they sat down, tuned their instruments and rameshji provided a little introductory piece. then sapanda (he's the hindustani vocal lady's ex husband, but left for some white lady....oh la la, the juicy gossip) introduced themselves and their instruments. he spoke, humbly, in a steady, calm voice, rythmic...the man oozes it, i think....accented with little coughs and swallows. he struck the smaller tabla, and this powder- the talc they use- escaped in to the air, leaving these little trails of "smoke". then he struck it again and again.....and soon the concert was finished. Sapanda Choudhry, tabla maestro, with Ramesh Mishra providing laheri...soooo nice. the sad thing was that not too many people where there- a lot of them leaft after the dance and vocal stuff. a pity.
hmm...this email isn't so short, huh? sorry ;), i'll try to keep it short for next time....for those of you who asked the british don't really care that it was the fourth of july. today's workshop is on bhangra and garba, should be fun. it's 2:30 now, it'll be from 3:30 to 5:30, then from 6- 8:30 is our dance class! tonight, these three english ladies are staying with us, so that we can all leave together tomorrow. they are so loud. SO loud. it'll be house full.
okie loves, i've got to go now. see you- tata!

love,
sadhu

ps- THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SENT OUT ON MONDAY :) BUT I GOT A LITTLE BUSY, SO HERE IT IS!!!

letters from england...


hi! what's up. i just got done with a dance rehearsal for this preformance next week- next thursday- these little kids, 3rd graders are dancing! so cute. yesterday, vibha and i taught dance at this little school in this village faaaar from where we live in bradford. we taught for 5 one hour sections, 35 students in each section. it was such an experience, i've never done anything quite like that before. :)

i wish all of you were here with me. there so much to see. this dance performance next week- on the 10th, the little kids one- is in this museum! it's lovely. called cartwright hall. wooden floors, deep plum and palegree walls, gold framed paintings...one side of the hall is a balcony (the hall is on the second floor of the museum) over looking the first. the ceilings here are so beautiful. very intricate, even in homes, just as decorated as the walls (textured, that is) with mouldings and accents. the museums' ones are very high and a pale yellow, accented with a cream. add to that a cerub motif accenting the walls union with the ceiling and original stone pillars. the whole scene, very dramatic. ha! and THIS, this incredibly grownup setting is the stage for these children's dance. i LOVE working with these kids. they're so refreshing. getting to know them, teaching them...after each class vibha and i get showered with hugs and little kisses. today the children got their costumes. little saris for the girls (red for the ones from one school, green for the ones from the other) and salwar kutras for all the boys. totally adorable. i'm a bit gushy about them :)

OOOOOHHH....so this past week, vibha and i had the opportunity to meet one of the worlds most wonderful tabla artists. There are three primary ''houses'' of tabla playing. famous ones. Kishan Maharaj's. Then the Sahai house, then i think the last is the one of Govind, or gobind, Maharaj. Vibha and i met Kishan Maharaj's son, Puran Maharaj, and his family. They're here on holiday and my aunt and uncle have been entertaining them. They are soooo nice, esp Puranji. he's this chubby, jovial type of man. He and his family (his wife dances bharatnatyam, kuchipudi and kathak and teaches hindhustani music as well) came to watch vibha and i during our dance practice. gave us their blessings.

Next week is going to be terribly busy. On the 6th we're going toa kathak recital, then on the 8th to wales for the cultural festival, we'll run a folk dance workshop for children. then on the 10th we have the childrens' preformance in the morning and vibha and i are preforming for another school's cultural festival at night. then on the 11th the BBC launch in the afternoon., then that night, 3 ten min slots of dance at the University of Bradford. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I've never preformed this much.

it occurs to me i didn't tell you guys much about this arts company we're working with. or much at all about the people i'm working with. The company's name is called Kala Sangam. It was founded about 10 years ago, i believe, with the mission to unite people through south asian art. www.kalasangam.org It promotes all sorts of artists from around the world, works to introduce dance and and various types of instrumental and vocal music to children here. it's pretty amazing, how it's grown. They have all sorts of classes and preformances in: instrumental (tabla, sitar, harmonium, sarod, flute, etc..), vocal (carnatic and hindustani), dance (kuchupudi, mohiniaatam, bharatnatyam, kathak, folk) and storytelling, arts and crafts. it's more like a corporation/agency type thing, rather than just a dance company. tons to do. vibha and i take care of the busy work that piles up around here. database entry, faxes, writting letter to people, taking mins of metings, typing those up- and now, dancing at some of the preformances that kala sangam gets invited or hired to do. We're working with such wonderful people, they are all so patient and veyr good at what they do, and are SO willing to teach us and nuture our art. Ajit Singh (ajit bhaiya), is the programs manager. he deals with organizing and executing large scale and community preformances. he's this giant of a man (6'3'') and with his turban,he's even taller. He's a gentle giant though. he's hilarious, not sure if he means to be funny, but vibha and i are always laughing when we're with him. and h really treats us like we're his little sisters!! introduced us to his family and all (niceness seems to ba a genetic trait with their family) He's convinced that he'll teach us punjabi and hindi before we leave. haha, good luck. Rashmi Sudhir (rashmi akka), she's the education officer for kala sangam. organizes all the school workshops and community educational preformances. we usually accompany her on all the school workshops. She's got a little girl, 7 yrs old, who's just too cute and too overly smart for her own good ;) rashmi akka's pregnant with her second child now, due soon...a little girl! then there's kalsoom didi, the financial officer, she's forever getting vibha and i to eat fruit. sh's so sweet, just got married ( and is incredibly beautiful). so that's my family here at kala sangam. i'll tell you guys about my aunts family sometime later...i'm sure this email is plenty long enough.

sorry i haven't been sending too many individual emails, i'm on a dial up connection here, so i never have that much time before the internet flakes out. I misss you all my lovelies. i wish you we're all here, it's so green and lush- there's a forrest right by where we live here- i can't wait to explore it. the weather has been really rainy lately, so after taht clears up, vibs and i will go exploring :) tata, talk to you all soon. hope you're all doing well, let me know how things are, i'll keep doing the same from here :)

toodle loo...

much love,

sadhu