Med tanke på min sitargalna pappa och musikintresserade/kultur/indien/afrikagalna mamma borde jag vara rena rama kulturgeniet.

 Jag borde i alla fall kunna lira gitarr utan problem och böja ihop några skulpturer.

 Det enda jag har fått av dem i kulturväg är långa pianofingrar (som bara spelar kallejohansson men helst vill spela The Sacrifice) och ett rätt formbart gummiansikte som passar bra i skådespeleri.

Jag har försökt lite. Jag har målat nakna kvinnor och satt upp på vägen. En är gravid med ett regnbågsbarn och en annan går ner i vattnet för att dränka sig, med en kattbjällra i handen.

 Båda är nertagna på befallning av pappa och ex.

 Så att jag nu sitter och väljer att tjollra ner bröst på ett granatäpple härstammar från mina hippieföräldrar. Men att jag ska ge bort den i åka-tillbaka-till-usa present det vetifan vad det härstammar ifrån. En frisjäl långt bak i Ul Alam släkten? Farfar kanske?

Two of the greatest musicians of the 20th century worked together and created a masterpiece. The album was called “Passages“, and the piece you’re listening to is called “Channels and Winds”. Tha composers,  Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass. The album’s content is a hybrid of Ravi Shankar’s signature sitar playing and Hindustani classical music and Philip Glass’s distinct American minimalist contemporary classical style.

Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass met in Paris in 1965, when Glass was a young aspiring composer and Shankar was confirming his place in the world’s classical canon. Shankar acted as an informal mentor to Glass, and their interaction inspired Glass to consider the possibilities of rhythm. By the time they joined forces at a New York City studio, in 1989, the two occupied a more level playing field.

PASSAGES differs from previous collaborations that Shankar had undertaken with Western musicians such as Yehudi Mehuhin, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and George Harrison. On four of the six pieces, the two don’t improvise together so much as refine each other’s material, while on the remaining tracks, each composer is entirely responsible for the final composition. Shankar’s lush orchestrations are most evident on “Prashanti” and the graceful “Ragas in Minor Scale,” while Glass’s repetitions manifest most hauntingly on “Channels and Winds.” But on the finest tracks, “Offering” and “Meeting Along the Edge,” their individual talents are subsumed into the collective experience.

Documental realizado a finais dos 90 que narra partes da vida e a influencia do músico hindú máis popular de tódolos tempos: a lenda do sitar Ravi Shankar.

Inclúe entrevistas a George Harrison, a sua filla Anoushka Shankar e a él mesmo, entre outros, nun documental cun ambiente moi familiar.

VERSIÓN ORIXINAL

Today was quite interesting. The atmosphere lent itself to sleepy, lazing day. But, I had to be in school. So, throughout the day, I was sleepy and subdued.

In my art class, a concentration is required by the students. So, while playing around with pen, ink, and scrap pieces of paper, my idea donned on me (with the help of my friends ;D). The idea is to paint fragments of an image, leave some things off, add some things. This way, the whole picture is left to the viewer to derive. Right now, the medium I will be using are ink, watercolor, acrylic, and color pencil. I am quite excited about it all. I can not wait to dive right in and see what I end up with.

In need of community and service hours, I volunteered to help my calculus teacher grade papers. She told me to not grade my own paper, for fear of me cheating. But, the process of erasing my answer and putting in the correct answer, then marking it right requires energy. The energy that I am not willing to exert. So, I gave her my paper just so she could see I did not do any monkey business with the grading.

Today, a friend told me that once I get an idea, I run with it and put everything I have into producing something out of that idea. It is the process of coming up with the idea that stumps me, she says. This was said to me in auditorium as we waiting for the Sitar player to begin. My AP World History class decided to take a in school 30 minute trip to the auditorium so as to hear the Sitar player. My teacher did not want any of her students to miss out on the opportunity. Although, I have already heard him play from last year, this year, I heard him play something different. His ragas were very upbeat as it was after lunch break. The music that is played by a Sitar player is based on the time of day. If it is in the morning, the tempo will slow and calming. It it is in the evening, the tempo will fast and upbeat.

A Sitar instrument

Today was quite interesting, indeed.

From rudimentary folk beginnings, string instruments of India have now reached the heights of concert glory, giving endless moments of ecstasy and delight to listeners. The strumming of a series of taut metallic strings is capable of creating an enthralling experience of vitality and emotion. As the player slides over the notes, the listener experiences moments of pure bliss. There is an entire tradition in Indian music where musical instruments of the stringed variety form a separate classification, termed as ‘Tata Vadya‘ or the sound of the strings. These instruments are also termed as chordophonic, which means string sounds.

Kanwar Sain Trikha – Raga Bageshri :  

Nikhil Banerjee – Raga Malkauns :  

In the western world the Sitar is perhaps the most well known musical instrument of India. The Sitar is a plucked string instrument that uses sympathetic strings and a long hollow neck along with a gourd resonating chamber in order to produce a very rich musical sound along with a complex harmonic resonance. The Sitar is predominantly used in Hindustani classical music. This instrument is one that has been used all throughout the Indian sub continent, particularly in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. What’s not known is its exact origin. The Sitar has been in existence for thousands of years in one form or another, but there are several theories as to who invented it.

Rais Khan – Raga Darbari Kanada :  

Usman Khan – Raga Kaushik Ranjani :  

There is a common story attributing the invention of the Sitar to Amir Khusrau. Amir Khusrau was a great personality and is an icon for the early development of Hindustani classical music. He lived around 1300 AD. As common as this story is, it has no basis in historical fact. The Sitar was clearly nonexistent until the time of the collapse of the Mughal Empire. Most people agree that the modern Sitar first appeared in the 1700s at the end of the Mughal Empire.

Raga Bairagi at a Sitar shop in Paharganj, New Delhi :  

Legendary musicians associated with the Sitar include Vilayat Khan, one of the most prominent Sitar players of the 20th century, and of course Ravi Shankar, who brought the Sitar to Woodstock.

indianraga

Hollving Argaez es el único maestro del sitar en México. Su virtuosismo ha sido reconocido en diverso países del mundo (incluso en la India). El primer video pertenece a su concierto dentro del ciclo “Rara Avis” del Centro Nacional de las Artes, México; el segundo, a su gira por Francia, 2009. Si te interesa participar en una charla-concierto mándanos un correo con tus datos a: sauceverde@hotmail.com.

“Welcome to Dartmouth.”

That was the gracious opening remark from a man who, himself, was actually the visitor on Tuesday night. But only in the most formal sense. As a performer on the world stage for over five decades, in truth Ravi Shankar’s name and music are as well known as even the most frequent visitors at the Hopkins Center’s Spaulding Auditorium.

He continued, “I will miss Anoushka tonight as much as you will miss her. We will do our best to make up for it as much as we can.”

It had just been announced that his daughter Anoushka had taken ill and would not be joining him on the stage that evening. That could have been a disappointment, but instead it turned instead into a very intriguing prospect: her absence allowed for his first live performance without her, in fifteen years.

The first half of the concert had been filled with a single raga, plaintive and rhythmic with Ravichandra Kulur’s  soulful solo flute taking the lead. Typical of North Indian classical music the textures were layered and transparent, the structure was patient to develop, gaining volume and speed even as each of the three instruments folded in to the mix. The first half ended in a breathless punctuation of synchronized voices.  Exciting!

After what seemed to be an extraordinarily long intermission (I didn’t time it, but it felt like a half hour or so) Ravi Shankar and the original three musicians took the stage: Kulur on flute, with percussionists Tanmoy Bose and Pirashanna Thevarajah, along with two younger players identified as Kenji (Shankar’s student) and Benjamin.

They played a long set of several ragas, and throughout the whole performance the one thing that struck me was what a bluesy sound Shankar  was able to make with his sitar. I’ve heard the instrument played in many different ways, in live settings and on recordings in all kinds of music. And I’ve heard a lot of Indian slide guitar, much like the lap steel of American blues music in both construction and sound. But I’ve never heard the sitar sound like a blues voice before Shankar’s performance.

So is that his legacy to the art? It’s certainly one of them, but with a professional and personal history so closely associated with the Beatles, the Indian music infusion of the ’60s, and a long past of humanitarian work – it’s only one of many.

One final thought – the Spaulding stage sits low, and the auditorium seating is at a very moderate incline. Since Indian musicians traditionally sit right on the  stage the situation made for difficult viewing at best.

Maybe a raised platform on the stage can be arranged for the next Indian concert?

Which reminds me, the next show: April 1st, 7pm, again at the Spaulding. One of the best Indian percussionists in the world, Zakir Hussain. Must see (hear!)

Saddar Bazaar – группа из Бристоля (Великобритания) образовалась в 1990 году и прийдется по душе всем тем, кому не хватает в их любимой психоделии прекрасных звуков ситар. В их музыке этого в изобилии. Информации о группе очень мало. На счету музыкантов два полноформатника, несколько синглов и сплитов.
Дебытный альбом группы является ярким примером психоделического “рага”-рока последнего десятилетия и возможно лучшим, что выпускалось в мире в данной стилистике. Вторая же (на данный момент последняя) пластинка более изобилует новаторством и экспериментами: ситар, орган, слайд гитара, аккордеон, флейта и традиционные индийские барабаны… что может быть лучше для любителя музыки, уводящей в космос?!

Здесь кому-то не хватало ситара?! Включайте громче и наслаждайтесь восточной психоделией.

Saddar Bazaar – The Conference of the Birds (1995)

Saddar Bazaar – Path Of The Rose (1998)

La música no tiene límites ni fronteras. En el siguiente video aparece el maestro de mi maestro (Hollving Argaez): Pandit Shubhendra Rao (Sitar), Gao Hong (Pipa) y Ty Burhoe (Tabla) demostrando, una vez más, que vivir a través de la música es una experiencia única.

Pandit Shubhendra Rao, maestro y guru de mi maestro (Hollving Argaez), muestra en el siguiente video su increíble técnica. ¡Simplemente asombroso!

L’iperattivo, ultra-caffeinato, rockerillico Kerry Brown continua a tweettare come un invasato da Pumpkinlandia. Di recente ha accennato alla possibilità che le fasi di registrazione di “Teargarden by Kaleydiscope”, il nuovo disco a puntate degli Smashing Pumpkins, vengano riprese e quindi montate e riversate… su un DVD? Nel capiente mondo di internet? Non è dato sapere.
Per la prima volta, da oltre quindici anni, le telecamere vengono ammesse negli studi dell’iracondo-ma-ora-karmico Billy Corgan. L’ultima volta era successo in occasione della preparazione di “Siamese Dream” (1993), in quello che, in parte, diventò poi “Vieuphoria” (1994 – VHS, 2002 – DVD).
Nel frattempo Corgan, Brown, Tulin e il giovinotto Byrne se la sono presa con gli USA, rei a loro dire di aver sprecato per l’ennesima volta una confezione di buon senso andando a bombardare la luna. L’occasione giusta per proporre un filmato proprio a base di “Luna” (da quel “Siamese Dream” di cui sopra).
Giusto, la foto: pare che ci sia anche un sitar in una (o più) delle prime tre canzoni. Meno quindici giorni circa, se Zio Lampadina tiene fede alle parole.

hell o a gain,
not long ago I told you, that I´m sometimes flirting with worldmusic and that time it was a heavy balkan/gypsy flirt I posted.
this time I flirted with india and some traditional instruments and sounds coming from over there.
the tune is named ’shiva shag’ and it was born in 1998. stylistic it´s some kind of downtempo-world-dopebeat-triphop.
it´s on my unofficial cd-release ‘unireverse’ which will soon be rereleased on my little mp3-label $upra-Recordings.

hell g. – shiva shag

I wish yalls a happy mondays !

The video’s kinda lame but Niladri Kumar does some good work on the Electric Sitar or Zitar as it’s called. He’s almost shredding after 2:22! Neat stuff..

Bueno aquí les dejo este vídeo del maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, instrumentista hindú virtuoso del sitar quien enseño a tocar a george harrison este mágico instrumento. Si quieren escuchar mas, aquí les dejo un disco de un festival en la india.

descarga: http://rapidshare.com/files/

Notte. stu ciel fa pau…ehm dicevamo: NOTTE.

Interno: sala riunioni dell’anonima asociali.

-”salve, sono un metallaro”.

-”CIAOOOO, METALLARO”.

-sono qui per raccontarvi la mia dipendenza dalla canzone “nottinghes medesss” dei Metallica.La canto ovunque.

sotto al bagno, dentro la finestra, sulle uova, mentre mi gratto, mentre gratto le uova, quand facc i panzerott,

quand NON mi lavo i capelli, mentre fumo, mentre mi lavo il fumo e soprattutto la ascolto mentre suono, cosa difficile ai più.

Sono qui fra voi per far capire alle persone come me che fors è MEGL CRISTINA D’AVENA ANZICHè FAR QUESTA FINE.

Tra la folla, qualcuno ascolta indifferente, qualcun altro si sta scorticando  le narici ( si usa tra i metallari, li ho visti)

altri si fanno le foto dal basso per il myspace e vengono sgamati e pigliati a scozzette dietro la nuca; qualcun altro si sente di fottere

perchè era lì solo per suicidarsi in grande stile, ma poi la riunione si tiene al piano terra, quindi ciao lancio da 5° piano.

Tra tutti questi però c’è un essere diverso, seduta su una sedia, ma occupa 3 km d raggio intorno a lei per via della gonna in tulle e gli anfibi antinucleari.

Ella è lì in mezzo a loro, con le sue lentine che le fanno quelle deliziose pupille bianche, quelle catene che partono dal naso e finiscono dove non vorreste mai sapere.

E’ lì, ma è come se vivesse in un altro mondo, trasportata su un fiume di sangue come quello che si è disegnata sotto gli occhi.

SI MA PERCHè? Direte voi.

eh ho capito ma non è che possiamo rispondere a tutti.Quindi silenzio.

Quando l’amico Metallaro finisce di parlare parte un fruscio di chiacchiericci, ognuno dice la sua, in un frusc-frusc generale. Solo Lei non parla, non si muove, non si guarda attorno,

non un colpo di tosse.

é MORTA? Direte voi

eh se vi state zitti forse capiamo che minchia sta succedendo.

Lui la guarda bene, lei non si sa se lo guarda,(provate voi a capì dove guarda uno con le pupille bianche)

Mentre Lui sta per prendere le extensions e andare via piangendo, all’improvviso Lei sussurra qualcosa di indefinito.

-”mmsnsmfggn uacciu uaru ueiii, e nottinghesss medeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees“.

Lui si avvicina.

- “ma..MA.. CAZZO MA TU SEI   [b][c=11]°o.O(¯`•¸·´¯)ஐBABYLON MASSACRE89 ஐ(¯`·¸•´¯)O.o°[/c=12][/b]????????

Ti ho riconosciuta dalle pupille bianche, presenti nel tuo avatar sul forum “inchiappetiamocitrametallari!!!!!!

Ti ricordi di me? Sono BLACK EMPEROR VERSUS THE DARK BEAST INSIDE YOUR HEAD“!!

-”si..sono io..e ti ho sempre amato”. rispose Lei arrossendo, mentre si levava via un piccione da un orecchio.

I due , consci del fatto di amare entrambe i Metallica si gettarono in una spirale di sesso tantrico e si diedero alla new wave, dopo un rigoglioso periodo funky, dove si facevano chiamare “The Gladius Spiralius”.

Cosa abbiamo imparato oggi, cari lettori? Lo volete sapere? Eh?

Che in fondo c’è un pò di Lars Ulrich in tutti noi. Che batte la doppia grancassa del nostro cuore.

nella foto: applausi per fibra.

Riportiamo una versione di nottinghen medess eseguita dai due recentemente, durante il meeting del forum “inchiappettiamocitrametallari”.

Two days ago in my lovely MUS 185 class (The Diverse World Of Music) my awesome prof Dr. Thomas Garcia brought in a guest speaker, or rather player.  This very cute awkward long curly haired boy walks in with this huge case in the shape of something I’ve never seen.  Of course I knew what was in there beforehand, but if I didn’t it would have been very hard to guess what was in there.  This guy studied abroad a semester in India last year (Btw I’m studying abroad in Luxembourg spring semester of next year… that’s the plan) and he’s a music major.  While he was there he and another girl decided to learn how to play the sitar.  If you want to learn a hard instrument to play, the sitar would be your choice of instrument.

And what do you know? I want to learn how to play.  He kindly taught me how to hold it and let me play it.  From that little 10min encounter I found a pending new obsession! I’m already obsessed with India and the culture anyways.  It’s has 17 strings. and the frets are arched under the strings and you don’t even have contact with anything, very strange.  It’s supposed to imitate the human voice…  So here’s an example of some playing:

P(Dot)S… I know all the words almost to Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA”.  It’s such a fun jam song! So is the climb.  I swear it’s not Miami getting to me.  Just another door cracked open by my roommate/suitemates

El dilruba es uno de los instrumentos más peculiares en todo el mundo. Es una combinación entre el sitar y el sarangi. A pesar de que el ejecutante dispone de aproximadamente 18 cuerdas, sólo se concentra en una de ellas: esto no es una limitante, la increíble riqueza de la música de India le permite al músico crear piezas increíbles.

Indian classical music is basically split into two branches. The northern Hindustani tradition, influenced by the musical traditions of the Mughals, and the southern Carnatic tradition which largely remains culturally devotional in nature. To Westerners, and to many even in India, Indian classical music is simply a melody without a specific beginning or a definite end. To them it is more a gymnastics in sound, and to a few, unnecessary flexing of the vocal chords. As such, to many, its technicalities seem a little too baffling. A little basic knowledge about various sections of a recital is necessary, before one may start appreciating Indian classical music.

Probably the most striking difference between the Western and Indian classical traditions is the importance of improvisation in the latter. While Western music has written scores, an Indian classical performance is extempore. The overwhelming majority of Indian recitals are improvised on the spot, making each performance unique and unrepeatable. The musicians may almost never have practiced together, and it may be unusual for any musician other than a soloist to have a clue what will be performed. Given this, it is mind boggling to see the speed with which incredibly complex Ragas are improvised by the performers, with vocalists, instrumentalists and percussionists engaged in creating an unified interaction of rhythm and melody that is precisely calculated to bring out the essence of the Raga and mood, set out in the composition.

The improvisational nature of Indian music requires the artist to take into consideration the setting, time allowed for his concert, his mood and the feeling he discerns in the audience before he begins to play. The traditional recital begins with the Alap section – the serene exploration of the chosen Raga. Just like an hors d’oeuvre (appetizer) served before the main course of a meal. After this slow introspective beginning, the musician moves on to the Jor. In this part, the basic theme of the Raga is elaborated and the artist tries to bring the emotional mood of the Raga to the surface. There is no drum (Tabla) accompaniment in either Alap or Jor.

Rashid Khan & Shahid Parvez – Bageshri Alap & Jor :  (Download)

Rashid Khan & Shahid Parvez – Bageshri Jhala in Gat :  (Download)

Rashid Khan & Shahid Parvez – Tarana in Drut Teental :  (Download)

The Alap and the Jor evolve into the Gat or Bandish, the fixed compositions of the Raga. The Gat is divided into two parts called Vilambit and Drut. Vilambit is set to a slower tempo, while Drut is the fast composition. Here the drums enter with the rhythmic structure of the Gat and its time cycle, the Tal. The step-by-step acceleration of the rhythm in the Gat finally culminates in the Jhala, the final movement and the climax of the Raga. Here the music becomes more and more playful and exciting. Often, in vocal music, the artist erupts into a Tarana, a type of composition in Hindustani vocal music in which certain meaningless words and syllables (e.g. ‘todani‘, ‘tanaderena‘ etc) are used in a medium paced (Madhya) or fast (Drut) rendition. It was invented by Amir Khusrau and is now common all over India. Carnatic music has something similar called Thillana which is widely used in dance performances.

At the conclusion of a recital, the musician may choose to play a Thumri or a Dhun. This is a variation of Indian classical music, evolved during the Mughal rule. Here the artist has freedom to go beyond the scale of the Raga.

indianraga

There a few songs that get my creative juices flowing EVERY time I them. The one song that never fails me is “Street Fighting Man’ by the Rolling Stones.

The words create such vibrant images, my brain just lights up.

“Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy,
‘Cause summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy”

and

“Hey, said my name is called Disturbance;
I’ll shout and scream, I’ll kill the King, I’ll rail at all his servants”

Can’t quite explain it. Is it the way Jagger wails “street fighting maaaaaaan?

Or maybe its the haunting sitar that lurks in the background?

This is one song that just does it for me.

This is probably one of the toughest choice to make for someone looking for a high-end digital processor. There are probably a million pages out there that compare these products but none of them helped me much when I had to make the same choice. Also, most of them are outdated and don’t consider the recent upgrades that both of these products have undergone.

Firstly, I have used both of these for around the same period of time as of now and I’m impressed with both, so it is a fair review. For the benefit of the reader, I’ll categorize the comparison into various fields and provide a basic overview of each. The main aim here is to help the reader make an informed choice and avoid regretting later.

Usage and accessibility: The POD X3 live has a flow diagram of the effects being used and a cursor arrangement to navigate and edit any setting. It differentiates between a double and single click and this makes things very easy. The GT-10 on the other hand lets you toggle through a 4 way nav + rotating button. There’s an EZ mode which is a very easy way to make tones but it limits the possibilities by a large extent. All in all, to get the same tone, GT-10 takes a lot more tweaking than the X3. My pick : POD X3 Live

Sound: If you love clean passages and subtle effects, the GT-10 is a great device. The X3 live is capable of great clean tones too but the GT-10 sounds more ‘real’ in this department.

If heavy distortion and high gain tones are your thing, then the X3 Live is a definite winner. You can create amazing distortion patches using the X3 Live. The GT-10 sounds frail when it comes to this area.

The GT-10 has some modelers that the X3 Live currently doesn’t offer.

• A harmonizer and a whammy. Line6 has a stomp called ‘bender’ which can be used as a whammy/harmonizer but the GT-10 beats it in this department.
• A sitar modeler. GT-10 has a fairly decent sitar modeler. It’s not quite possible to get the same sound on the X3 Live.
• A looper. The GT-10 has a 55 sec instant looper.

However, the X3 Live’s dual tone is an amazing feature. There are endless possibilities with it. You can check out youtube for videos about the same. I use it a lot and it should be seriously considered before making a decision.

Considering everything,

My pick:

For clean passages: Boss GT-10

For high gain stuff: Line 6 POD X3 Live

Durability: The GT-10 has a metal casing and has tough build like the other Boss products. The X3 Live looks breakable but it is pretty well built, however,  the foot switches in the X3 Live are more fragile as compared to the GT-10. I haven’t experienced any problem with any of the products. My pick : Boss GT-10

Recording: This is where Line 6 products totally rule. The X3 Live has an amazing clarity while recording. It is the best thing after a professional studio. GT-10 has the feature but nowhere close to what the X3 Live offers. My pick: Line 6 POD X3 Live

Online community and support: This another area where Line 6 is amazing. Line 6 customtone has a collection of amazing, stage ready tones submitted by various users and the ratings are generally accurate. Many signature tones by artists themselves are available for direct download into the processor. Also, softwares like Gearbox and Line6 monkey are amazing free tools for making patches on a computer. The GT-10 has software editors but the libraries and features are primitive compared to Line 6.  My pick: Line 6 POD X3 Live

Overall: It’s close but the X3 Live does it for me owing to the great quality, dual tone and the ease of use. I would readily suggest it to anyone who is confused between the two products. If you are very concerned about a harmonizer/whammy/ looper, then you can give the GT-10 a thought but you can always add a Digitech Whammy to the X3 Live, if needed.

Winnner: Line 6 POD X3 Live

If you have any conflicting thoughts about anything above, you are free to discuss it but I can guarantee you that the above article is an honest attempt at comparing the two and the X3 Live is better for me. Cheers!

A Song That Is Timeless

Games People Play  by Joe South won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1970. Joe South’s  distinctive guitar at the opening is played on a Danelectro Guitar Sitar, which South also can be heard playing in the opening bars of the mega-hit Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin.

For some reason, this song has been on loop in my brain for the past 48 hours.  Games People Play, indeed!

Guess which one is me! Guess which one is me!! The one who is not me is a saddhu, who, in short, are people who have taken vows of asceticism, have usually performed their own funeral rites, have a number of different dress and rituals depending on their ascetic branch, and usually beg for alms. A lot of them hang out in Kathmandu’s Durbar Square waiting to take pictures with tourists for five rupees, so I can cross “Getting my picture taken with a saddhu” off the list. The ones here though are usually not the “real” saddhus, most of the saddhus in urban areas are homeless men who dress like saddhus, or criminals who have supposedly “taken saddhu vows,” but this guy was still pretty chill, even if obviously a “fake.” He told me his name was “Ram Dass,” hahahahahaha. Who knows, maybe Richard Alpert has really changed since Be Here Now.

If you are my mom or dad, then chances are you have read much of this in an email update. If not, here’s an unenlightening, superficial synopsis of things:

1) You have not lived until you have seen a live sitar and tabla performance in an area lit only by candlelight after the power has been cut.

2) On that note, I will most likely be taking either sitar lessons, tabla lessons, or both, depending on time and finances. The head of the program seems thrilled that there are so many extra lessons I want to be taking.

3) My anthropological field research will most likely be on Bon monasticism, and there are several subdivisions which I am considering. Our anthropology courses here are fantastic and the professor who teaches them likes my research proposals and says that he’ll accompany me as my guide and translator for the project, since he did his own Anthropology PhD in that same area, although working with Tibetan refugees rather than on the Bonpo.

4) I have my first private yoga instruction today, as I am going for a yoga teaching degree.

5) I think I’m going to contact the Himalayan Times about writing an article for them while I am here, as the head of the program told me that a past Cornell student here was able to do so, and she’s been encouraging me to do so as well.

6) Today we had to go for a security briefing at the U.S. Embassy. I was a bit nervous beforehand, thinking, Ooooh, government….scaaary. But, no. It was super chill. The head consul was extremely excited to meet us since it turns out he was also a Cornell alum, and he started asking us about Collegetown Bagels and such. Afterwords, he told us that he did his undergraduate study abroad in Tel-Aviv, to which I got extremely excited and replied to him in Hebrew, and he got excited and responded in Hebrew as well. All the other embassy folks seemed to think it was sweet. The one other American there and I had a long discussion with the Embassy folks, as they were really, really laid back and interesting. They asked us plenty of questions about why we chose to study in Nepal and what we are doing, each of us essentially had to give mini-autobiographies, and when I mentioned the bit about getting certified as a yoga instructor, they told me seriously that they’ve been looking for a yoga instructor to teach at the U.S. Embassy, so I jokingly told them I’d take the next semester off from Cornell and would be the official U.S. Embassy to Nepal Yoga Instructor. Ha, omg I’m so funny.

7) I am doing one of my mini-research projects (our first one, which, in layman’s terms, is super-duper uber-mini), on student Maoist groups. Plenty of my Nepali friends know other students here – mainly graduate students – involved in university Maoist politics, and tomorrow I have an interview with the head of the Maoist student group. It turns out her father is one of the leading (and extremely intelligent and respected) Maoist politicians in Nepal. He was the Minister of Finance of Nepal, a PhD, and he’s published several books regarding Marxism and development in Nepal. Oddly, he also studied at Cornell, as everyone has been telling me, although it does not mention that on his wikipedia entry, which you can read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baburam_Bhattarai . I’ve read quite a bit of Marx, but now I’m intimidated as all hell, especially since I’ve never read any Mao. I think that I’ll be reading some Mao tonight so that I can carry out this interview a bit better.

8.) Yesterday, I went with two of my close friends here – one from around here and the other from Japan – to a beauty salon in Kirtipur, where we got our eyebrows done and some sort of head massage/hot oil hair treatment thing. It was quite odd, since while laying back with some sort of hot oil in our hair, a Saddhu comes into the salon and stands there holding his begging bowl for quite some time, waiting for money. Nobody so much as paid any attention, yet I couldn’t stop thinking of how surreal it was that I was lying back getting my eyebrows waxed and my head massaged in Nepal with a saddhu standing over me waiting for money.

9) Turns out the Nepali word for “to read or study” and the Nepali word for “to fart” are extremely similar. This has lead to many people laughing at me. Trying to say, “I studied really hard last night, I studied for a long time this morning, I love to read,” becomes quite challenging. The difference is “PaDnus” versus “Padnus,” with the first being a retroflex “d” and the second being a dental “d.”

10) I don’t have much to add now, I just feel like I can’t end this post with a small paragraph about the difficulty of not talking about farting, so I’m making a 10th mini-paragraph. Also, “ten” seems like a good number with which to end.

Enjoy!