Monday, November 5, 2007

I live for my music…

Meeting Violinist Sri S P Jayaswal Q. Tell us about your childhood memories and experiences. I was borne in 1929 at Jamshedpur. I have lost much of my childhood memories but I remember very clearly about one thing that when I was about 5 or 6 years old, my father used to take me to Arya Samaj temples and I was often asked to sing. I used to sing Swami Dayananda’s Bhajans. I used to sing in my school functions also and got a lot of encouragement and appreciations from my teachers. By the time I was 8, the eagerness to get a formal training in music was growing, and I was too much devoted to learn classical music. Q. When and how did you start your formal training in music? At 10 years of age, I went to see a Bengali Yatra programme on Dussehra. There I saw two artists playing the violin and I got extremely inclined towards this musical instrument. I decided to learn violin anyhow. Then there was the question of buying a violin. My father used to send me to the shop to buy daily commodities. I started siphoning some money out of it without actually letting him know about it. Once the money was sufficient, I went on to buy a violin. One of my friends used to work in the Indian Railways. His senior Prabhakar sir used to keep a violin with him. I placed my piggy bank in front of him and I pleaded for the instrument. He broke the piggy bank and out of which came twenty three rupees and twenty five paisa. Seeing my love for the music, he gave it to me. Sri Joga Rao of Kharagpur became my first Guru for violin and I formally started taking music lessons in 1940. At the same time, I started taking training in vocal music from a Marathi vocalist Sri Dattatreyji. After that I took regular lessons in violin from Pandit Sudhanshu Kumar and in classical music from Sri Vinayakrao Patwardhan. Q. For how many years did you play for All India Radio? I gave my contributions to the AIR as a staff artist for forty years from 1952 to 1992. Q. In how many cities have you played till date? I have played almost in all major cities of India and with many of the famous artists. The more eminent among them were Kishen Maharaj, Godai Maharaj, Zakir Hussain, Karamat Khan, Vallukhan, Shankar Ghosh, Anil Bhattacharya and many eminent tabla players. I also did jugalbandi with great classical vocalists of our time such as Hirabai Varodkar, Sidheshwar Devi, Begum Akhtar, Nirmala Arun, Mubarak Begum, Laxmi Shankar to name a few. Q. Which Raga you like the most? Have you made any Raga your composition? Well, I love all Ragas very much, but have special liking for Rag Todi and Malkaush. I have created many compositions but couldn’t get them recorded. I have also contributed to Ghazal Gayaki and soft music but refrained from recording it due to my engagement with the AIR. Q. Do you have any plan for the coming year? I want to be young again to play this instrument. I forget all my twinge and suffering when I play this instrument. But one life is just not enough for this…I want to be borne once again…I live for my music.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Birthday in transit...


Last year on 10th Nov, while surfing at the central station cafe in
the evening at around 5.30 PM in Stockholm, someone stole my travel
bag which contained passport, money, my tickets to Paris and London
and other important documents. I was left shell-shocked. The problem
was twofold (a) I wouldn't be allowed to leave the country unless I
get my passport and visa stamped from the Embassy in Sweden or UK to
enter UK (b) I was virtually left with no cash whatsoever as I had my
money bag inside. I also had no means to travel back to UK as my cash
card worked only inside UK. After searching for 30 minutes, I went to
the police station and registered my report and talked to the Indian
Embassy at Stockholm with the first Secretary. As
the next two days were Saturday and Sunday, there was no scope for
embassy to be open and get my new passport. However, the embassy
understood my problem and the first secretary asked me to come on
Saturday 10 Nov, despite it being the holiday. I was supposed to go to
Paris next day and then back to London on 12 th Nov. I had the travel
insurance from ICICI, but the SOS number somehow din't work….finally I
made a call to my friend in UK and he managed to send some money by
Western Union. But there was again a big problem….Even the money that
was sent required a passport to receive as I had no other valid proof
of identity. Finally I got a new passport on Saturday, 11 Nov. It was
only with this passport, I could receive the money sent by him after
having spent one night without any cash in extreme cold in my youth
hostel. The next gigantic task was to get UK visa stamped on my
passport. The next day was Sunday, and British Embassy in Stockholm
was closed. Finally I applied for the visa on Monday and got it the
next day in the evening on 14th Nov. 14 Nov was my birthday which my
friends had planned at Wales in UK. I immediately booked a flight back
to London the same night. Finally I reached my university in Wales on
15th Nov. London in the morning looked like Mumbai and Bangor in Wales
like home. When I entered my class on 15th November, my friends
cheered me with a birthday song and a signed card!

Friday, September 28, 2007

Down the memory lane: the 'Wales Magic'






It is difficult to forget the cold, cloudy and grey weather of North Wales. I had the privilege to study for a course at the University of Wales in Bangor close to the spectacular mountains of Snowdonia, the highest peak in England. Bangor is only a four-hour train journey away from London. It’s is a historic city with a very distinct character and whether you’re taking advantage of its sporty location or exploring one of its old buildings, you won’t get bored here. Due to Bangor’s wonderful location you won’t be short of places to visit. There are a number of unique villages full of character that you just have to see. We were in a group of 12 scholars from India based in Bangor. On the first day, as we passed through the High Street, music from the Celtic Harp by Michael Richards welcomed our soul – a haunting melody of traditional folk or may be a lively welsh tune of a delightful renaissance! Michael is a local musician and sometimes he just plays on this high street. We used to have a splendid view of this small town from the University terrace overlooking Menai Straits and Beaumaris Bay during our lunch breaks. The Victorian Pier across the Menai Straits which was built in 1896 had become our evening meeting point which was just 15 minutes walk from our apartment. It stretches halfway and is surrounded by traditional pubs and restaurants. At the heart of the city there is an ancient Cathedral, one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain. It was founded in 525 AD by St Deiniol but has been rebuilt many times in its long history. The present building was restored between 1870 and 1880. The tomb of Owain Gwynedd, a Welsh Prince, also lives in the Cathedral. The cathedral contains 600 years old ‘Mostyn Christ’, a figure of Christ carved in oak.

Soul of the Wales: Snowdonia

Mountains, woodlands, estuaries, coastline, valleys, and lakes – it has all! Nowhere else in Britain will you find such a variety. The Snowdonia National Park is a retreat for those who appreciate natural beauty. The park covers 25 miles of natural treasure with picnic spots and attractions. The village of Llanberis is at the heart of the park with stunning lakes and scenery. It offers numerous opportunities for those looking to make the most of the fresh mountain air and stunning landscapes. Snowdonia has some of the best and most varied rock climbing in the world. The mountain was once the training ground of Sir Edmund Hillary who was first to reach the Everest in 1953. We had a day for climbing inside the Ogwen Valley. The valley with quieter and equally spectacular surrounding mountains is harbouring rich varieties of lichens and mosses.

Truly stunning Anglesey
The Isle of Anglesey lies to the north of Snowdonia. Anglesey is one of the most popular destinations in North Wales and because it’s an island there’s the added bonus of never being too far from the sea. The island is a popular spot for surfers. There are plenty of beautiful sand-kissed beaches. The historic town of Beaumaris is very close to the island.

Inside – outside: indulging with an artist
During our stay, we had a day-long session with an artist – Maria Hayes in an inspiring residential retreat centre called ‘Trigonos’. Since 1986, Maria has made and shown work in galleries and at live events across the UK. We had a soulful session with her in the studio and outside in the landscape. We worked with water colours and mud in the studio and then went out near the lake to shape our emotions using leaves, flowers and stones which we had made earlier on the sheet. While we spilled our creativity with fluid and telling movements elegantly splashing water colours, magical bouquet of classical music stimulated and amused us. At the end, we made our shrines near the lake and lighted a diya symbolising peace and spirituality within. The setting was the beautiful Nantlle Valley in the Snowdonia National Park with striking views across lake Nantlle. For three days, we worked together, reflected our nature, explored the nature and relaxed. Its difficult to forget sound of falling rain and hot cup of Earl Gray tea in the lawn overlooking the lake. It’s just a place to be!The valley conveys many aspects of the richness of the cultural and tradition of Wales.

The nearby villages of Caernarfon and Llandudno have plenty to offer including a buzzing nightlife and plenty of popular restaurants and attractions. The royal town of Caernarfon is around 8 miles from Bangor and is worth a visit even if it’s just to see its famous castle. Conwy, a medieval walled town with a historic castle and superb scenery is just close to it.

Elan Valley: discovering historic landscape
The lovely Elan Valley lakelands in mid Wales are well worth visiting. The area of the Elan estate is roughly 180 square kilometres; it has 12 sites of special scientific interest, a National Nature Reserve and many rare species of animals and plants. It typifies the reservoir landscapes that were created to supply the expanding industrial cities of Wales and England in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. During the 19th century, at the time of the industrial revolution, Birmingham’s population grew rapidly. Clean water was in short supply and there were major epidemics of water-borne diseases including typhoid, cholera and diarrhea. The 71 square miles of the sparsely populated hills and valleys of the Elan valley were acquired by the Birmingham Corporation for the elaborate reservoir scheme, built between 1893 and 1906. The imaginative scheme involved the construction of four massive dams and a 73-mile aqueduct to the South of Birmingham. An additional reservoir was added in the early 1950s. The engineering architecture has a distinctive theatrical style, popularly termed ‘Birmingham Baroque’. Careful and sympathetic management has resulted in the remarkable preservation of both the engineering works and surrounding landscapes in much the form that must have been envisaged by those who built and designed them a century ago. The whole landscape represents human endeavour on a grand scale, having been extensively remodeled by a water supply scheme for Birmingham that was amongst the greatest civil engineering achievements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Britain. The reservoir system today provides 68 million liters daily to keep the river Elan flowing and some 325 million liters per day to supply Birmingham and parts of South and mid Wales. The conservation of sensitive nature of the wildlife habitats of the Estate and protection of the water supply go hand in hand.

The Big Pit Mining
We discovered a time when coal was the king by descending 300 feet into the underground workings of ‘Big Pit’ to experience the hidden worlds of the Welsh miner. Big Pit is a real coal mine and one of Britain’s leading mining museums. The closed mine stands on the edge of Blaenafon, a town that played a vital part in the industrial revolution. This revolution transformed the landscape, culture and society of Wales, the UK and the world. We descended down the dark mineshaft by pit cage with helmet and cap lamp on.Out guide who took us inside the mine used to work in this colliery prior to its closure. A great funny man with equally great sense of humor, he kept us spell bound with his style of story telling. It was an exciting hour; we had almost experienced how difficult it was working tirelessly digging out coals to keep the world going.

10 Downing Street and Luch at the House of Lords
It was a feeling of greatness and triumph taking a round of 10 Downing Street, the historic home and office of Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister. The famous building fulfils many roles. It has been the heart of government for over a century as the meeting place of the Cabinet and as a reception venue for dignitaries from around the world. We felt highly honoured and humbled on being invited for lunch at the House of Lords at Westminster Abbey in London. During lunch we had thoughtful debates with the local MPs on issues from climate change to Iraqi wars. We later attended parliamentary debates and witnessed one of the busiest debating chambers in the world. Mrs Margaret Beckett, UK’s Foreign Secretary spoke for almost an hour on Iraq crisis and nuclear weapons defending UK’s involvement. Where parliament now stands has been a centre of authority and power for over a thousand years. Once the home of the royal family, and still officially a royal palace, the buildings that now make up the modern Houses of Parliament have developed through ‘design, accident and attack’. Parliament officially remains a royal palace and is still referred to as the ‘Palace of Westminster’. The site was used as a royal residence until Henry VIII moved the royal family out in 1512 following a fire.

Riding on a ‘Ferrari Jack’
It was just the perfect historical ambience at ‘Prospect of Whitby’, centuries-old tavern on the bank of the Thames River at Wapping in the east end of London. Dating from around 1520, it was formerly known as the Devil’s Tavern. In former times it was a meeting place for smugglers. It was also the site of ‘execution dock’, where pirates and other water-borne criminals faced execution by hanging from a gibbet constructed close to the low water mark. Their bodies would be left dangling until they had been submerged three times by the tide. Following a fire in the early 19th century; the tavern was rebuilt and renamed The Prospect of Whitby. The pub was closed in May last year for another refurbishment, and reopened after two months. I’ve recently been introduced to a wonderful alcoholic creation known as ‘Ferrari Jack’ which is made by mixing Jack Daniel with amaretto, cola, lime juice and plenty of ice cubes. Simply fabulous – what can substitute this? Devil’s Tavern has many types of cocktails to fulfill your pleasure, so try this once because you won’t be disappointed. There are even some crazy variations to unlock your imagination.

(The writer is an environment and development scientist and a member of the Association of British Scholars, India)

A day in the flower city of Belgium




It was a memorable trip to a small city of Belgium called Ghent. Well by the European standards, it is the fourth largest city in the country with about 2.5 lacs inhabitants. The city is not as big as Antwerp but bigger than Bruges showcasing the great medieval power in its awesome architectural affluence. The city proudly flaunts younger people most of them students at the Belgian State University. I took a morning train from Brussels which took about two hours to reach Ghent main railway station. My friend a research scholar at the Ghent University had come to the station and we took a walking tour through the city watching people, places, impressive monuments and of course beautiful gothic buildings.


You cannot miss the awesome cathedral with its mighty uprising tower named after Saint Bavo, a 7th century local nobleman who became a saint after he had given away his property to the poor and entered the monastery. Behind the Saint Bavo Cathedral one can see the ‘Geeraard de Duivel Steen’, or the castle of Gerald the Devil. This little castle was one of the first houses to be build in stone. According to a long-living legend, a man lived here who was called Gerald. He was nicknamed 'the devil' because he married five times. Each time, however, he killed his wife to marry another one. Hence, the devil! It is now used by the city administration of Ghent for storage of the archives. The other spectacular thing is the castle of the counts called Gravensteen. Around the year 1000, the first stone castle must have been erected here. Parts of this, such as the chimney and the fireplace, can still be found in the walls of the lower floors of the main tower. Right in the heart of Ghent stands the Saint Nicholas church, one of the oldest churches of the city. Another thing that is very special is the Belfry tower which functioned as treasury and watch tower. The tower was completed in 1338, when the bells were rung for the English king Edward II. There were always four soldiers on guard on top of the tower and every hour, they had to blow their horns as a sign that the city was still being guarded.

Right in the center of town lies the Saint Michael's bridge where you can admire the architectural richness of Ghent. On the right side stands the medieval St.Michael's church. From here you also have the best view over the famous panorama of the three towers. We spent the evening along the old harbour of Ghent right in the middle of the city sipping coffee. Graslei and the Koornlei are the names of two streets which lie alongside the Leie River. The Graslei is one of the most scenic places in Ghent's old city centre. Some of the most beautiful medieval houses in Belgium can be spotted from here. And finally, it was time to wrap up to get back to Brussels for the European Parliament visit next day. I took the evening train and could not stop myself silently praising the beauty and coziness of the city I had just left!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Make me a flower....


20.9.07
I sit aware
Behind the small window…
Of my mind and watch….
The evenings pass…..
Strangers who have no reasons to look in
They come and go by….peeping and smiling
There is no obvious…but wait a moment
You….my love…..you are so beautiful
Linger a while…lovely you
Does a part of you belong to me….?
Make me a flower (plumeria….) and adore me….tugging in you hair…

Letter to Shaun – the most marvelous being on this earth….


Dear Shaun

I have just finished your book Josie Journey… and I felt so sad about the whole thing.., but yet wish to first of all complement you for going through such a tough situation in life bravely although it would be next to impossible to return back what has been lost. I know how heartbreaking it may have been on you…and your spirits…As I went through the pages I was almost drowned in melancholy. I can say that you are living ordinary life in an extraordinary way…and you will get your love tomorrow, in your next birth, if you are really longing for. I have a deep desire to visit Nantlle Village (I think it was where Trigonos was, we spend during the retreat in 2006) and Josie School….and even going to Cape Town in South Africa….like you, I have been also yo-yoing back and forth between periods of hope and sadness….

I have also gone though severe emotional catastrophe, but I have realized to sing away troubles in a stoic way which I learned from Gita (the great Indian scripture)… Within myself I realized a huge potentiality – to overcome pain, stress and sufferings. I was constantly been submitted to emotional difficulties, disappointments and problems that were often on a large scale, making up the daily lot of my life. Conclusion, my anguish and my complexes, my permanent state of optimistic anxiety pushed me towards a second state that turned me into sky individual, one who is capable to act for the best in the most inappropriate moments….and I am sure, this is what you have done and doing now….

Love always seemed eluding to me…. I have had insurmountable difficulties in love….. The unrelenting emotional cataclysm that I was locked up within, were the causes of considerable disruption in my emotional state, the sort of disruption that nearly killed me. And what followed were long spells of leave-me-alone moments. Many-a-time worries left me torpid, the feelings that I had hit rock bottom hovered. But because of my tight research assignments, I bounced back to normalcy. I dealt with issues head on as they cropped up. Sometimes the fallout was pretty vicious. And now I realize, whatever happened was not real – it was all illusion. It was created. It was because of external reasons – not of my own. That egged me on to create my own belief – very strong one, that of eternal optimism, faith and bliss. But I kept telling myself, that inner happiness has never been so close to me as at this moment, and that I have all that is necessary to reach such happiness, on the condition that I desire it with true intensity. I wanted myself to be in the best possible state of mind to benefit from it in all its glory, I did want that!

I think one can overcome all the obstacles and the inhibitions that life has erected in our way through positive thoughts.

The evening becomes difficult…very melancholic…very difficult to get ahead of time… seclusion is becoming the reality…I am trying hard to be in high spirits even though my heart fails to do so…I have been yo-yoing back and forth between periods of hope and sadness. Day is different…light gives me strength and reason to live…the hectic activity of my research and teaching keeps me fully occupied and prevents my mind from wandering off into darker avenues of thought…night gets tough…now it seems I will have to live with this emptiness …I don’t know for how long I will have to train my mind to avoid grief and distress…. I don’t know for how long I will be able to block out painful thoughts and turn instead to optimistic and cheerful ones….My mind simply freezes into a dreamy world – kind of an unthinking void… I usually have a vague and indistinct recollection of seeing myself, as though from the outside, performing as if I were in a movie…or sometimes acting as an audience…often seeing my old friends…in college…or sipping coffee in a wintry evening…!
Yours….

Monday, September 17, 2007

Sky is Zoya.........

You can find me on weekends at the IHC enjoying some play or taking a round of the visual arts gallery…or at Mandi House canteen eating bread pakoda and sipping tea…Or you can find me sitting next to you in the metro going to Cannaught Place and taking an evening walk in the inner circle…Or you can find me at Hazratganj in Lucknow at the Dastabez bookshop or you can find me at Landmarks or Fun Republic usually on Sundays at the Matinee shows…I have just been taking a break…of sort…for few days….my friend says settling overseas is not worth it, unless one is unhappy in India…. India or US, its up to a person to make it satisfying and to know where his/her happiness lies….in US its a material lonely world out here….no one will confess to their friends how much they struggle here…..in their fight to survive…raising kids is a pain…..my friend adds, “you should come and live here for some time to know whether this place is fulfilling your vision for your life…. its fulfilling mine so far, coz this country lets women be what they want to be….and I plan to stay single till I meet the person I want to marry…..but I have made this conscious choice and compromising on other things…people in US are wayyy to materialistic…. men and women lead a dual life…..most people have affairs outside their relationships…..many many men are so insecure that they become abusive….I can say 50% loose their original personalities….worried abt adultery and lies…..there are great people too…but its very challenging to find them……I am totally out of the league…. its rare to find people with a live soul…. people are living bodies with dead souls here…I live life at my speed on my own terms…. but I pay a price for it…. most people do not get it, and I do not care anymore….But at times it makes me sad to see that despite all facilities happiness is a distant dream for many…. hard to put in words”……yes…my friend you are so true…!!!!You are very special and too precious to ever wonder about what your heart says…US or India, home is where the heart is…. the world is ones home, if one is at peace!!!!

I have to make space for a new idea, a new ideal, a surprise from nature…. like I never knew who is the ideal match…. and a new possibility will emerge…you may see yourself falling with love with some one very diff from your ideal idea…Though I am hooked to many "egoist and hard nuts"...but they seem to be difficult…. though I like them sometimes…I often run behind things that are moving away, than walking towards those who are walking towards me…and its not about those things, its about me not knowing what is the bigger pleasure……. what is someone says, "I am very possessive, yet don’t want to be possessed by you...as u are also very possessive.." an unfair person is an unfair person……and an unfair person is way below the benchmark of loving…..loving needs more….. But being fair is the basics…. someone who is not a pure spirit and its creating your spirit to be in pain…. just concentrate on your feelings and your heart will guide in the right direction…either away or towards the right or wrong person…. take care of yourself and never allow anyone to hurt you ever…Today I went to a church and heard something really nice…” the course of our lives are purely defined by the state of our hearts/"… that’s true.... and "Worry is a misuse of imagination"...Wisdom words…..Thanks my friend for these words…..!!!