Hello everyone!
Today marks the last month of our ten month stint in India.  We leave Kolkata on June 22 and Delhi on June 23rd and although we're looking forward to all of the things home will bring, we're trying to treasure the last month here.  

So many things have been happening.  Last night was Aakash's final (he thinks) performance in Kolkata before we leave.  He played in a quartet with his friend from Tasmania, Julius.  Julius and Aakash met last summer in Banff and he came to Kolkata for three weeks to hang out and write music.  They performed and studio recorded four tunes and it was really great to have him visit.  He leaves Sunday.  

My work came to an end with the performance of The Wizard of Oz on May 10th.  (I can't remember if I wrote about the final performance, so sorry if I'm repeating myself.)  They kids were absolutely incredible and all of their hard work really paid off in a wonderful show.  They lighting and mics were all very big in a very Indian way, and the kids handled the constant lasers and smoke that kept occurring very well, especially since there was never any dress rehearsal!  The students were also extremely grateful to me and showered me with beautiful homemade gifts and poems.  One student even drew me a picture of a singer sitting on top of a coconut and singing "I LUV DAAB!"  It's really touching how much they'll all miss me, but I am happy to report that I now have four private voice students from Dolna (and five students total!)  I also had a group of six friends (Aakash and my sister including) who came to the show which I really appreciated.  Here's a recording I made of the students singing a cappella in rehearsal.

Aakash and I visited my favorite daabwalla today and were super saddened and shocked to find that he had cut his left middle finger really badly.  (Job hazard I suppose.)  Although he didn't cut his finger all the way down to the bone (like my friend Matt did), it was definitely a deep cut.  It was pretty swollen and the finger was red from the bleeding.  Another guy was there cutting daab for him.  Aakash and I asked him if he needed anything and ending up bringing him some antibacterial wipes and a roll of bandage.  He started cleaning himself up as we left and I'm frankly not even convinced he had washed or cleaned it at all since he had cut himself yesterday.  It didn't look infected yet, but I'm definitely going to bring him more antibacterial wipes tomorrow.  Just an example of the life of many of the people who live in this country.

That basically sums up the past few weeks for me.  Aakash and I are trying to decide what we want to do in our last month.  We're planning a trip to Shantiniketan as well as a few more "explore Kolkata adventures."  I'm also hoping to spend a little more time on my cycle, but all of these activities are difficult because the temperature has been over 40º (104º F) most days the past few weeks.  Not to mention the humidity.  There's no denying we're looking forward to cooler temperatures in the states!

I hope you're all doing well and finding success in what you're doing.  Know you're in our thoughts and we're looking forward to seeing many of you in a month or so!

Hello everyone,

Kolkata has officially become extremely HOT.  I keep starting an email to you, and then stop because I find myself too distracted or tired due to the heat. But I'm finally hoping to make it through a whole email.

So many things have been happening in our life.  Here's a quick recap of some key events:

2. My sister arrived in India before we left for Bangalore.  Shantha was here in time for Holi, the holiday of spring and colors, and we were invited to "play" Holi at a friend's house.  I was nervous at first, but, after showing my students pictures of us afterwards, feel confident that we did the holiday justice.  Most notably, the two of us, along with my friend Alec, visited Kali Temple, which is not only the most famous temple in Kolkata, but the most notorious for pick
pockets and other bad experiences for foreigners.  I'm happy to report that although it was one of the more unusual (meaning unexpected, crowded, sticky, and disgusting, to name a few) experiences of my time India, I found it to be a really positive and interesting experience .

4. Aakash's sister Meera arrived two days back and we are really enjoying her company.  Meera and I have already had two full shopping days and I'm looking forward to taking her to New Market, one of my favorite (but most insane) parts of Kolkata.  Getting to know her better and reconnecting our friendship from high school is really special and I'm happy she'll be here for another week.

5. This evening, Aakash successfully performed another Indian classical concert, and he really did a superb job.  He was invited to play at a house concert where he performed both Indian classical music with a tabla player as well as some original tunes with an Italian guitarist friend.  Sadly, my camera was lost last week so I was unable to take any video.  I'm hoping to get a copy of footage taken by someone else and I will share it when I do.

6. I've been doing a lot of exploring in Kolkata the last few days and am excited that in addition to finding a whole block of daab wallas with cheaper, incredibly delicious daab, I also rode the Kolkata tram for the first time.  It was shockingly comfortable and identical to trams I've seen in movies from the forties.

Anyways, despite my infrequent emails, know that I am thinking of you all.  I hope life in your respective homes is going well.  For those of you in cold climates, I wish you warmth, and in return, hopefully you can send some snow clouds our way.  I love you all and hope to hear from you soon.

Love,
Jayanthi

Hello everyone!
Aakash and I had a very wonderful Christmas season filled with wonderful family, friends, and food.  Teresa, Aakash's mom, arrived in Kolkata on Dec. 21st, just in time to see my new choirs perform at the Christmas Fete.  I'm so proud of all the hard work the students did, memorizing over ten songs in less than four weeks.  The teachers and parents seemed to love the performances, especially the songs with motions, of course.  Instead of one big concert, the two choirs alternated singing every half hour, so they could also enjoy the festivities.  But the school's founder, Auntie Maushi, wanted us to sing for longer, so we repeated favorites and prolonged the music.  (The senior choir sang Joy to the World at five times- even twice in the same set.)  There is no doubt it was a success.  The students were very gracious and gave me an absolutely exquisite handmade card.  I'm looking forward to working with them again.

The first full day Teresa was in town, we took a two hour car trip to see Aakash perform with Tanmoy Bose at a Bengali book fair outside the city.  The excursion lasted almost twelve hours and definitely felt not worth it, until the band FINALLY went on after nine p.m.  It was such an exciting wonderful show. Not only did they perform with Tanmoy Bose's regular band, they also performed with some Baul singers (prounounced bowel).  You can see a short clip here.  Baul singers are Bengali traveling minstrels, who live off the food, clothes, and donations given to them for their music.  It was absolutely incredible.  And I got some English books for Christmas gifts at the bookfair!

The next day, we again met Aakash's teacher for lunch, and while Teresa accompanied Aakash to his lesson, Cole and I visited Victoria Memorial.  The highlight of that excursion was when two school girls approached us to ask where we were from and see if they could take a photo with us.  We were more than surprised when after saying yes, we found ourselves surrounded by over a dozen girls in uniform in perfect formation for the photo.  Oh India.  

On the 28th, I flew to Hyderabad for a few days to meet my parents and spend some time with family.  I was there to celebrate both Indu and Venkat and Prashu and Clara's anniversary.  It was special to be there since I actually remember both weddings!  Unfortunately, as we left, the entire crew in Hyderabad was sick, as was my dad and eventually my mom.  

Dad and I spent an afternoon visiting Bishop's College, which turned out to be in the north side of the neighborhood I live in.  Although I had apparently visited the college in 1993 when I was six, it was all new to me.  We wandered through the entire campus and library, and even found his name inside some of the old college chronicles. Although there's now a new building and a flyover right next to the college, it seems as though most things are still the same.  It was definitely one of the highlights of their trip for me.

Anyways, it was truly wonderful having so many visitors come, but I must admit it's nice to get back to the regular swing of things.  Work is going well. I am starting to prepare my classes for a function (or program) in May, as well as audition and get started on the Wizard of Oz, which I'll be doing with students in Class VI-XI.  Besides that, I'm just working on getting my house back to it's normal working condition and finding time to hang out with friends.  Aakash was in Delhi over the weekend to perform at the AIIS conference.  He said it went well and I'm looking forward to seeing the video.  
I hope you are all doing well, and I give you kudos if you were able to make it to the end of this extremely long email.  Know that you are in my thoughts often and I wish you all a happy, healthy, and wonderful 2014!

Love,
Jayanthi

Hello everyone!
I hope you are able to find a moment to relax and enjoy the approaching holidays.  Life in Kolkata has become extremely busy for me.  As I said in my last email, I began working at Dolna Day School.  The school has three classes below Class I for two, three and four year olds, through Class XII.  Each week, I see Upper Nursery (the three year olds) through Class VII for forty minutes as well as a Junior and Senior Choir which I see three days a week.  Although teaching is exhausting, particularly in a school that is not the culture I am use to, I am really happy to be back in the classroom.  I am already developing a special relationship with students and teaching them really energizes me.  

I can't say it's all peaches and cream though.  There are so many things I am not used to and so many things that shock me about this school.  For example, there is not one quiet signal used in this school.  Teachers will just yell at students if they're too loud (which is, ahem, very effective...) so I'm putting a lot of time into teaching and training students to respond to quiet signals.  I began working at the beginning of December and today is the Christmas Fete, which as far as I can tell is a big Christmas Carnival.  Each of my choirs will be singing 10-12 songs throughout the Fete.  Yesterday, our rehearsals went really well and I am very proud of the hard work they put into memorizing and doing various musical things I ask of them.  I am, however, looking forward to January when I can really start with basic singing skills.  The upcoming performance forced me to focus on memorizing and learning songs, rather then technique.  Students did make lots of improvements and I think they are enjoying working with me just as much as I am with them.  I made all my choir students (13 in Junior Choir, 45 in senior choir) all name tags because I cannot keep them straight and I am pleased to report not a single choir member lost their name tag!

Aakash has been busy playing with lots of people.  A few nights back he performed with a group for the Kolkata classical guitar festival and tomorrow he's playing with Tanmoy Bose's band, Taltuntra.  He's currently en route home from the airport, where I am hoping he found his mom!  Teresa will be visiting us through January 2nd, and we're looking forward to her visit.  

In addition to the Christmas Fete and Teresa's visit, we've also been busy preparing for Christmas and Aakash's birthday.  I'm excited because Cole Paulson, one of our good friends from high school, recently moved to Delhi and he'll be coming to Kolkata for Christmas.  We're throwing a party on December 24th for our friends who will be in town and I am looking forward to singing Christmas songs.  Cole will be here in time for the party which is exciting.  For those of you who don't know Cole, we have been in plays and choirs together since middle school, so I've been singing Christmas sings with him every year for almost fifteen years.  If you can't tell, we're excited he'll be joining us.

My friend Matt bought me a dab Christmas tree.  Dabs=coconuts.  Basically, if you hack of the branch of a dab tree and remove the dabs, it looks like a cactus Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  It's very beautiful.  Once we get it fully decorated, I will share pictures!

I guess I haven't written since I went to the Sunderbans with Matt and Alec.  It was an absolutely incredible trip, and very close to Kolkata.  We traveled by train and bus for two hours, and hired a boat to live on for two nights.  We spend the next few days zigzagging around islands in the Ganga delta, looking for wildlife and drinking Dab.  (Between the three of us, we drank almost 50 dab.  It was awesome.) We didn't see any tigers (even our guides, who've lived there all their lives have only seen tigers three times), but we saw a crocodile and some incredibly beautiful birds.  It was amazing to be in such a peaceful, open, isolated place after being in Kolkata for so long.  It reminded me a lot of NY's finger lakes. There were narrow and wide parts of the rivers, and at times you could only see the land to the right and left, but not in front or behind you.  Each night, the boat anchored to the dock (and by dock, I mean the muddy space to the side of the river) of the village our driver and cook live in.  Both nights, they brought us into their village and we were able to walk around.  We had to take off our shoes and roll up our pants because walking through the muddy dock meant we would sometimes sink up to our knees.  The villagers were very friendly and inquisitive to the three videshi's (foreigners) walking around their home.  It was the most underdeveloped area Alec and Matt had ever been to in India and it reminded me a lot of Dornakal (the village my dad's from).

Anyways, I guess I'll leave it at that.  Please know you are all in Aakash and my thoughts, especially during the holiday season.  I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.  Hope to talk to you all soon!

Love,
Jayanthi

Hello everyone,
I hope life in your respective cities is treating you well.  My life has really picked up in Kolkata and there is much to tell you about.

Because Kali Puja and Diwali occurred at the same time, walking around was painfully loud and smoky.  Diwali is the festival of lights, so there are decorative lights on everything, and there are also constant fireworks being set.  India doesn't have any regulations on fireworks like in the states, so anyone (and everyone, apparently) can buy incredibly loud, huge fireworks.  Everywhere you walk kids and adults both are lighting any firework imaginable.  Our friends who are studying Bangla through AIIS (the organization funding Aakash) went on a field trip to where they make fireworks and one of them was kind enough to share some of the 160 bottle rockets he purchased.  Lots of fun.

Walking to dinner the other night was also quite an experience.  We found ourselves caught in the midst of the processions of idols from Kali Puja to the river for immersions.  Energy was high as ten to twenty foot idols on the back of trucks were slowly driving down the road.  Dozens of drummers and dancers were walking alongside or in the trucks as well.  Very exciting and VERY loud. The most interesting and enjoyable thing we saw was on our way back from dinner when we came across some drummers and dancers performing the story of Durga.  Dancers were dressed in elaborate costumes of Ganesh, Durga, the demon, and other members of the story and they danced and spun and swung swords around to the drumming.  You can see a short clip of the performance here: http://instagram.com/p/gTTX3OKBtn/

Last night Aakash and I performed with Nishab, a guitarist, at a local bookstore. We've been doing some free improv together as the trio Inside Out and the gig went well.  We had over 60 people come to listen.  The bookstore was the incredible space and one of the owners recorded and video taped it, so we're hoping to get some of the good bits which we'll share once it's on youtube or whatever.  We improvised for about an hour and my personal favorite part was when this wacky guy who funded a pandel we had visited on Saturday came.  Originally, when we met him, he was thrilled to have me and our American friend Lily at his pandel and he asked us to pose so he could take all these photos with his Nokia phone.  His pandel also paid homage to an Indian musician who recently passed away, so Neela (the one who took us pandel hoping) told him about our gig.  We exchanged cards and he called me on the day of the performance to tell me he was coming (with my business card because he didn't like to go anywhere uninvited) and to see if it was okay if he took photos.  Anyways, about 10 minutes into our gig, he walked in, and when we paused between songs he came and shook my hand.  Later (one song before we ended), he shook my hand again, thanked me and wished me well and said he had to leave.  Very bizarre and hilarious.

Love you all.  Know you're in my thoughts.

Love,
Jayanthi

Hello everyone,
I hope fall finds you well. Although it's still dreadfully humid and hot here, there has been intermittent breaks to the heat recently, which is lovely.  

Aakash and I continue to meet new people and friends.  We've established a nice group of American friends (plus one Brittish friend) who we see a few times a week.  I'm slowly starting to get leads regarding a job.  Last week I met with the head of the Calcutta School of Music and she seems interested in having me teach private voice lessons.  The biggest challenge right now is that everyone is on holiday because of Durga Puja.  This holiday centers around the idol Durga, the mother goddess, and celebrates her defeat of the demon Mahishasura.  Durga is said to be able to turn into a lion, so she's always depicted (with her six arms) with a lion, while Mahishasura is also depicted as a bull.

Durga Puja is a particular massive holiday in Kolkata.  Every neighborhood builds structures called pandels to house idols of Durga killing Mahishasura, along with Durga's four children (and their accompanied animals.)  Pandels typically have a theme of some sort.  We've seen a pandel on reading, Egypt, mosaics, and a variety of colors and more.  It was interesting watching the pandels be built (we pass three two and from the grocery store) and it's truly crazy to walk around to each, especially because of the crowds of people all out and taking pictures.  The pandel closest to our house is traditionally really exquisite, so it's basically been like a carnival with the food stands, games, and other kiosks that were set up.  

Friday we were invited by Aakash's music teacher to a private family Puja.  The family is a respected, established family in Kolkata.  They live in a house over 250 years old on a street named after their family.  Most of the house has been rebuilt, except for the building that the puja was set up in.  We gave our respects to Durga, socialized, and then they did the first of many Asha's.  Basically, the priest lit candles, burned incense, and offered food to Durga while over a dozen bells, drums, and gongs were played.  This lasted a long time, but when it was done, we ate a bunch of food.  

We spent many evenings, Saturday staying out til four a.m., pandel hopping, as it's called.  Normally everything in Kolkata shuts down around ten.  (The metro stops running at nine, buses and autos at ten.)  It's usually hard to find a restaurant open after ten, but Durga Puja, all bets are off.  Everything runs all night and the streets continue to be crowded.  It was really astonishing.

Today is the last day of Durga Puja.  To prep for the holiday, idols are sculpted out of clay, pandels are built, and the idols are painted and decorated.  Today is the immersion ceremony, which we went to the river for.  All day long, people from all over Kolkata bring the idols to a big loading dock on the Ganga (Ganges) River.  They take the idols out of the truck, turn it around three times, and submerge it in the river.  The idols are made out of a clay that disintegrates, so the idols were traditionally dumped in the river and left there.  Today, in an effort to combat pollution, because the idols are covered with toxic paint, paper, flowers, and other things, they actually immerse them in the river, then use a giant crane to remove them and pile them in a heap. It was astonishing to see both the music, dancing, and celebrations at the river and how the idols that had so much time and energy put into them were just tossed aside.  To see a short video I took of the process, click here.

Anyways, we're hoping that things will become more normal again now that Durga Puga is over.  Although there are apparently two more holidays coming up in the next two weeks, so I really have no idea what to expect.  It's often more surprising to me that things get done in India at all.  Saturday Aakash and I went and met Bishop Raju and had tea with his wife and daughter.  This upcoming week we were invited to dinner at our landlords.  Prashu and Clara may come visit next week as well, but it hasn't been confirmed. 

Please know we're thinking of you all and hope you're well.  I hope to hear from you soon and please let us know if you're able to skype sometime.  Have a great week!

Love,
Jayanthi