Expressions

The sitar is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful and expressive instruments ever designed and it holds a superior position in the world of stringed instruments. It is a popular instrument of choice for the Hindustani (North Indian) style of classical music and it is often accompanied by a tabla - making them a winning team. Combined with the talent of a player, type of raga and other vocal and instrumental accompaniments, it can evoke strong emotions in a listener. The clip below that I found on a friend's Facebook wall is an interesting and beautiful fusion of music from the East and West.

"Sea Dreamer" by Anoushka Shankar, Karsh Kale & Sting

It also reminded me of one of my old music teachers. He was a very talented and accomplished sitar player back in his day. But when I came to know him, he was passing a definite low point in his life and his glory days seemed a lifetime ago. I came to know he coached intermediate students on the violin and soon after, I became his student and continued for a few months until it was time to leave to Singapore. Violin techniques were not his strong point but he was able to give compostions and coach me on these since I had the basic skills. Apart from giving me beautiful classical pieces to play which he made up on the fly (I think he was mostly lazy to prepare in advance and follow a syllabus but I didn't mind at all), he showed me how these were supposed to sound by playing it on his sitar. Sometimes he got carried away and played a little extra. That was certainly a highlight of this class. I would often sit and watch soul-struck, speechless and sometimes on the verge of tears (of joy) before I picked up my violin and hopelessly attempted to play like that. He was that good.

Today was day 3 of 4 for hip hop classes. It's fun and encouraging to go with Katy Kat, who took an interest in joining the class after reading one of my old posts. Together we have made a pact to break out of our social awkwardness that inhibits us from enjoying ourselves as dancers. Today was the first time I felt comfortable and least conscious at class so I am quite thrilled about it. It just might be progress over three classes or the fact that it was a mixed hip hop class for beginners that didn't involve many feminine dance moves like the two previous girls-only hip hop classes I tried. 

[Edited] During these few classes, it has occurred to me that had I spent more time as a child pretending to be a diva, following those feminine moves would have come easy! But no, I spent much of my childhood like the son our family never had, being my mother's 'bodyguard' in my father's long absences from home and the kid who naturally preferred trees, bicycles and getting messy outdoors over dolls, dollhouses and playing dress-up indoors. So it's going to be a little challenging to move past my current diva bias and learn to follow a simple choreography for the sole purpose of mastering coordination in the girls-only classes.

Happy belated birthday, Shu. You are now twenty-seven years of age.