I just walked along the Arabian Sea..... the air blowing gently (always a nice relief) to wander...... into a team of young men playing football (soccer), the Chinese Nets being hauled in (feat of engineering), families out strolling......all colors, creeds and ages.
Zena on my Shoulder
Last night was an evening of transcendence. The room in the homestay in which I reside sits catty-corner (?sp) with the Malabar Hotel. I stay in a very quiet side of town (Fort Cochin) and from the first evening onward I have heard the most languid and spirited (I know this sounds oxymoronic) music wafting through my windows.
My host Tyrone has told me it is the Hotel Malabar and it hosts live music each evening. Well, I have been busy with cooking classes and social dates and on Christmas eve they only play Christmas carols (bah-humbug).....therefore last night was the first evening I could sashay over in my gold silk duppata . The setting is in an open garden, with a reflecting pool and frangipani trees. They asked if I had a reservation and I sadly replied no........ and they said I'd have to sit inside. Well, in India a woman of a certain age (who am I kidding....... any female) can cajole and flirt and I received the small table 9 feet from where the sitar player would shortly take his place. I ordered Indian produced Grover vineyards, a perfectly quaffable Viognier (1/2 bottle) and a ridiculously expensive dinner (that was quite mediocre except for the bursting flavor of cloves and cardamom in the Ratatouille) more on Food at a later date.....let it suffice to say that i may be the only person in history to gain weight in india ( i never got ill)
The 3 musicians sat crosslegged on their platform. Yellow flower petals would sail downward. The five tier oil lights were lit. Frankinsense was smokily dispersed by a man swinging the incense burner. The ambiance was carefully prepared.....lovely!
They tuned up and we exchanged wide smiles. The sitar, is the Most Magnificent instrument. So bulbous and baroque. What sounds of percussive tonality were emitted
They tuned up and we exchanged wide smiles. The sitar, is the Most Magnificent instrument. So bulbous and baroque. What sounds of percussive tonality were emitted
from his stroking and plucking. (Zena took us to see Ravi Shankar's debut in the US at Carnegie Hall......eons ago.......I still can conjure up his handsome face along with his tabla player, Hussein)
The tabla player would rat-tat-tat quickly..... their conversation easy and improvised and then the third musician played on ......what can I say...... it looked like a clay water jug......... you know those sounds as we blow into an empty bottle..... low and hollow and whispery at the same time? it was ALL bliss....... emotional......... story-telling.... timeless.
Duke Ellington said there is only 2 kinds of music: Good or Bad.
This was GOOD.
I sat bobbing and swaying for the next 3 hours.....with a permanently
beatific smile on my glowing face.
Okay....... Zena.......... now it's your turn to add the adjectives.
Love Love Love
travelin' woman
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