Old Town School – On The Road

Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.

Musical Exchange in Ahmedabad

We trekked out of Rajasthan, a long two days of driving punctuated by stops at Mt Abu, the Indian honeymooners equivalent of Niagra Falls, this one in a high mountain retreat in the middle of a tiger preserve; Rani-Tki-Vav, an enormous eight or nine storey well, carved out of solid rock with every surface displaying images of the avatars of Vishnu, really overwhelming; and the Modhera Sun Temple, a lot like the step well only it rises from the earth rather than descending into it.  The state of Gujarat is a total contrast to Rajasthan’s desert — lush green farming country, lots of animal life.

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Filed under: India,Notes from Bau by Bau | October 12, 2009 | Comments (1)

A Wedding in Rajasthan

A few days ago we landed in Jaisalmer, a town in far western Rajasthan near the border with Pakistan. It is known as the “golden city” because all of the buildings and temples are made of yellow sandstone that positively glows in the desert sun. To our surprise and delight, our oud teacher and HR Assistant Ronnie Malley announced that he and his longtime girlfried Nicole, who is accompanying our delegation, had decided to get married! Pranita Jain took them shopping for rings and special wedding attire and arranged for a Hindu priest to officiate.

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Filed under: India,Notes from Bau by Bau | October 9, 2009 | Comments (2)

Arrival in India

The Old Town School India reconnaissance team has been here for a week and it is has been a pretty wild time. Reggio McLaughlin, Dan Fulkerson, Mary Peterson, Ronnie Malley, Pranita Jain and I (Bau Graves) have seen some rather awe-inspiring sights and some gut wrenching scenes as well. We’ve had several performances — all very positively received — and have been treated to extraordinarily generous hospitality by Indian musicians. A few impressions:

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Filed under: India,Notes from Bau by Bau | October 6, 2009 | Comments (1)