WHY I CONTINUE TO VISIT INDIA

I first visited India in 1971.  In the intervening years, my visits now total eighteen times, if my memory is correct.  The only question in my calculations is exactly how many times I toured India with the Swedish group Mynta between 2005-2016.  Susan and I spent six weeks in Mumbai at the beginning of 2024.  We enjoyed it so much that we decided to do it again at the end of 2024.  We will depart on Jan. 3, 2025 after six weeks (which included a three-day quick visit to Katmandu, Nepal. See my recent blog and photos from Nepal). 

My Initial Visit

Some readers of my blogs will wonder what my infatuation is with India.  Let me explain.  I discovered Indian classical music during that first visit in 1971.  I had the good fortune of being led by my dear friend, German travel partner Gert Wegner, to the music school Sangit Mahabharati.  Hanging in the entrance of SM was a painting of the great bamboo flute master Pannalal Ghosh.  I loved the sound of the Indian flute and purchased my first bansuri (North Indian bamboo flute).  Three years later, I visited California for the first time, discovering that there was a college for Indian music in Marin County, the Ali Akbar College of Music, founded in 1967 by Indian master musician Ali Akbar Khan.  This determined my decision to move to Marin County to study there.

 I can truly relate that traveling to India at age 23 as an aspiring musician changed my life.  My study of Indian music opened many musical doors for me.  It continues to influence my compositional style and performance practice.  My visits to India have yielded long-lasting friendships.  Indian cuisine remains my favorite, even above Italian, Chinese, Thai, Middle Eastern, or even traditional American cuisine.  My taste buds have been spoiled and corrupted by Indian spices.

Fifty-Three Years Later…

Part of the pleasure of this year’s visits is to share my Indian experiences with Susan.  She shipped one of her electro-acoustic harps to Mumbai, so that she would have her own personal instrument available to play.  Previously, she was forced to play an inferior Russian harp on our visits in 2019 and 2020. 

We are staying in a rented apartment with a cleaning service every other day.  Every meal is an adventure.  We’ve discovered the convenience of ordering meals online and having them delivered.  The tropical fruits are fantastic.  I enjoy fresh papayas and pineapples every day at breakfast.  (During our visit last March, we also enjoyed the fresh mangos, which were in season then.) 

We enjoy our outings to the local market for our fresh fruits and other foodstuffs.  Fruits in the local market are very inexpensive by American standards, plus being fresh, direct from the growers.  And of course, the prices of fruits and vegetables are very low.

We travel with Uber for longer journeys. But for local trips to the market, we take three-wheeler “rickshaws,”  also known as tuk-tuks in Thailand and elsewhere.  They are very inexpensive.  A ten-minute trip to the market might only cost $.50!  A longer trip with Uber only costs a few dollars.

Jazz in Mumbai

Our stay in India is a music-oriented vacation.  We are able to rehearse our music regularly.  We look forward to upcoming musical events.  Readers of this blog who live in Reno may have attended our August concert at the Reno Little Theater, which included visiting Indian musicians Aditi Bhagwat (dance) and Unmesh Banerjee (tabla).  We will perform with both of these musicians in our biggest concert of this visit on December 20 at the Opera House.  The Opera House is a British-style ornate building with marble floors and ornate statues.  In all my previous visits, I’ve never performed here before.  Aditi was able to enlist support from the American Embassy for the Opera House event.  So we will perform at the embassy two days before the Opera House concert. 

Susan has a harp student here whom she coaches regularly.  I have some jazz musicians with whom I perform in local clubs.  Foremost among them is Louiz Banks, the “godfather of Indian jazz.”  I first met Louiz in 1982.  He took me to the Bollywood film studios where I recorded under famous Indian music producer RD Burman.  Americans aren’t familiar with Burman.  But his is a big name when I drop it in India.

I hope this blog explains my obsession/infatuation with India.  It’s very gratifying as a performing musician to receive the positive response that we receive when performing here.  We are connected with world-class musicians here.  In Louiz Banks’s studio, there is a photo of Louiz with famous jazz pianist Herbie Hancock.  As a lifelong jazz musician, Louiz is the prime example of how (in my humble opinion) jazz is America’s best cultural export.  Jazz is a musical language, just like the English language. 

Different cultures from Europe to Japan have musicians who bring elements of their own cultures into their jazz performances.  Indian musicians do the same--integrating traditional ragas (melodies) and talas (rhythms) into their jazz creations.  Susan and I are creating a bridge between the two musical cultures.  Thus, we consider ourselves to be “world music” composers and performers rather than simply purely American musicians. 

The accompanying photo gallery features photos of a classical Kathak dance concert led by Aditi Bhagwat and her dance company.  Taking photos was officially prohibited, but I broke the rule and took the dancers' photos unobtrusively from my front row seat.