Indian Heritage Academy

The BH wanted to learn to play the chenda. It is a Kerala style drum . We googled it, asked people about it, but hit a blank wall. Many months later I was talking about this during our evening chai session and one of the managers told me to go enquire at Indian Heritage Academy. This was the first time I was hearing about this place. Got their number, found out that they have a guy who teaches the Mridangam. And after that we did nothing! Finally last week, we decided to go see this place. I fell in love with it! It has anything and everything being taught. So while you walk about, there is a bharatanatyam class going on in one corner; another room you can hear the Saaaaa, Reee of a young crowd . A little further on there are painting classes, guitar, keyboard, most instruments and yes Kathak too! ( I’ve been looking for a good place to learn Kathak for the past couple of years) We looked at the timings and joined the two classes immediately. The BH has signed up for Mridangam classes and me for the Kathak Beginners Class. I wanted to put Mowgli in something, but he is too small for any of these. But when he grows up, he is definitely coming here!
It made me happy to do this. Maybe because I get this feeling sometimes that we are wasting our life away looking at excel sheets or just doing the same things over and over again. Are we doing the things that will matter to ourselves in the long run? And there is this tiny voice telling me to make time for these, coz the rest do not matter!!!

Beautiful Rappa

We dream of estates and sprawling farmhouses. Dogs gamboling about in the background. Long walks. The works.
Last weekend we saw a place that came very close to our dreams. RAPPA. This is an eco-lodge about 25-30km away from Hassan. This was a trip we’d been planning since last year and for some reason or the other it never happened. For us when we started from Bangalore, there were no expectations. The only plus point as we saw it was that the guy who ran this place was very enthu about us bringing Cocoa. He’d told us laughingly “I’ve 3 dogs of my own here.”
The first sight that greeted us were three dogs sitting patiently under a tree looking at the approaching Bolero. The BH parked the car and got out to inquire about the place, a small spitz(very similar to a Pomeranian) hopped into the car! I opened the door and a gorgeous Irish setter sniffed around me soon followed by a Basset Hound. Mowgli was surprised and a little scared. Cocoa was completely scared. She just looked out of the window at all these funny creatures around me. And then the star of the place ambled in. A HUGE golden retriever! Absolutely CUTE. It was so amazing. All these dogs, really friendly not jumping at you or anything. They are just curious about ‘who are these people?” types. We soon forced Cocoa out of the car and Voila! The usual sniffing, growling etc etc happened and then all five were off!
The place as such is very basic. If you are looking for luxury or even The Jungle Lodges kind of cottage, then this is not the place for you. You have only the necessities here. Tents/machans equipped with just a bed. There is no fan/table/chair etc. There is a small bathroom with running water next to the tent. And then there is space. A WHOLE LOT OF IT! To walk, run, play cricket/football, laze around whatever you wish. This is basically on the bank of a reservoir. So during the summers, the water levels have receeded and then you have all that land lying there. The entire church in the below picture gets submerged during the monsoons. All you can see is the bell tower!We played in the waters, did kayaking, went for early morning walks, late evening walks, generally just roamed about enjoying the place. Cocoa went wild on seeing so much of place for her to run. She swam for the first time in her life seeing the other dogs do it so effortlessly and took to it within 5 minutes. So we were taking turns kayaking and cocoa would swim along with us. They also organize midnight treks etc, but since Mowgli was there with us we opted out of those. The above snap is Mowgli with the dogs. From left, Shunti the spitz, Brown the Irish Setter, Shadow, the Basset Hound lying down and Cocoa's tail! And in the first snap, thats me and Milo the huge golden retriever.

It is a great place to unwind, to hang out with a bunch of friends. And it is definitely a place we are going back to again and again!!!

"Every marriage has its own balance"

said a colleague today. It struck me that amidst all the yin and yang and contradictions that drive and hold a marriage there is an internal rhythm. Something that keeps them together. This is maybe our balance:
I like the music to be LOUD, reverberating off the windows… You like it soft and soothing to the ear!
I like to curl up with a book. You like to cuddle up to the remote!
I like quiet evenings at home. You need at least three people around you.
You like outdoor games. I am content with Scrabble.
You have perfected the art of smiling at your foes. I am yet to stop myself from scowling at my enemies!
I love cats and dogs and squirrels and all animals. You draw the line at dogs and horses.
You are my backbone. I’m your conscience.

Tunes and lyrics!

I grew up listening to an eclectic selection of music. My dad was a big fan of country music, elvis Presley, beatles, abba , Boney M and the like. My mom freaked out on Mohd Rafi, Koshore Kumar and old Malayalam songs. They were really poles apart J Music was a constant be it my mom listening to the radio when she was in the kitchen or my dad playing Elvis Presley at full volume at 11pm . That was his way of relaxing. Wonder what the neighbours thought! And unconsciously this is one gift that they both have given me! A love for music!
There is no particular genre, but different kinds of music for the different moods I’m in. English country music to cool me down when I’m in one of those highly frustrated moods. Old hindi songs to thoroughly enjoy that romantic/melancholy mood. Peppy numbers to get into that dancing/groovy kind of feel. Music when I’m working, music when I’m alone at home, music when I’m tensed, music when I’m happy. Songs that I love singing aloud to. Songs that I’ll never get bored of. Songs that remind me of my dad playing the guitar and singing in that high bass voice. Songs where I find myself wishing I could meet the lyricist and ask them 'How in the world did they write this!'
The one thing that I really really wish that Mowgli would pick up. Learn an instrument/learn Hindustani or Carnatic music. Be a Sivamani or a Bryan Adams :-)
Music is one great leveler- something that can soothe away every hurt and maybe like Time, music also heals…