Monday, September 28, 2009

The Path: Autobiography of an American Yogi

I just chanced upon this fascinating book by Donald Walters and I found it as powerful as the book of the author's Guru (Autobiography of a Yogi - Paramahamsa Yogananda)

A must-read!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Some great music


After a long time, we actually sat through an entire concert.

Mormukut and Manoj Kedia from Giridih performed in Bangalore yesterday. The sarod and sitar duo started off very beautifully. They played Raag Jhinjhoti and did a very fine Alaap Jor and Jhala. The Teen Taal

compositions were good as well, but I was left vaguely dissatisfied by the usual convergence to a crescendo where the nuances of Jhinjhoti were sacrificed in the interests of ‘performing’. Pilu was nice but a bit shorter than I would have liked. All in all, a pleasant performance.

This was followed by a remarkable concert by Dhondutai Kulkarni. Your typical little old lady, but with a great voice and complete mastery. Simply loved her wonderful Pulashree, with the beautiful use of Shuddha Madhyam and a rising Komal Rishabh. She sang Desh, Rageshree and Shahana. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Tabla accompaniment in both cases was pleasant.

And now I am listening to Amritvarshini by the late Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki.

A weekend well-spent!

(Images borrowed from the net)