Musical Weekend

Although it started with sports, it turned out to be a musical weekend.

Parikrma had a sports meet of the senior children among all its various schools – from Jayanagar to Sahakarnagar, and it was amazing to see all the boisterous children compete against each other, including gritting their teeth in the running races.

I may or may not have a hand in making the pom-poms for the children to use in one of the exercise-dances ;-)

A call from a friend got me rushing to Palace Grounds for the Bengalooru Habba. I got to see many good bands play – I particularly liked the Amit Heri band (especially “Mahaganapatim” from the Morning Raga movie) and the Ministry of Blues.

Then, came the maestro – Sivamani. It was going to be a percussion evening, and he got traditional “Kutti” drummers to join him in creating fusion music, and it was something that has to be simply experienced to explain. For a person who tried to learn drums, Sivamani is God. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for long, because I had promised to meet a few friends for dinner.

Sitting in a sofa in the 2nd row in the VVIP section rocks! Thanks to my friend Karthik for that :)

A sudden call for a photographer brought me to a Christmas show put together by a family for an old age home. The grim old faces made me nervous, but once Santa came, all faces young and old smiled :). There was Christmas songs and carols sung and then jazz solos played by a retired pilot.

The William Joseph International Academy for Performing Arts had a symphony orchestra concert to celebrate the 250th birth anniversary of Mozart. I had never been to a western classical concert before, and watching a full orchestra playing live was such a thrill. I got goosebumps when they played “Symphony No. 40 in G Minor” (which you might have heard “as a car backing up tune or on the radio” as the compere put it).

Thanks to my friend Vineetha for making me tag along to this invite-only event.

Life is made of jam-packed weekends

— Swaroop