Navarathri Golu 2016

This year we had Navarathri over two weekends, which is always a plus compared to it being spread only over one weekend!

Was way busy with work and had just come back from another overseas trip at the beginning of the festival. Wife, MIL and kids made it to all the Golu's while I chauffered them to select places over the weekends only. They took pictures of Golu's I missed so we can add it to the blog.

The highlight of this years festival was these two photos which we will cherish for a long time. Many thanks to our friends for the clicks and cracking the right jokes at the right time!

 

You need two things for good family pictures. Good lighting and good jokes that the entire family can get!

Then there were the golus. Neat and clean and simple, to complex to creative! Best part was to see the little displays the kids create on window sills and on the floor next to the Golus.. National parks, Hamma bead towns, cricket sets.. you can see they all are still setting classic three slips and a gully while the New Zealand team is now going to a field set up that has only third slip and gully!.. okay, where was I? yes, Golus!

We also had kids sing and dance and Jr. played the saxophone in two of the Golus. She is getting better. I get berated by my friends for giving her "feedback" after her performance, which is interesting in its own way. 

Here is a video of her doing the Thillana this year.

Hope next year she will do the entire piece without any mistakes. I am very proud of her, but given her ability, if she just practiced a little more instead of two days before the festival starts, she could have aced the whole thing! 

Finally the Golus.. enjoy the slideshow!  

Thanks to all our friends who invited us this year. It was fun. Next year, will try to visit everyone!

From simple to complex

Jr. has always skipped a few pages on the book with Carnatic music in Western notation for saxophone. 

Enthused by her new instrument, she tried to play Amrithavarshini ragam this morning after playing Christmas songs.

She was not happy with her attempt but I was really impressed. For a first attempt, she is showing a lot of promise. 

Hope that in a few months she can play by ear!

Happy Holidays 2015!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

This year Jr. got a visit from her "not so secret santa" and got a new Alto Saxophone to celebrate the holidays. Her old saxophone had a rod and screw drop off after her last school performance. The part is in back order till end of January. Given she has other performances coming and the fact that she has wanted to graduate from a student saxophone to a professional grade one.. we relented! We are also tired of doing the pickup and drop off from her school because she has to haul this large saxophone case to practice. From February she can leave the student version in school and practice on the pro instrument at home!

These instruments are expensive. So this is the last one we are buying her. They tell us this will last 10-15 years. We have nicely informed Jr. that she will be buying her next saxophone with her own paycheck! 

So far she loves the sound of the Yamaha YAS 62-III. It is also lighter than her student version. Why a student version will be heavier is beyond me.

The Christmas holiday has started today. 

The kids were practicing their music this morning and with a lot of censoring I am pleased to announce that this version has been approved for the blog..

Our entire family wishes you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday!

The girl with the golden sax

This year, Jr. decided to play the alto saxophone at Golus instead of singing songs. She practiced the weekend before and played three or four small pieces.

She looked majestic in her half sari and the saxophone matched her dress like another jewel!

Jr. has been teaching herself these pieces. Not that confident yet on her ability to play south Indian classical music. We are all encouraging her to practice more. This year her teacher has promised to help her with understanding the complex notation as well as making it easy to play these pieces. Next year, she might play the entire songs.. 

Here is a small clip from this years Golu at a friends place..

She made us proud just for trying!

Jazz time

Jr. performed with the Kennedy Middle School Jazz band at the Folsom Jazz festival. Unfortunately I missed it because of travel.

However, we got to see her perform at CMEA at San Mateo's Aragon high school last weekend. 

The kids were amazed by the sound quality in the auditorium. They also got to experience a "clinic" where prominent Jazz band teachers came and gave them detailed feedback on the performance and tips to improve.

We had a great time watching the kids perform so well and be so enthusiastic about learning!

These kids have come a long way in such a short time. It is great that their teacher and school push them and make them challenge themselves.

My phone ran out of memory. This video got cut off. Hopefully next time will have a full video..