After two of our housemates left our flat we acquired one
more except this one suffered the fate of being poisoned and, just after a few
days, devoured by countless maggots in the corner of our garage. We don’t mind
the stray dogs who have settled in our porch but this rat was really taking the
biscuit (or should I say bananas – never have I bought so much fruit to see it
literally disappear from one night to the next.) The somewhat squishy remains
of the rat were eventually scooped up with the only equipment I could find in
the garage: half a shovel and a large machete. I have pictures which I could
have uploaded but I wanted to keep this blog relatively family friendly.
Anyway, the teaching in Garodia is going fantastically. The
musical is getting its song list finalised and I now find myself rewriting the
lyrics to the rap of Snap’s classic ‘I’ve Got the Power’. Meanwhile the arduous
task of funnelling a choir of around twenty pupils to accompany a handful of
soloists is underway. We’ve also been further deepening their listening skills
through connecting pieces with aspects of life (Vivaldi’s Four Seasons proved
more challenging than expected given that Indians do not experience similar
seasonal changes to Vivaldi’s very Italian perspective of the year) and
developing an understanding of aural skills through following contours of
melodies and discerning changes in pitches.
We have also delved deep into the characteristics of
different musical genres with the older children, and with the younger grades
we have started to listen to and think about music creatively. One of the most
successful activities had the children responding to pieces of music with movement
and descriptive words and then coming up with their own titles for the pieces.
For example, we played them some Scott Joplin and at the end of the activity
they dubbed it ‘The Crazy Monkey Song’. Some of the responses from younger kids
turned out to be very thoughtful and developed and some kids even came up with
short stories inspired by music like Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude. The music
teachers at Garodia are evidently enthusiastic about improving their lessons,
and we’re doing our very best to leave a lasting impression.
Alongside the teaching we plucked up some courage and went
on the school’s annual Monsoon Trek. This involved a 3 hour hot coach ride to
the remote mountain region outside Mumbai called Lonavla. As we arrived in the
very picturesque setting and vacated the coach we noticed that every child and
teacher was covering themselves up with a rain sheet, which is when we realised
that the feeble umbrellas we brought weren’t going to be enough. Many of the
kids were also shocked when we said that we didn’t bring a change of clothes
but really, how wet could it have been? The trek was phenomenal. The place was
covered in waterfalls which locals dived into just to get even wetter. As we
reached what we thought was the top, through the thick mist appeared more
mountain and we continued to trek until we reached the apparently 2000 year old
fort which was built into the rock face. Although the climb was difficult and
disobeyed what appeared to be every Health and Safety rule we reached the top
and instead of an immense view we saw more thick mist – it was truly lovely!
 |
| We were this wet for over 4 hours |
Recently we took a trip to the Blue Frog, Mumbai’s answer to
the lack of Ronnie Scott’s jazz club, which has seen performances from many
Western artists, including Imogen Heap. The place was fantastic and made all
the more better with the extremely talented band who played in many styles from
Jazz, Funk, Rock, and a few Ballads (They even encored with a jazz version of
Roxanne!)
Just this Wednesday, we sat in on a rehearsal for one of
Mumbai’s premier adult choirs ‘The Stop Gaps’ following a recommendation from
one of the school’s music teachers. We sang along and had a great time. On the
following day, we attended a performance at the NCPA of the Junior Stop Gaps
choir, and despite only being in Mumbai a month there were many familiar faces
around the auditorium from various parts of the musical community. We really
feel like we’re getting to know the music scene around Mumbai, and the great
people involved in it.
Mumbai has a lot to offer and we’re certainly trying to get
through it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment