We've settled into our new routine here in McLeod Ganj, blissfully happy to be away from the heat and hassle of the road. Our room is simple, with a squat toilet and cozy comforters, and a perfect place for my laundry line, though it takes days for anything to dry in this moist mountain air. There is a big community of Tibetan refugees, and sometimes the language sounds nearly Japanese, tricking me into a reverie of nostalgia. There is a mother and child whose voices come up into our window from the alley below, and we can hear her singing children's songs on rainless afternoons. At about 10 at night, the drum and gongs begin at the gumpa down the street and is the background music to our nightly games of chess.
This town has it all; a japanese restaurant where we go to get our memory-laden bowl of miso soup, a plethora of good views, yoga, music lessons, cooking classes, nature walks, and museums. I almost feel busy! The daily music lessons are by far the highlight of my day. Kumar, our teacher, greets us on the patio of the restaurant above his room, gives us the latest news highlights and we chit-chat, learning more about him and the area, until it's time for Brandon's tabla lesson to start. I drink tea and read and then make my way down to listen to the progressively complicated new beats. I have been learning to sing Indian classical songs and the basics on the harmonium. The hindi we've been studying on our own has come in handy--we can now read simple words but our pronunciation isn't so hot. The singing helps with that. I've been devoured--the melodies consume my mind and a strange new passion for music has suddenly saved me, transforming my fatigue and pessimism into a barely containable excitement. I get giddy waiting for my lesson and the new song that Kumar will teach me with his laughing eyes and tremelo voice. Will it be about Krishna? Those songs are always "erotic" in mood and Kumar gets a kick out of Krishna's ploys to get kisses out of unassuming girls. Some are devotional and are to be sung from 4am to 7am. All Indian ragas have alloted times. Most concerts are in the evening so unfortunately those get the most play time. I've nearly learned enough songs to fill one day. Needless to say, Brandon is esctatic at this budding passion. How many years has he been trying to make me practice the bass!
