Tansen - from a movie reviewed by Sharmi Ghosh In India my parents invited Kamal David to play for us in our living room. When it was dark we seated ourselves on the raffia chairs and on the cushions of the low slung couch and waited. Kamal David laid out a quilted cloth on the floor and ceremoniously, he and his tabla player seated themselves. The lights were turned off and candles were lit. They both tuned their instruments and then began to play. After the concert my parents asked if I would like to learn to play the sitar and my if my brothers wanted to learn the tabla. In fact my brothers had never stopped drumming. In Kenya and Tanzania they and their friends, Kikuyus and Luos, were drumming constantly on every available surface. We agreed. Kamal David sent me a teacher in his place, Prem. We bought my beautiful Sitar in a shop in Old Delhi. It had an ivory inlay along the bridge and ivory wings were set into the large gourd at the base. Prem began his classes by exp...
Left wing commentary from the heart and the head