One Last Hurrah

Last night was a quite fitting end to our adventure in India. We decided to visit some of the folks that Jo works with and so stopped by their house for a photo session with Annie. They were so cute, grabbing her as soon as we walked in the door and starting their own photo shoot!




After a few hundred (in all seriousness) photos of them and Annie we were able to squeeze in a group shot.



and then I noticed this really beautifully back-lit wall adornment, and well...you guessed it.



But the larger excitement of the evening was that we got an unexpected call early that day from our friend Adam G. at Fulbright who was extremely gracious, and perhaps a little crazy, inviting Jo, Annie, and I to a small function Fulbright was having, and requesting that I bring my banjo! So we invited our friends Adam and Em for one last hurrah, and all trouped over to CP.

This was my first "invited" public performance. I stress invited as I have (un)willingly exposed countless thousands across the world to the banjo, harmonica, fiddle, and mandolin over the years. And to you all, I'm sorry. But this was an invited performance, complete with full sound system. I had a lot of fun performing and played for.... maybe a half hour? Maybe less. I tried to expose people to a little bit of banjo history and humor in the performing style of Banjoists such as Tony Trishka (I also realized I really really need to purchase the Pickin' on the Banjo: The Original Banjo Jokebook for future performances) For those of you who couldn't be there check out this video.

My favorite part of the video is Jo's face when the camera pans by her; if you couldn't read it, that was the "that's not my husband" expression. Annie was making a "that's not my daddy" expression as well, but her face was buried in her snuggly purple suit.

From this event I took the following lessons: 1) always have an array of banjo jokes to legitimize your out of tune playing (note: most banjo jokes revolve around a banjo's finnicky tuning; i.e. what's the difference between a banjo and a chain saw? Answer: A chain saw has a dynamic range.....ohhhhhhhhhhhhh no!) and 2) wear a funny combination of clothes, like a dressy Indian outfit with crocs to distract folks from the music.

It was a last night to remember.

Changing of the Seasons

Another vapid post, but this one with a good costume and auditory adornments. Here's me wearing a traditional Kasmiri hat and vest, in Delhi, India, playing a clawhammer banjo version of Frosty morning on a frosty morning. Note that not only the late great Michael Jackson wears one glove.

Frosty Morning (Clawhammer banjo) from David Meek on Vimeo.

Tuesday May 24-Exploring Kurseong: Orchids, Goats, and Banjos!

Notes from the traveling desk of Rita Meek

Up bright and early, breakfast at the hotel with roti, egg omelets, fruit and (instant) coffee and tea, and off we went for our explore. After discussing all of the potential activities and available hikes with the manager of the hotel, we rented a driver to take us first to then train station to get our tickets for the Toy train on Wednesday, and then to a monastery and then to the place where we could start our hike

The monastery was much farther up the mountain, and there was thick fog covering the entire area from our hotel up as far as we went on the mountain.

We left the car (after another series of switchbacks, cars honking madly as they rounded curves, a few backing ups, and one time when we all had to get out of the car so the car could make it up the steep slope), and walked up the old stone steps to the Buddhist monastery .

A stupa at the monastery

We were greeted by a Buddhist nun who allowed us to go into the . It was decorated with brightly painted and gold-gilded buddhas, and also devils. There were many prayer flags, each one sending its prayers out with the wind. It was such a quiet place, and was so deep in the forest, with birds, flowers, and fluttering flags around it.

Wild orchids in the trees

Mom smelling the beautiful orchids

We set out for the Forestry museum, which appeared deserted when we reached it. A gentleman opened it for us, and we wandered around looking at exhibits that probably were new in the 1950’s. Many dusty cases of butterflies, with typed labels identifying their genus and species. Many instructional posters, talking not only about conservation of the land and trees and water, but others counseling that the only way for this world to survive was with population control. Our ever-increasing number of people will further diminish our food and energy supply, therefore causing the poor to have increasingly decreasing resources making their lives even more difficult.

We then walked on through beautiful vegetation, lush and green. Tree orchids, gorgeous flowers by the side of the road, and beautiful flowers growing outside of some of the cottages. Again, many homes in need of significant repair and cosmetic attention, but an occasional one (possibly left over from the British) looked to be in good condition. Long stretches of green, and then a few houses would be clustered together. People smiled at us, and occasionally we would get a “Hi” or “hello” – we obviously were tourists. We passed several schools where classes were in session. The children were always nicely dressed in uniforms, polite, and apparently well-behaved when we saw them. We passed one elementary school and heard a teacher reading a story to her students in English about a Mommy Penguin. After each line she read, the class would all repeat back to her the statement word-for-word in perfect English. Very sweet and very special. We did later see five or six young children sitting by the side of the road, smiling at us, and waving. After we passed them, we began to hear the chant “please give me money” repeated over and over and over again....

Later in the afternoon (after a nap!) we met again and walked up the road to a beautiful old cemetery we had noticed several times. There were many old stone crosses that one could see from the road. The entire area was under fog and mist again, which made it a perfect time to explore a cemetery.

We wandered around, trying to imaging the life of the tea planter who died at the age of 20, the child who died at 10, the people with Indian names who were buried in a Christian cemetery under the sign of the cross….

David brought his banjo and played a number of songs as the sun briefly came out and then disappeared again behind the clouds and mist.

Rita noticed a group of goats cavorting around a large grave in the distance and captured an interesting picture of a goat trying to climb up the large gravestone.

Rita and David lingered in the cemetery, and slowly walked back to the hotel. They walked along with a small boy of 10, impeccably dressed in a gray sweater and gray flannel pants with knife-edged creases, and shiny black shoes who had obviously just come from school. Rita has been thinking about all of the young boys going to these (mostly religious) schools, and then about all of the men standing around in front of shops with apparently nothing to do, and wondering if that is the life that the boys will end up with…

A brief rest, then off to dinner at the hotel where we took all of our meals while in Kurseong. The food was not quite as good as the previous night, but we managed to eat most of it anyway, and then a brief banjo concert while Rita taught Jo how to play “Hearts”. After a few games including one where Jo demonstrated what a good student she was by “shooting the moon” successfully, everyone tumbled into bed so we could be up bright and early Wednesday for our next adventure: off to Darjeeling after a trip to a tea plantation in the morning! And we listened to the rain on the roof….

Udaipur

Those who have been following the blog for the last 4 years (!!!), who have a very good memory, or are avid James Bond fans, might remember our previous discussion of Udaipur. For those who don't, Udaipur is a lovely "little" town (by Indian standards) on Lake Pichola in Rajasthan. It's famed Lake Palace, built in the center of the lake, served as the set for the James Bond film "Octopussy".

The Lake Palace in the afternoon light


The city is a great getaway for a variety of reasons: it's beautiful, there are phenomenal views from each hotel, there are oodles of historic "havelis" (old mansions that are now boutique hotels)

These havelis are pretty amazing in my opinion: they interior design is supposedly true to the original structure. Both of the below photos are actually from our hotel in Jaipur, but it's pretty much the same scene in Udaipur.

Interior decorations (1)

Interior decorations (2)

These havellis have wonderful rooftops, providing even more wonderful views, and numerous places for just hanging out, enjoying some nescafe, or playing banjo.

Good ole fashion hanging out

One thing that's fun if you're ever in Udaipur is checking out the traditional dance showcase. You'll see all sorts of quirky dances, including this one with a woman dancing with 10 pots on her head!

Can you dance with 10 pots on your head?

Sunset over the mountains

After the sunsets, it's time to go an enjoy a lovely dinner while looking out over the Lake Palace.

Lake Palace by night

One of the best dinners ever!

Blissful food coma


And that, in a nutshell, is what a relaxing trip to Udaipur entails: hanging out, enjoying the view, eating, and maybe a touch of swimming....oh, and of course, playing the banjo!