Chaurasia on the Flute: Sublime!

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is a genius on the flute. His name is synonymous with the hindustani classical flute in India, and his music is divine, really!

If you haven't yet heard him, you really must. His music literally lifts you up and transports you to a serene, happy place. I tried to download a video of his from youtube and upload it here, but I got errors from blogger. So here's a link, to a beautiful piece by him, recorded in his youth.

(click on his picture for the link to the video).



He also is one of the many artistes in India who are happy to do fund raising concerts for charitable organizations, and as a result has been on tour in the US several times expressly for fund-raising concerts with specific groups.

While I was still a graduate student about 14 years ago, I got to listen to him live for the first time. It was so utterly magical! After that concert, I was one of the students who escorted him to his host's home. During the drive, he asked me simple questions like what I was studying and what I planned to do after graduation. I don't know what I replied - I was so tongue-tied!

He is older now than in the above video. He is 71, but the music still is as sweet as ever. We listened to him live over the weekend. A part of the proceeds were going to AID (Association for India's Development), my volunteer group.

When he came to the US on tour in 2000, I was a volunteer with Child Relief & You, and I had made these little flute-shaped bookmarks to give away at his concert. But since I did it at the last minute and we didn't have the time to print them, they never got used.



This time, I again remembered these bookmarks on Saturday, and quickly re-made them for AID, in powerpoint. A quick dash to Kinkos for copies, and we were able to hand these out to those who showed interest in our AID table.

I haven't ever taught myself to use better software ... so these aren't perfect, but they worked for the tight deadline, and served the purpose.



Hope you like Chaurasia's music as much as I do!

ROTI : AID Calendar 2009

I am an AIDer. What is AID?

"Compassion whenever there is suffering ...
Conviction that the compassion is strong enough to eliminate suffering ...
Courage to make this conviction a reality -
This is AID."

Association for India's Development (AID) is a volunteer movement committed to promoting sustainable, equitable and just development. In solidarity with non-violent people's struggles, AID supports grassroots organizations in India and initiates efforts in various interconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, natural resources, health, women's empowerment and social justice.

Here we are after "Running for India" in the 2008 Austin Marathon and Half-Marathon!


I have been with the group for the past 7 years. I like it because this group is one where learning is the key - we discuss and try to understand the issues that underly the many problems we see in the world and in India, and in this process, try to make changes in our lives to stop being part of the problem. AID has over 40 chapters all over the US and many outside the US as well.

One fun thing AID does every year is to come out with a themed calendar. The calendar has beautiful pictures from India, and this year the theme is ROTI (food).



This year the calendar tries to highlight the issues of the farmer. India is going through a period of great trauma for the farmer. This is a country where the farmer was respected as the giver of food, and where most of the land was agricultural until recently. In the past decade, thousands on Indian farmers have committed suicide because they are unable to compete in a world of globalized agriculture, short-sighted "agricultural modernization" and international trade decisions which don't keep his welfare in mind.



The calendar is printed using eco-friendly means, keeping with AID's belief that sustainable living starts at home.


I have saved my calendars from the past years because they truly are works of art! Previous calendars have featured P. Sainath's photographs (from an earlier post) on the theme of the rural woman; textiles of India from last year's theme of Kapda (meaning "cloth" - check out the link for beautiful photographs of textiles from last year), etc.

If you have a moment, do take a look at this website which features the 2009 AID calendar. It has interesting information, and if you so decide, you can order copies there as well!