her house is practically empty, it occurred to me that this would be an ideal place. What further added to the appropriateness of the venue is the weather in Burlington, Vermont, which will be much more favorable than the weather in Kolkata during these months.
Since May 28th, the first day of this year's three-day long Annual Tabla Ashram*, I have been finally preparing for it - sitting and practicing for long duration of time, keeping hunger waiting beyond the usual wait time and treating sleep more as nap. And, there were some other abstinences too. Observing these for more than a month, I have been feeling increasingly lighter and ready for it. I am hoping the transition will be relatively smooth.
* Ashram is a Sanskrit word for hermitage. And, the Annual Tabla Ashram is a gathering of musicians to learn and practice tabla in an unbroken spell of time. This year it was held for three days, from 9 am until 9 pm.
Tonight I am staying at the residence of my dear friends Steve Gorn and Barbara Bash in Accord, New York. I came here after a performance at the Maverick festival. Tomorrow morning, or rather later this morning, I shall drive up to Alexander's house in Charlotte, Vermont. I am driving a vehicle rented from Newark, New Jersey airport, which I shall return to Burlington, Vermont airport tomorrow afternoon. My student Tejas Tope drove me to the rental car station in Newark airport. In the past couple of days my wife Sanghamitra, son Dibyarka, disciple Aditya and his mother Aishwarya Phatak helped me in packing for the trip. Another disciple Amod Dandawate came to see me two days before I left. The exchange of our final looks was memorable. I saw a question in his eyes: who is this man, do I know him?
July 10, 2016
February 13th,2016; (from left) Front row - Aditya Phatak, Samir Chatterjee, Back row - Todd Miller, Nano (Emiliano A. Valerio) , Tripp Dudley, Alexander Naylor, Dibyarka Chatterjee
Photo credit: Wen Dombrowski
The day started as beautifully as it could, with a lovely fruity breakfast in the company of Steve Gorn and Barbara Bash on their patio. This patio always reminds me of the time when my mother was sitting on it and Steve Gorn shared his observation that “she carries a heaven in her mind wherever she goes”. There were other people in the group that day, including my elder sister and my musical colleague Barun Kumar Pal. But, she was noticeably different. This morning none of us had to rush. So, we engaged in conversation. Topics traveled between mysticism, misuse of religion, social and political issues of the USA and the fate of human beings caught in that chaos. Eventually I had to leave and they had to continue with their day. I touched their feet and started my journey.
In a couple of hours the mountains and the landscape of Vermont greeted me. The moving clouds drizzled and poured as I moved deeper into Vermont. To me they signified purification. Xander met me at Burlington airport and transferred all of my stuff to his car before I returned the rented car. We drove home. His mother Magdalena and girlfriend Maggie were eagerly waiting for my arrival. They, along with the two dogs Zorba and Bella, greeted me with all the warmth and exuberance one can ever expect. I am indeed very fortunate. I received all of those with humility and gratitude.
Alexander and Maggie had to drive back to New York. So, the first thing I needed to do was to check the room I shall be in. It was the perfect amount of space and a combination of my favorite colors – purple, sea green, different shades of blue and white. There is a bed, a sofa, three chests, two tables, two bedside stands and a few lamps. The room has four skylight windows. There is a window air-conditioner and a table fan, pretty quiet. There is a room annex to the main room. It has two small tables, four chairs and a large window with a window air-conditioner. This room’s ceiling is of normal height. There is beautiful spacious bathroom attached to the annex room. Everything is clean and fragrant.
The Spot and the bed
Photo Credit: Samir Chatterjee
The Skylight
Photo Credit: Samir Chatterjee
Magdalena carried a carpet upstairs to my room and spread over a spot I chose to sit on, facing east. She had carried out the two chairs which were sitting on that spot. Alexander had already brought my set of tabla to the room. I set them up and played a little. It was responding very well. That would be the spot. Magdalena later told me that Alexander always chose that spot to practice. Alexander and Maggie brought in all of my stuff from the car. My stuff - I always remember George Carlin’s amazing episode on ‘The Stuff’. It is driven by so many hypothetical ‘what-if’ factors, that we keep on piling up beyond our capacity to consume, let alone being able to carry. So, what have I brought?
The Stuff
Photo Credit: Samir Chatterjee
The Stand
Photo Credit: Samir Chatterjee
Food:
1)one 24-pack box of energy bars: 12 chocolate chip and 12 crunchy peanut butter,
2)two 18-pack boxes of nuts and spice bars: 9 of dark chocolate, nuts and sea salt and 9 with maple glazed pecan and sea salt (5g sugar),
3)one 35-pack box of chewy granola bars: chocolate, almond, sea salt with chia,
4)one 2 lb. bag of cashew clusters with almonds and pumpkin seeds (50% cashews, gluten free),
5)two bags of 12-pack antioxidant mix of pistachios, almonds, dark chocolate, cranberries, blueberries and raisins,
6)four bars of glazed peanuts and one small bar of black sesame.
Drinks:
1)Nine 1-liter containers of 100% natural coconut water,
2)35 bottles of Gatorade Fierce,
3)100 tea bags of Earl Grey,
4)Natural sugar.
Supplements:
Fish oil and Vitamin D3; I have been taking them for some time.
Medication:
Advil and vitamin C, just in case.
Clothing:
Mostly indoor clothing for warm weather, except a woolen vest, a sweater and a shawl.
Accessories:
1)CPAP machine,
2)Laptop with external hard drive. I forgot to bring the charger. Magdalena miraculously brought out a perfect charger from her closet!
3)A CD-cassette player,
4)A
