Every year I use to do an introspection during the year-end period. Thought of putting it down as a post for me to refer later. Though I don't make any resolutions, but wanted to show some improvement in satisfaction levels in my own life, and my contributions to other's life. I think, I'm quite satisfied on those fronts.
The year started with giving second stem cell shot to Pratibha, with a hope that her improvement would get accelerated. The highlight of February was attending the Chinmaya Naada Bindu Fest at Kolwan Pune (CNB Fest). I'm not able to find a word for expressing my feeling. Yes, the experience was musical, spiritual, pleasant, satisfying and very inspiring. Meanwhile got an entry confirmed at the 'Konkani Sammelan of North America' for Pratibha to perform Sitar for 15 minutes. Thanks to Rajesh Koppikar for making this happen. This lead to putting focused effort on Pratibha's practice and me starting on Tabla to accompany her.
In the month of May we participated in a press conference organised by Neurogen Hospital regarding stem cell therapy and Pratibha's progress. The Malayala Manorama newspaper published a full page article on Pratibha highlighting her improvements.
This lead to me getting many (close to 80 to 90) phone calls from 'parents of children with special needs'., over a period of few months. I patiently explained to them my understanding of stem cells therapy and asked them to take decision based on their own conviction. Though it was very taxing to explain in details to each and every one of them, that gave immense satisfaction to me, as I could be of help to many such parents. It was very satisfying to say that more than 25 - 30 of them got stem cell therapy done for their children, and are doing good.
Three weeks (end of June to beginning of July) were spent with Prashant and Kruti (Son and Daughter in Law) in the US. Stayed for couple of days with my good old friends (Bhasy and Shyamala) in Dallas. Our first time stay with friends. Also met another good friend / class mate Prof. Jacob with family at Atlanta. It was a delight to meet Venkat, another associate of mine, who worked with me at IITM many years back. Enjoyed all the three occasions. Felt extremely happy to be at Georgia Tech University for some time. That academic smell was intoxicating.
14th and 15th of August this year was another musical experience at Kochi. I could attend "Raag Rang" organised by good friend Uday. It was an opportunity to listen to day time raags, that too by young musicians Dr. Shashank Matkedar, Smt. Anuradha Kuber, Shri Mukul Kulkarni and Shri Kailas Patra. They were some of the best hindustani music concerts I have ever heard.
Another major project that gave me immense satisfaction was Tarang, the music band of differently abled persons. Driving Tarang has been an awesome experience. We could present few major stage shows, two of them exceeded one hour. Choosing the songs, creating musical bits to them, training the members on Sitar, Vocal, Tabla and Bongos gave me immense delight.
Training Pratibha for preparing her perform an hour of performance was quite tedious, but very enjoyable. Pratibha did perform at Trivandrum, in a get together of my friends, which was attended by well known Hindustani vocalist Smt Abhradita Banerjee. A major observation was that, Pratibha could realize the mistakes and herself correct and proceed as if nothing has happened! I consider this to be a major progress in her music journey.
Meeting students, whom I taught more than 25 years back at IIT Madras at Chennai was very nostalgic and relishing. Another 'Aha' moment was a fabulous tabla duet by Pt Nayan Ghosh and Pt Swapan Dasgupta at the Nehru Centre on 29th December.
The top 3 of the year are:
The year started with giving second stem cell shot to Pratibha, with a hope that her improvement would get accelerated. The highlight of February was attending the Chinmaya Naada Bindu Fest at Kolwan Pune (CNB Fest). I'm not able to find a word for expressing my feeling. Yes, the experience was musical, spiritual, pleasant, satisfying and very inspiring. Meanwhile got an entry confirmed at the 'Konkani Sammelan of North America' for Pratibha to perform Sitar for 15 minutes. Thanks to Rajesh Koppikar for making this happen. This lead to putting focused effort on Pratibha's practice and me starting on Tabla to accompany her.
In the month of May we participated in a press conference organised by Neurogen Hospital regarding stem cell therapy and Pratibha's progress. The Malayala Manorama newspaper published a full page article on Pratibha highlighting her improvements.
Coverage about Pratibha's story, on Malayala Manorama Mumbai Edition
This lead to me getting many (close to 80 to 90) phone calls from 'parents of children with special needs'., over a period of few months. I patiently explained to them my understanding of stem cells therapy and asked them to take decision based on their own conviction. Though it was very taxing to explain in details to each and every one of them, that gave immense satisfaction to me, as I could be of help to many such parents. It was very satisfying to say that more than 25 - 30 of them got stem cell therapy done for their children, and are doing good.
Three weeks (end of June to beginning of July) were spent with Prashant and Kruti (Son and Daughter in Law) in the US. Stayed for couple of days with my good old friends (Bhasy and Shyamala) in Dallas. Our first time stay with friends. Also met another good friend / class mate Prof. Jacob with family at Atlanta. It was a delight to meet Venkat, another associate of mine, who worked with me at IITM many years back. Enjoyed all the three occasions. Felt extremely happy to be at Georgia Tech University for some time. That academic smell was intoxicating.
Pratibha performing at the Konkani Sammelan, Atlanta, USA
Performance by Anuradha Kuber at 'Raag Rang' Kochi [Photo credit: Shri Uday Shenoy]
Tarang Performance at Chinmaya Naada Bindu, Kolwan, Pune
Training Pratibha for preparing her perform an hour of performance was quite tedious, but very enjoyable. Pratibha did perform at Trivandrum, in a get together of my friends, which was attended by well known Hindustani vocalist Smt Abhradita Banerjee. A major observation was that, Pratibha could realize the mistakes and herself correct and proceed as if nothing has happened! I consider this to be a major progress in her music journey.
Pratibha performing at Sree Moolam Club Trivandrum on 29th November [Photo Credit: ananthapurionline.in]
Tabla Duet by Pt Nayan Ghosh and Pt Swapan Dasgupta at the Nehru Centre [Photo credit: SMB Family Whatsapp group]
The top 3 of the year are:
- Preparing Pratibha for a one hour Sitar performance
- Working with Tarang team and preparing them to perform stage shows
- I started saying "No", where I should.. I generally find it difficult to say "No"..
Bottom 3:
- Couldn't put enough time for my Bansuri practice. [hardly any practice this year]
- Not been reading much
- Wanted to write more frequent blog posts. Couldn't...
Breakthrough:
Found a right Sitar teacher for Pratibha.
Actin Plan for year 2017:
- At least 6 visits to Chinmaya Naada Bindu this year for intense Bansuri practice
- More blog posts... short ones..
- Read more and spend less time on social media..
- More music practice
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