In an attempt to bring music into Shibumi and deepen the learning space at Shibumi we had a Dhrupad retreat with Pelva Naik, It was a week long rigorous engagement with the artist. Plelva brought a new rhythm into the space. For our oldest children it was a residential retreat as they participated in the morning 'kharaj' practice with the artist. The younger ones had an hour long singing session and some activities that deepened our engagement with our learning. Another beautiful element that this week brought was the bringing together of Teachers and Students as learners. The vertical age groups in which we learnt the Dhrupad was from our littlest 5 year old to our oldest 68 year old. All children were struck by sound. Some were drawn to sound and vibrations of the tanpura. Some were humming the notes of the bandish. Some had their fingers busy keeping the jhaptaal. It was fascinating how Pelva's passion for this style of music was what touched each one of ...

Pelva has brought music with her to Shibumi. We are very happy to have the regular singing sessions with Pelva where she takes us through the nuances of Dhrupad.   In the beginning I tried to understand the music. I couldn’t do this because I wasn’t able to pick out the different sounds and see that they were unique. To me they sounded pretty much like each other. I then tried to feel the music but I am afraid I didn’t feel anything. I tried keeping the beat while singing but this made me loose the tune and words. I also tried to move my hands with the music but they moved in a very odd manner which did not resemble the music in any way. So as you can see I found it very difficult to connect with the music both at the level of the mind and at deeper level. I will not give up and I shall continue to try and cross these hurdles because singing is one skill I sincerely wish to have. ~ Sagar. (Mamm o th) This type of music (Indian Classical) is ge...

We haven't posted much onto the blog for a long time now -- I will try and get down to sharing bits of news from the past few months now. Srikiran, a carnatic classical violinist, spent the day with us in August. He played a very moving little 'kriti' for us at assembly. Amidst the usual excited hubbub of the post-lunch break, the feeble strains of a melody emerged from a window. We followed it into the cool dimness of the library and found this (please excuse the dark video): Parvathy, the singer, is a fifteen-year old student at Shibumi. She has been singing and learning music seriously for years now. The musicians found each other after lunch and had an informal little 'jam' with a couple of us looking on, savouring every moment.

Arati Chokshi (Thanks, Arati, for letting us use your post on Suno Sadho -- http://sunosadho.blogspot.com/ . Videos, images, and text in italics added by us.) The day started unusually for me - with zero expectations. Shabnam and I were on our way to 'Shibumi' - a non-formal school conducted in a house on the outskirts of Bangalore city. About 35 children,and 7-8 dedicated teachers - who were themselves exploring boundaries of learning with stories, arts, songs, and lots of play. I looked forward to this day - a day of singing and sharing Kabir, with a vertical age group from 6 to 60, as playmates. The singing began in a long open room - well lit, with walls of books, drawings, odds and ends. The little ones sat closest to us, clustered around - wide, bright eyes, open mouths, a wonder in their looks as they watched Shabnam sing with her head thrown back, eyes closed, a smile - expressing a little of the world she inhabited inside. The older, taller ones sat systematically furt...