Music, it's in my blood

I enjoy Indian classical music... no, I really enjoy it. I guess it has to do with my dad playing it non-stop while I was very young. From the vinyl records of sitarists Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, to the shenai player Bismillah Khan, I have become a fanatic of this style of music. I've always wanted to play the sitar, and you know how some poeple play "air guitar"? Well, I used to play "air-sitar" :) .

I had the oppurtunity to recieve 7.5 hours of lessons (in total) from an instructor, back in 2003, but I decided that I needed to teach myself. From learning the most basic stucture of the Indian notation system, I used all my years of listening to the sitar/sarod/surbahar to formulate MY type of music. I'd have to say that I am quite impressed with myself, and most importantly, I am very happy with the music that I produce. Music is obviously tuned to everyone's own ear, and I play for myself, and no one else. I don't wish to be noticed by anyone, nor do I wish to land some record deal. My dream in life was actually to play along the boardwalk of Toronto's Queen's Quay area (where there are so many other great musicians that perform), but not to make money.. just to play something for the people. I would purposely place a sign telling people that I don't want their money, just their serious attention.



I try and play in a spiritual and contemplative mood. Each note that I strike carries emotion, as well as a feeling. The sitar I have has 6 main strings, and approximately 10 sympathetic strings below (which serve as the drone). I have taught myself to play with all five main strings (during my instruction, I was prohibited from even touching the upper main strings... the teacher wanted to take his time teaching me). I've even taught myself to tune the instrument, which in itself is a difficult thing to do, because if you are not careful, then you are bound to break the metal strings.



So far, I have made two movies of my performances, and I am going to try and condense the size of the files. Once I get an mp3 player that can record, I will try and make recordings in digital format, so that I can burn a couple of CDs for my dad.

Forest....

I took a walk in the local forest, a couple weeks back. There is something about connecting with the trees (although they appear dead) and wildlife that makes me feel at peace. Life isn't simplistic by any means, but it is beautiful to observe. This day was particularly nice, and I even had the intentions of playing tennis (yes, by myself... I was gonna practice my serves lol). Unfortunately, when I got to the tennis courts, the City Parks and Recreation did not put up the nets. So I decided to take a walk, and lo and behold, I had an adventure.

Done... for now

Today I finished my last exam of my university career (i hope). It was fish biology, and I was scared shitless. I was more ready for my midterm (which I did horribly on) than I was for this final. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was somehow unprepared. Anyways, the exam was three hours long, and I think I left there fairly early. I couldn't spend an hour and a half just looking at the lecture walls, so I bolted outta there. I shook hands with my prof (who is very cool btw), talked a bit about my research paper, and thanked him for a good course. YorkU has been an interesting journey, with some good and bad stops along the way. I have met many different people, and made some worthwhile friends. I decided to walk around the campus grounds, before I handed in my papers at the Pure and Applied Science department. It was windy, sunny, and rainy, all within a span of a few hours. I didn't get to walk around that much, but I did get asked by a couple of classmates to take their pics (no, I was not included in their pictures hehe).

Anyways, now begins my official embarkment upon the path of Caribbean medical schools. I have one more section to complete on my AUC application, the personal statement (approximately 750 words). I'll see what I can get done tonight.