Our trip to India coming all the way from the “famous European culture” but also as a human being was definitely a life-changing experience! And exactly that was supposed to be the goal of this wonderful project by Marialena Fernandes. The motto is “QUEST FOR PASSION”: We’ve been searching for the goal of playing music, playing alone or together, singing or simply enjoying it. Everybody takes part and everybody gets involved.

Here’s my travel journal covering our three visited cities Mangalore, Bangalore and Goa.

Mangalore

I gained my first experiences at the airport in Mumbai: The staff at the information desk as well as the security personnel were very nice and accommodating. They answered all my questions with a big smile on their face.

I flew from Vienna in the afternoon. Since Mumbai is four and a half hours ahead of Vienna, I landed there in the early morning, found a sofa, and slept for a few hours until my connecting flight to Mangalore departed. I met Marialena right by the gate.

I had my first Indian meal in the plane: a veg curry, moderately spicy. After landing, we were picked up from the airport from a close friend of our host family. We were welcomed with proper tropical weather: about 30°C, strong sun, and high humidity. We drove to our very lovely hosts, who were from the very first moment extremely friendly and attentive and awaited us with a variety of foods. Here are the first homemade dishes:

In this kind of weather, a small break in the form of an afternoon nap is necessary. After we rested, Marialena held a workshop for children, and I tried to contribute my knowledge of breathing, movement, posture, and music education for young people. These children were all very open and curious, and most of them very musical! It made me very happy to see how they “soaked up” new information and experiences! We were also able to offer tips and suggestions to the teachers.

In the evening, we were invited to dinner by an extraordinarily nice family: it was again wonderful to see how these older people communicate with each other, how hospitable they are, and how much fun they have together – and completely without mobile phones! Extraordinary ladies and gentlemen! I could write an entire chapter just on the food: this variety, these spices… They sang and played guitar. It was a very nice evening, and I was grateful I was able to be there!

The next morning, we played in the church at St. Aloysius College. It was very touching to see how many young people go to Mass – almost every day before their classes, as I learned later. My hat goes off to them!

We played two movements from Bach’s Flute Sonata BWV 1034. On the way home, I saw my first coconut stand and immediately fell in love with this fruit! Just the way the people open this hard shell fascinated me. I also saw several boys who could climb palm trees quickly and elegantly. There are two kinds of coconuts: in some there is only coconut water, while other also have “meat”. The merchants can tell the two kinds apart, and you can choose which you would like to have.

Later in the afternoon, I was really thrown into the deep end: we rehearsed and also improvised with the “Kudla Drum Jammers” for the concert the following day. These musicians make music for the pure joy of it, and in our classical music-making, it shouldn’t be any different.

In the afternoon, we played a concert at the “Mandd Sobhann” – Konkani Cultural Centre. Local music students also performed, and afterwards they even taught us very old Konkani songs. We reciprocated with a Hungarian folk song and Schubert’s song “The Trout”.

On the third day, I woke up quite early because I was so excited about our concert that evening! At noon I had the chance to try another new food, the so-called “thali”. This platter consists of various kinds of vegetables and is served with rice and Indian bread (bhatura/chapati). Incredibly delicious!!!

Our concert at the Infant Jesus Joyland School with the local musicians went very well. We had a very appreciative and receptive audience. What I was a bit afraid of was our “piece” with the Indian flutist, who brought a suitcase full of handmade bamboo flutes with him. We used the instruments to ask each other questions, as it were, and to get to know each other through improvised melodies. I never would have thought that I could have so much fun, but I did, and it also gave me the necessary openness and security for my playing. Thank you very much, Marialena! ☺

People sang “bailas”, and the ladies, including us, danced with great abandon and energy. After the concert, we were served a dinner that included more unfamiliar – for me, at least – foods. It was overall a very emotional and impulsive evening. I am very grateful that I was able to meet all these people!

On the fourth day, we then travelled on to Bangalore. Saying goodbye to our lovely and generous hosts, including the maid, was a bit sad. After the final prayer in our beautiful “home”, and with a somewhat sad smile on our faces, we were taken to the airport.

Bangalore

On our first day we picked up our lovely Ieva, who joined shortly before the trip to Bangalore. This delicious meal became on of my favorites – let me introduce the crispy Masala Dosa (to the right):

After rehearsing for our upcoming concert at Alliance Française, we were ready to hit the market. The variety of fruits were amazing: these colors, this smell! And everything was as fresh as it gets!

The concert turned nicely: Playing with the talented youngsters was very fun and the atmosphere was great!

On Ieva’s side is Becky, our lovely organizer, on my side to the right is Vikram, our host. His mother, Aruna Sunderlal, founded the Bangalore School of Music.

Also take a look at these beautiful scarves we got after the concert!

On the fourth day, we went sightseeing, visited a mosque, traveled with a rickshaw, ate fresh coconut and did a bit of shopping.

On Day 5, we visited the lovely Lalbagh Botanical Garden.

We couldn’t miss visiting a temple where we met a nice man. He took us
to Gandhi market and a very famous restaurant, where we had another one of those delicious “Dosa experiences”.

Beautiful nature: We felt so good and fresh after walking around! As we learned, Bangalore is also called “the City of Gardens”. Definitely not by mistake!

After the last workshops on the sixth day of our journey, we visited the beautiful Temple of Iskcon.

This is us smiling in front of the Bangalore School of Music & Fine Arts: “Finally, we are done here”, we successfully completed our mission!

We also had a final, magical dinner with host Becky and her husband:

Goa

Here is our lovely accommodation, the guesthouse of Sunaparanta, Goa Centre of the Arts, where we were going to perform & hold a workshop the next days. We had three lovely men taking good care of us – despite our late arrival after an adventurous day at the airport (flight cancellation due to an air show). They were waiting for us with a warm late-night dinner. Fresh warm Chapati with veggies!

At our first day, we had rehearsals followed by a concert in the evening. The gorgeous ambiente and magical atmosphere at the Amphitheater of Sunaparanta was just the right location.

Over 30 degrees are not unusual at the seaside, which made rehearsing a bit of a challenge.

Those mosaics were just… miraculous!

The following day after the concert we had time to travel the country. I became a huge fan of Goan architecture, discovering lots of individual and colorful houses.

No words needed 🙂

We had a beautiful and relaxing day. The Arabian sea treated us well, got us waves and a lovely breeze.

Day three was another soul-pampering day. We were walking around Panaji and enjoyed further impressive architecture. I love the Portuguese influence… these mosaics!

On the fourth day, we went back to rehearsing, teaching an giving our final workshop at the Art Chamber in Calangute. This amazing residence was built by painter Jolanda de Sousa and her husband and pianist Rudolf Ludwig. Pure art all over!

The inner chambers inspired us very much for our afternoon sessions.

On Day 5, we visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus, the Church of St. Cajetan, before performing our very last concert on this tour.

Do you know what a gift is? Being able to express feelings by music, sharing love and passion. Also being able to do all of these things when electricity goes off, when you are dead tired or the cirumstances are not the most ideal. Music is our love. Love has to be shared. And that’s the only way passion can really reach the audience.

India, I am definitely coming back! You are the diversity, the poor and the rich, the color, the smart and the ignorant, the kindness and the hope.

Thank you for this life-changing experience!