#we r here visiting my brother / touring the college he goes to right

[andrea-lyn]

Happy new year! If the adage is that you spend today doing what you want to for the rest of the year, then I want to keep reading and reccing some fics I’ve loved in the last little while!

So, here’s a mish-mash of multi-fandoms. As always, you can find my master rec collection here. 

Ghosts (BBC)

And So On and So Forth by V_Evergreen

Dying is, of course, incredibly tragic. It is also the most wonderful opportunity.

Father of the Bride by EllianaDunla

Rachel Fawcett visits Button House to feel closer to her father.

Which happens, just not quite in the way she expects.

Project Chatterbox by SqutternutBosh

‘What’s this?’ Alison asks, looking down at the scrappy piece of note paper that Mike has just put down in front of her.

‘It’s a list of ways I can talk to them,’ Mike says, sitting down beside her at the kitchen table.

Raven Cycle

hold me tight, fear me not by audikatia for Northisnotup

When Adam stepped around, he found himself suddenly in an emerald glen of moss-covered trees. More blue roses scattered over the green ground like raindrops or tears.

And there, in the center, was a man pinned to a tree with an arrow through his heart. :: Tam Lin AU

Someone Worth Knowing by SprigsofViolets

Alex Claremont-Diaz and Adam Parrish meet on their first day at NYU. They do not hit it off—cue the academic rivalry. They hate each other until they learn to understand each other.

(I can’t tell you how many times I’ve re-read this one, esp as it hits two of my fave canons in all the right places)

since you've been home, see what you have become by Mici (noharlembeat)

Adam goes touring colleges, and Ronan comes along. And Opal, well. She stays with Declan.

***Greywaren spoilers for the below fics!***

There's No Place Like My Room by Lil_Redhead

Sometimes endings are endings, but sometimes they’re just middles and the real ending is very, very far away.

Or, the days between the last chapters and the epilogue of Greywaren

(This one is still a WIP with one chapter left to post, but it hits all the right notes of post-Greywaren + plot that I was craving after finishing the book)

god only knows (what i'd be without you) by RhymeReason

[Part of Gansey was starting to accept that two of his best friends were most likely dead.]

Or: gansey finds adam and ronan :)

and on the seventh day he rested by Prevalent_Masters

On the seventh day, the Lynch brothers discovered they were friends once more.

Or, the week following the (near) apocalypse.

Roswell New Mexico

Contigo me encontré by beautifulcheat (Katalyst), ladynox

The Lockhart House was once a home, although it was never a happy one. Steeped in tragedy, it still stands today, in the heart of Old Town Roswell, attracting ghost hunters and those seeking to catch a peak of something from beyond the veil.

Contrary to popular myth, it wasn’t currently haunted (except by one paranormally talented docent). It was Michael’s favorite job and the best part of his summer home from UNM. Or at least was until Alex Manes was hired to man the gift shop, complicating an otherwise fun and easy job.

With Love Overflowing by Nestra

"We both agree that this is not the place we belong, right? Please say yes."

Michael tossed his hat on the coffee table and dropped onto the couch. "If you mean that your dad's been dead since CrashCon and some kind of crazy shit is going on, then yeah, I agree."

(This one was for me for Secret Santa, it is just THAT GOOD that I want everyone in the world to read it)

Severance

r/severed by curtaincall for LearnedFoot

Welcome to r/severed! This is a subreddit to discuss the experience of severance and provide advice and support to fellow severed people (and friends and family).

Top Gun Maverick

we're fools to make war by whimsicule

In a Walmart at three am, between beef jerky and tortilla chips, with the lights flickering above them like it’s the fucking twilight zone, Bradley wants him more than he’s ever wanted anyone.

or: it's a hundred degrees in texas.

what doesn't kill me makes me want you more by ok_thanks

For Rooster to be his ex-boyfriend, that would require him to have been Jake’s boyfriend in the first place. Which he definitely wasn’t. He was – "Ex-something," Jake coughs. or, the intricate ritual of teasing the guy you've been hooking up with since college that you're definitely not in love with

Men Like Us by DancingDisaster

Seresin men love with reckless abandon. It’s put every man before him in the ground.

Jake refuses to be buried.

[aquablues-archive]

ok im back idk if racially motivated is the right word but it was just . weird like idk

[abdifarah]

Hotel Pennsylvania

Central Pennsylvania is weird. Homeowners string confederates flags as nonchalantly as Christmas lights. My mom, who moved to Central Pennsylvania against my protests, lives about ten miles from Spring Grove, PA, which we have to drive through whenever we visit my Aunt Darlene and Uncle Kenny right below the Pennsylvania–Maryland line. Spring Grove is a cruel joke of a name as the town perpetually smells of rancid cabbage. The smell emanates from the Glatfelter Paper Mill at the heart of the town. All the shops and services in the town either bear the Glatfelter name or use some corny paper pun in their signage. The old brick row homes that line Main Street have porches but no one sits on them. If you do see someone on the street they have an exhausted expression well beyond their years, perhaps from too many cigarettes, or possibly from years of hopelessly working at the paper mill. A cloud – both literal and spiritual – hangs over Spring Grove.

But there is another kind of small town in Central Pennsylvania. All the companies in this town are higher tech with little pollution to diffuse the sun. Power washed brick houses with immaculately manicured lawns line the small streets of Lititz, Pennsylvania. Voted the Best Small Town in America by AARP, every block has either an ice cream stand, or a guitar shop, or a quaint bed and breakfast. On any summer afternoon the sidewalks and streets are filled with happy people. Kids in their bathing suits weave through older pedestrians on Razor scooters. Fit and fresh faced adults in Tevas and Birkenstocks walk dogs, and still active older couples in Brooks Brothers hold hands while taking an evening stroll. It's the kind of town that takes the Fourth of July very seriously. Year round every house has the same 4 x 6 foot American flag fixed at the same 45 degree angle from a post of the white painted porches that wrap each facade, so as to clear up any confusion with one’s neighbor. “Oh, you’re American? I’m American too! What are the chances?” But around the Fourth somehow more American flags appear. They break out those pleated half-circle numbers with the concentric red, white, and blue ring with the star in the middle, and drape them over their porch railings. Little old ladies plant entire fields of miniature flags in public green spaces, in memory of fallen soldiers. (When exactly did the 4th of July merge with Memorial Day? Let there be no question, Lititz, Pennsylvania loves the troops. In Lititz the 4th alone cannot contain the fireworks, but anytime for about a week before and after you can expect to hear a random boom and see a starburst of red white or blue sparks in the sky.

Unlike Spring Grove, Lititz is thriving, bolstered by a constellation of steady companies offering both good paying blue collar work as well as more tech driven white collar jobs. There is a Rolex factory here. Lititz is what I assume Trump supporters envision when they pray Make America Great Again. Surprisingly, despite the overt patriotism and trappings of Americana, Lititz is not Trump Country. The cute coffee shops and overpriced bistros are populated by salt and pepper haired businessmen pissed that Trump’s steel tariffs are cutting into the bottom line, as well as woke college kids home for summer break shedding genuine tears over the separation of immigrant families at the border. Turns out a lot of white folks despise Trump as much if not more than us various minorities.

Despite the friendly faces and preponderance of liberal allies, my skin still crawls in this still uber-white small town. I am usually the only brown person in sight and while the eyes are kind I do feel all eyes on me wherever I go. I imagine walking into a dark divey bar in depressed Spring Grove and the proverbial record screeches and some grisled bartender asks acerbically, “What are you doing here!?” In Lititz the look on peoples’ faces asks the same “What are you doing here?” without the coldness, but rather with concern or surprise, as if to ask “Are you lost?” “How did you stumble upon our white oasis?” I come to Lititz regularly for work as a subcontractor for one of the big companies fueling the prosperity of Lititz, a company called Tait Towers. Most people will never hear about Tait Towers but they are ubiquitous. If you have gone to a big arena concert in the last 30 years you have seen their work, as they are the foremost supplier of decking and stage equipment for rock and pop concert tours. Anything sleek and shiny and automated that adorned the stage of that last concert you attended was probably Tait.  I get called in when they are working on something a little weirder, handmade, idiosyncratic. Over the years assisting Tait’s in-house Scenic Department, we have built a gold vinyl wrapped tiger and lion for Katy Perry, sculpted a 30 foot jungle Tree for Britney Spears, and created an ice crystal themed stage for Lady Gaga. Turns out the ladies of pop like hand made props to counteract their synthesized sound, for which me and my bank account are grateful. It's not the most avantgarde work, but the pay is decent. They put me up in hotel while I am there. For a while I had Hilton Diamond Status after a particularly long five month stay designing and building an inflatable tree for Cirque du Soleil’s Avatar themed show, Toruk. Strangely, I get asked to make a lot of trees.

This past Saturday I was leaving the local laundromat. My hotel has a washer and dryer but I still jump at any opportunity show my black face in town and mix it up with the townspeople. However awkward, I am a glutton for punishment. As I was turning the corner out of the laundromat parking lot I almost shocked myself into an accident as I witnessed a Chinese family on their porch within a row of houses. Where had these people been during those homogeneous 4th of July celebrations or during those awkward evenings I spent at the bar of the Bull’s Head, a local tavern? I suspected that there was a whole unseen community of minorities in Lititz. I remembered the handful of other black and brown people that worked at Tait. Why had I not seen this more diverse crowd during my daily coffee runs to the local bakery, Dosie Dough, or out walking their dogs or playing with their children in the evening? It seemed that the other people of color went to work, did their job, and immediately jetted home as soon as the day was done. Also, a lot of them probably chose to forego small town living in favor of the more urban Lancaster, Pennsylvania about seven miles south of Lititz.

After a few weeks in Lititz, I too found myself retreating to my hotel room after the work day. Should I go out for dinner for a little more ambiance or grab a drink at the bar with its potential for conversation. The pessimistic belief that I would be the only black person and the sole vessel to absorb the awkward stares proved exhausting. I would instead microwave an Amy’s Mexican casserole bowl for dinner and catch up on the last season of The Americans. At some point myself and the other people of color of Lititz made an unspoken pact with the white people of this sleepy town that we would do our jobs and go home immediately in order to perpetuate the belief that this was one of those ideal small towns, the kind that could be voted Best Small Town in America. When I imagine the best small town in America sadly I do not see a Chinese family, black welders, or even myself.

After years of coming to work with Tait I can confidently say that I hate classic rock. Tait is all about classic rock. The founder, Michael Tait, an Australian expat, got his start building stages for the band Yes in the 60’s. As an independent artist, my short stints with Tait represent my only times working in a real workplace with set hours. For years the shop was haunted by an omnipresent Muzak system that played classic rock incessantly. Everyday at around 4pm the Eagles’ “Hotel California”, a song written by Satan himself, would torment us. Working 10 to 12 to 14 hour days to meet a deadline, 4 o’ clock was our witching hour; too late in the day to bring any new energy or insights to the project, much too early to begin cleaning up for the day. The lyrics, “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave” taunted me, less because of their spot on description of my current predicament but more because they’re just stupid. Hearing the same “classic” songs day after day I realized the utter mediocrity of classic rock as whole. Just competently melodic enough to be easy to listen to, unlike say punk or metal (both far superior). Lyrically the stories ranged from completely meaningless, to embarrassingly infantile, to undeniably problematic. Somehow we decided that this was the American music, over jazz, blues, funk, and r&b. Classic rock will be playing on the space shuttle we board after we successfully destroy earth and it will be playing on whatever outpost we establish on the faraway planet we colonize.

Currently, I am working on a set of nine sculptures of Elton John that will array the proscenium arch above the stage for his upcoming tour. Overall, I enjoy this work. At least it is not another tree. And as far as pop music goes I dig Elton John’s music more than some of the other pop stars for whom I have made art. However, at the end of a long day sculpting his strange bulbous nose and thin lips for the seventh, eighth or ninth time I begin to sour a bit on Sir Elton. Elton John is 73 years old (probably older since, like most performers, I assume he gave a younger age when he started out) and we are building a stage for him for a projected three year tour that will net him millions of dollars. How many black artists or other musicians of color are still relevant and can sell out arenas into their 60’s and 70’s? Maybe Stevie Wonder? I can easily name 20 white (male) musicians. We already mentioned Elton John; how about Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, Sting, Ozzy Osbourne, Jimmy Buffett? I can keep going. Were these giants of rock undeniably better than their female contemporaries or artists of color working at the same time so as to secure an undying career into infinity?

I read in an article years ago detailing some of the financial troubles of T-Boz and Chilli of TLC, that they did not have much money coming in outside of the $1200 royalty check they received monthly. TLC was a group notoriously mistreated and shortchanged by their management and record labels yet they still had $1200 a month in royalties arriving like clockwork. I can barely begin to fathom what a group like the Rolling Stones receives in regular royalties. At any moment a Rolling Stones song plays somewhere on this blue planet. I hypothesize that the proliferation of classic rock around the world may be the biggest form of white welfare. According to the website, Inside Philanthropy, Jimmy Buffett is worth $550 million. He has one terrible song that he has somehow parlayed into a fortune! He is then free to spread that money among various causes or toward organizations like the NRA. Or take rock and roll’s running joke that the Rolling Stones, despite their hard living are somehow, immortal. While humorous and perplexing we all know the reason for these artist’s longevity. Being wanted, having work to do, being asked to perform, and the monetary and emotional support they afford sustains one’s life. I cannot help but feel that the melancholy that we collectively share when a giant of black music dies – Prince a few years back and Aretha Franklin most recently – stems from the understanding that despite their great fame and success their talent deserved more. They deserved Rolling Stones level treatment. Is there a better rock and roll song that Franklin’s “Respect” or “Chain of Fools?” I should have been in Lititz making nine life-size sculptures of Aretha Franklin and not Elton John.

The last time I arrived at Tait to work on a project I noticed the absence of the Muzak system. Every department now controlled their own music. Sometimes someone plays from their Spotify or Apple Music or we just put on the radio. Much to my chagrin and confusion, somehow the Freddy Kruger of classic rock continues to haunt me even with my mostly young coworkers choosing the music. Someone will mindlessly put on the “Beatles Radio” on Pandora, or WXPN, a Philly radio station, will have a “Throwback Thursday” traversing the entire discography of the Rolling Stones. One day during WXPN’s regular offerings (usually a mix of new rock with a few eclectic curve balls thrown every now and then) Childish Gambino AKA Donald Glover’s “This is America” came on (I too am surprised by the ubiquity of this song as I viewed it less as something to casually listen to and more as the multi-level artwork that I was initially presented with through its graphic video. But alas, the song bumps). Almost instinctively, without prompt, fanfare, or commotion one of my coworkers changed the channel. After hours of absorbing banal rock something mysterious sparked a station change. I tried to put this incident out of my mind. Soon after someone put on an Itunes 80’s playlist. Somehow 80’s music has come to mean “White 80’s”; Culture Club, Billy Idol, and all that other Breakfast Club, Top Gun, Say Anything music, completely omitting black acts, save titans like Michael Jackson and Prince. Surprisingly, a Janet Jackson song slipped onto this mostly vanilla playlist, but almost as soon as I started bouncing my shoulders and popping my neck along with Jackson’s “Pleasure Principle” someone calmly put down their tools, walked to the computer and skipped to the next song!

I work with genuinely good people. The same liberal minded white people that I would overhear furiously denouncing Trump in the coffee shop. But there was something unconsciously disturbing about a black voice coming out of the office speakers, and conversely something calming and reassuring about A-Ha’s “Take On Me,” which restored the stasis after Janet’s interruption. Was the promulgation of classic rock and other culturally white genres part of some conspiracy to entrench whiteness as the default and everything else an aberration? The truth was probably less insidious and more banal, but no less effective. Sometimes I’ll muster the courage to take over DJ duties and I will attempt to put on a more colorful station or playlist, but even I find myself squirming with embarrassment if a particular black song plays. I am conscious that, unlike those classic rock songs that we all know to the point of no longer hearing them, every word of an unfamiliar song from an unfamiliar voice conspicuously grabs the attention and appears in bold text before ones eyes, complete with a bouncing ball keeping place. This can become awkward when, say, Adina Howard’s “Freak Like Me” comes on during a 90’s Jams Playlist. I want a freak in the morning/ A freak in the evening, just like me/ I need a roughneck nigga/ That can satisfy me. Why should a song that boldly expresses black female sexuality be awkward for me? I listen to plenty of songs all day that foreground white male sexuality: AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” or Rod Stewart’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.” Or why should a rap song with explicit lyrics put the room in a frenzy? Eric Clapton literally has a song called, “Cocaine.”

White supremacy resides not only within the purview of avowed white supremacists; that resident of Spring Grove or Dover with truck nuts hanging off his gun metal grey Ford Raptor with the giant confederate flag waving. We are all complicit. The MAGA white supremacist is not the only one lying to themselves about America’s past. The liberal resident of Lititz is as well. So am I. Somewhere we all believed the wonderfully illustrative mid-century American propaganda that America was a white family behind a white picket fence and that everyone else is just borrowing space, when in reality people from all ethnic backgrounds have shared this country since day one. And to be more factual there was a time on this land mass before white people; before genocide, theft, and slavery. Us people of color need to combat this as well. We may be mathematical minorities, but we are not new here. We are not the cousin crashing on the couch, lying awake and hungry, afraid to go to the kitchen and make food, so as not to disturb the owners of the house. We need to not be ashamed of our music, our existence. We need to show up and be seen; at those corny 4th of July celebrations and especially at the voting booth, reminding all onlookers that we are just as American. Only then might we all imagine a more diverse picture when we think of the Best Small Town in America, and only then might I be freed from the hell of “Hotel California” playing on my radio into eternity.

[c4nindia-blog]

Shantanu Patel, a pianist and former student of A. R. Rahman, Dr Adam Grieg and Prof Fali Pavri, shares his life story

Shantanu Patel is an aspiring pianist, based in Ahmedabad. The music came into his life when he was just 7-year-old. First, he learned Harmonium in Hindustani Classical Music. At the age of 17, he was introduced to Piano and then, there was no looking back. Like any other teenager, Shantanu had a day when he was supposed to make a choice; in which direction he wanted his life to head. He had the options: ISRO or Music. And like we can anticipate here, he decided to pursue his career in music.

Shantanu is the former student of the Oscar Winning Music Composer, Dr A. R. Rahman and Dr Adam Grieg. After finishing his school, Shantanu had joined KM College of Music and Technology in Chennai, founded by Dr A. R. Rahman. He completed his 3 years of BA (Hons) Music specializing in Piano performance under his Guru, Dr Adam Grieg.

This musician’s journey is no ordinary. Let’s hear it from him:

Tell us something about yourself and earlier life:

I am Shantanu Patel and I am a professional concert pianist and a conductor. Well, talking about earlier life, I was a science student and a “wanna-be” astronomer. Being raised in Ahmedabad, of course, I have all the traits of an Ahmedabadi and am the biggest foodie!

What is Music to you?

Music to me is, of course, my bread and butter, my profession, my passion! But more than that, it is a kind of meditation, worship and food for my soul.

How did you start your journey with music?

Well, to begin with, I was forced into this field by my mother. I basically started off with Indian Classical music, learning harmonium under a private tutor, and gradually shifting to Western Classical Music theory and keyboards. I was still forced (hahaha!). Well, to be honest, I was forced until my 10th standard.

Tell us something about your earlier training:

My earlier training was quite weak. I am opening up here because right now it’s of utmost importance to get proper basic training in music such as proper musicianship, sight reading, and ear training along with performing and theory of course. During my time it was just believed that practical knowledge is everything and hence even now, I sometimes face a bit of difficulty in things which do not involve playing/theory but just listening and scanning music through ears or just by looking at the score. Hence it is very important to have training in all aspects of music and not just playing your instrument.

Do you remember the day when you realized that music is the ultimate goal?

Yes, it was right after 12th standard when I had to choose between opting for ISRO and Music career. Though my parents never forced me to choose one or the other, it was my elder brother’s role that kind of persuaded my parents to let me go for a music career. It was decided right after my boards that I will be opting for what I love and what I consider as food for my soul.

Tell us something about being the student of the legend, Mr A. R. Rahman:

It is always a moment of pride to recall studying at KM College of Music and Technology. Those unplanned and surprise visits from Dr Rahman, those inside talks about industry, music business, etc, impromptu Biryani sessions with him made my experience quite enjoyable. But more than that, I finally found my “Guru” there. Dr Adam Grieg from Scotland who not only taught me how to play the piano but also taught the tiniest details in the music, how music is expressed, perceived, thought and passed on. He changed me completely as a human being also. Getting him as my teacher was the best thing KM and my life offered.

Do you remember your first interaction with Mr Rahman?

Of course, that magical moment! Well, the first interaction wasn’t a long one as he appeared out of nowhere in our college and I was printing my assignments. But after few days, we were joined by him during our award ceremony for the first year and it was the best feeling to receive “The Best Performer of the Year” award from his hands which luckily continued for all the 3 years of my study there.

Please share your most memorable experience with your Guru, Mr Rahman:

Well, I do consider him as my teacher, but guru would be Dr Adam Grieg. The best experience with Dr Rahman was receiving awards for all 3 years from his hands and with my guru, Dr Grieg, was when he gave the closing speech at my graduation for me. Adam said, “I can remember this guy, belting and punching the piano as hard as he can without any musical note coming off, but in these 3 years, he has put me in a dilemma of what to teach him more. I guess I have given whatever I can and now it can be the other way around where he teaches me something. Well, every teacher learns from his students but teaching Shantanu shaped me here in India.”

Tell us something about your favourite instrument:

Of course, Piano! Piano! Piano!

Do you remember the first time you performed on the stage? How was it?

Yes, I started learning piano quite late at the age of 17, though I used to play keyboard and harmonium. My first appearance on stage was on harmonium at the age of 4 for a charity concert at Blind Association of Ahmedabad. As a pianist, I played my first concert in front of Dr Rahman at KM annual day 2011.

Tell us about your achievements:

Haha! I kind of feel shy or feel “not to boast” about my achievements. But here it goes! The true journey began at KM and the first achievement was to actually be able to play the piano at an international standard followed by best performer’s awards for all 3 years from the Hands of Dr Rahman. I went on to pursue my BA Music final year in London, and found out to be the best pianist in my batch and was offered to perform my debut concert with The London Firebird Symphony Orchestra, for which I performed Mozart’s Concerto in D minor with my own cadenzas (incorporating Indian classical music as well). This didn’t stop, I went on to audition myself for Masters degree in music at world’s top 4th Music Conservatoire i.e the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Of course, didn’t think I would get through but to my surprise, I did and that too with a scholarship which was more than anything for me. Again found my second guru; this time, an Indian in Scotland. He was Professor Fali Pavri who, like Adam, changed me completely. I got many performing opportunities in the UK and participated in many piano festivals which are limited to few pianists only. And now, I am touring this country, performing throughout, and giving master classes. This is more than an achievement for me. Still, many things await. In a couple of years, I will be back at RCS for my PhD in performance.

Tell us something about yourself as a teacher: Your journey from a student to a teacher:

This is a very enjoyable job, with great responsibility, of course. As the movie, Spiderman says, ‘With great power (knowledge) comes a great responsibility’, I strive to be a teacher like Dr Adam Grieg; understanding each student’s mindset, strength, weakness and tackling it according to individuals. I also strive to teach whatever I missed learning in my basic training. Hence, it’s a nice balance between the mandatory things as well as student’s interest. It’s a job of great difficulty as well as you have to yield future generations of musicians in the most correct and fruitful appropriate way.

Which part do you enjoy the most: learning music or teaching one?

I enjoy both equally. First of all, musicians are learners for their whole lives. As Horowitz (legendary classical pianist) said, ‘I love to be a musician as I get to be a student for a lifetime.’ He said this at his last concert at the age of 89. So yes, teaching also teaches me, so perhaps I’ll say I may enjoy learning more.

An artist needs to be inspired and motivated. Which is the element in your life that keeps you going? What inspires you the most?

First of all, competing with me helps me in a healthy way. That keeps me going, no matter how well I did in the past concert, I always raise my bar in the next. Also, watching stories of other pianists and musicians help. Especially my own teacher Fali Pavri, Norman Beedie (conducting teacher) and one of my seniors, Petrica Ciobanu (International Concert Pianist). Also, listening to music helps, connecting with the inner emotion and connecting that with your own incidents in life.

Tell us about the challenges you have faced to reach where you are today: what is your strength?

There were a lot of challenges, rectifying things, learnt here in Ahmedabad, learning basics when your fellow students are learning advanced stuff at your level itself. When I went to Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, though I was in masters, I was rectifying my very basics which put me off sometimes. But again, knowing that will kick your level to a higher standard kept me going. In KM as well, starting piano at the age of 17 is considered very late; usually, people at my level at that time would start playing the piano at the age of 4-7. And that was the biggest challenge; to develop technical side, to gain that many years of experience, etc, was not an easy task. I literally had and still have to practice 6-8 hours a day depending on my timetable. So being a musician is not an easy task. It requires the same, in fact, more amount of work than engineering, or any other field.

How do you see the impact of music, particularly in India, in today’s time? Is there anything you would like to change or improve in today’s music?

Yes, a lot! A huge change is needed especially in Gujarat and further North. Classical forms are dying. Bollywood music is ruling currently. It’s good, no doubt, but just sticking to Arijit Singh and Pritam and not exploring other genres like Jazz, Classical (Indian and Western) electronic music, metal, rock, or any form of instrumental music is sad. Also teaching is of utmost importance. I have seen people in Ahmedabad opening up their academies just after completing, say, 5-6 grades of music examination, which in turn proves bad for their students. Grades are like school, you don’t start teaching engineering or medical science right after the school and thus the same thing goes with music. This needs to be changed, people need to know the correct teaching methods. All the teachers need to update themselves regularly and see what the standards they are competing with. Yes, for the western music, it was a start by trial and error method as western classical is relatively new, but now in Gujarat and mostly all over India, this has become a sort of business, playing with people’s future.

The advice you would like to convey to the next generation of the learners:

Find a good teacher.

Have patience, practice regularly, boredom is bound to come get over it, manage your time.

Explore all forms of genres of art. Being a musician I love to explore sculpture, paintings, acting and I find inspiration from that as well.

Never underestimate yourself or let anyone do that. Always see the positive side. And learn to tackle the negative as well but in a positive way.

Don’t get satisfied with anything (knowledge wise). There should always be a thirst for learning.

Tell us about your future plans and upcoming concerts:

Well, currently I am performing across the country, raising and aiding the standards of live western classical music and providing master classes at different schools of music. After a couple of years, I wish to go back to Scotland for my PhD in performance. I also conduct choirs and small ensembles here.

There are a couple of upcoming concerts; one in Bangalore (21st April at Bangalore School of Music) with two singers: Jonas Olsson (Baritone) and Ankna Arockiam (Mezzo Soprano). Ankna will also join me in Ahmedabad concert which is on 23rd April (Monday) at Ouroboros theatre hub at 8 pm sharp. We will be performing Operatic works and musical works with some contemporary music. Ankna is also providing a vocal master-class on the 22nd evening at 5:30 pm (venue to be confirmed- see my facebook posts for that). Ankna was my colleague studying at the same college in Scotland and now, she is doing her PhD in Music there. Later this year I will also be participating in international piano competitions in Thailand and New Zealand and also the Con Brio national piano competition in Mumbai.

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