Travel Day 871 – Kolkata, INDIA
It was hard to believe that today was already our last day of the usual Tabla routine, but it also gave room for something else to come instead…
Crowded Esplanade in Kolkata, India
Actually, as we were told in our class, from now on we would be able to join the rehearsal classes for the Tabalaphilia concert which were held daily from 10am to 5pm in the Kalighat area. We had obviously no real clue what to expect from a Tablaphilia rehearsal, but it sounded interesting and we were happy to have a new plan for the next couple of days…
So our last class gave us not only the chance to listen to a performer and get some last corrections of our practice, but we were also given new things to work on. So far our Tabla routine had been quite intense and we were quite interested in seeing how everything would play out from now on since we would have a full day of program and needed to travel to the south of Kolkata every single day…
But for now, our main concern was something else. At the end of the class, we received the task of organizing tags and sticky labels for all the Tabla players who would participate in Tablaphilia. Since we needed the labels the next morning and since we were scheduled to visit a concert this evening, we were only left with the afternoon to find all the required items…
Instead of our usual Tabla practice in the afternoon, we dived into what seemed to be like the amazing race. Finding sticky labels, tags, strings, a marker, having dinner and making it to the concert location on time became out big challenge of the day. Actually the main challenge were the sticky labels which were nowhere to be found in our area and not even downtown in the crowded Esplanade area…
Vocal and Tabla Concert in Kolkata, India
We finally found what we needed at the vast New Market, but it took us a really long time to fight our way through the crowds, leave the touts behind and avoid other sketchy conversations by people who seemed drunk and aggressive. This whole area seemed not quite to be the best place for people who looked like tourists and especially now that Christmas was coming up, everything seemed completely overcrowded and out of control anyway…
But luckily we got everything and made it to the concert just in time to have a chai on the street before it started. The rest of the evening was simply amazing a perfect make up for the stress we had earlier. The two vocalists on stage and the two Tabla players, one of which being our teacher, made perfectly sure that this became an unforgettable evening… : )
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