Thursday, July 9, 2015
Bob Rupani's participation in a German Classic Car Rallye
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Will this nostalgic experience happen again this year?
November last year was very special in my life. I was going back to my Alma Mater after 45 years of passing out. It was really a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me. And, boy, was I in for a shock!
Let me start at the very beginning. Nineteen fifty three...or was it fifty four? Was I three years old or four? At sixty three years of age, some patches of memory gets obliterated, but what I do remember very distinctly is the kindergarten class, a matronly 'Aunty' holding my small hands in her pudgy paw and guiding me to write a, b, c and so on, on slate! That was the beginning of my tryst with St. Michael's Anglo-Indian Boys High School at Cannanore in Kerala. A student life that shaped my character, my personality, my future.
As I grew up and moved from KG to first and on to other standards, the predominantly Anglo-Indian populated school, with Anglo-Indian teachers and a variety of Jesuit priests, including Fr. Mayer, an American, had a lasting impression on me, my psyche, my education and attitude towards life. Not forgetting the fact that the old school, its boarding and vast playgrounds were located in a quaint cantonment called Burnacherry, or, Burnshire, as many of us 'anglicised' kids would refer it as.
English was not just the language we had to speak, it was also a way of life; even the meals had to be eaten with fork and spoon. Of, course, in language class - Hindi and Malayalam, we were encouraged to converse in those languages so that the nuances could be picked up.
As mentioned earlier, there was a strong Anglo-Indian presence in the school and many of my friends were from that community which not only excelled in education, but also in sports and games like hockey, for instance. Of course, the school excelled in cricket and football, too with many of the school's students playing at state, national and even international levels.
Forty-five years later, when about 120 of us converged on the school campus, it was at the new school premises, where I had also studied for roughly half of my schooling years. But, what shocked me was the non-existence of the entire old school and boarding campus which was now partly occupied by residential units and partly by overgrown vegetation. The only consolation was the existence of some ruins of the old school building and the famous music room where Mr. Crasta used to fiddle his way through our cacophonies.
Walking though the old 'Burnshire' I found that our neighbouring haunt, St. Teresa's Convent was flanked by a mammoth new church and old ramshackle buildings, many of them devoid of the original Anglo-Indian families and now owned by other communities.
Potholed streets and old houses in ruins, indifferently maintained by a cantonment active with army personnel, was all that remained of my good ole Burnshire.
As the day wore on, the 120 of us Old Boys of SMS from batches ranging from 1950s to 1980s socialised, caught up with old stories, brought up-to-date with each person's life and promised to keep in touch in the future.
While there was an eclectic mix of boys from several communities and religions, SMS was what it was, due to the strong presence of Anglo-Indian boys. These are some of the old boys, the ones that gave the 'Anglo-Indian' in the school's name, a true meaning, who made it to the meet in November 2103: Marie Alphonse Merandez, Pinto Aloysius, Condrad D'sylva, Douglas Simcock, Kenneth Pinto, Lester Noranho, Nelson D'couto, Nobert Mendonza, Norman Noranho, Norman Young, Robert Pink, Rodney Castelino, Rogers D'souza and Ronald Rozario and many, many more who I cannot recall.
Whatever be the case, it is my firm belief that it is the school years that lays a strong foundation for a person and most friendships built during those years last longer than the ones developed in universities.
Let me start at the very beginning. Nineteen fifty three...or was it fifty four? Was I three years old or four? At sixty three years of age, some patches of memory gets obliterated, but what I do remember very distinctly is the kindergarten class, a matronly 'Aunty' holding my small hands in her pudgy paw and guiding me to write a, b, c and so on, on slate! That was the beginning of my tryst with St. Michael's Anglo-Indian Boys High School at Cannanore in Kerala. A student life that shaped my character, my personality, my future.
As I grew up and moved from KG to first and on to other standards, the predominantly Anglo-Indian populated school, with Anglo-Indian teachers and a variety of Jesuit priests, including Fr. Mayer, an American, had a lasting impression on me, my psyche, my education and attitude towards life. Not forgetting the fact that the old school, its boarding and vast playgrounds were located in a quaint cantonment called Burnacherry, or, Burnshire, as many of us 'anglicised' kids would refer it as.
English was not just the language we had to speak, it was also a way of life; even the meals had to be eaten with fork and spoon. Of, course, in language class - Hindi and Malayalam, we were encouraged to converse in those languages so that the nuances could be picked up.
As mentioned earlier, there was a strong Anglo-Indian presence in the school and many of my friends were from that community which not only excelled in education, but also in sports and games like hockey, for instance. Of course, the school excelled in cricket and football, too with many of the school's students playing at state, national and even international levels.
Forty-five years later, when about 120 of us converged on the school campus, it was at the new school premises, where I had also studied for roughly half of my schooling years. But, what shocked me was the non-existence of the entire old school and boarding campus which was now partly occupied by residential units and partly by overgrown vegetation. The only consolation was the existence of some ruins of the old school building and the famous music room where Mr. Crasta used to fiddle his way through our cacophonies.
Walking though the old 'Burnshire' I found that our neighbouring haunt, St. Teresa's Convent was flanked by a mammoth new church and old ramshackle buildings, many of them devoid of the original Anglo-Indian families and now owned by other communities.
Potholed streets and old houses in ruins, indifferently maintained by a cantonment active with army personnel, was all that remained of my good ole Burnshire.
As the day wore on, the 120 of us Old Boys of SMS from batches ranging from 1950s to 1980s socialised, caught up with old stories, brought up-to-date with each person's life and promised to keep in touch in the future.
While there was an eclectic mix of boys from several communities and religions, SMS was what it was, due to the strong presence of Anglo-Indian boys. These are some of the old boys, the ones that gave the 'Anglo-Indian' in the school's name, a true meaning, who made it to the meet in November 2103: Marie Alphonse Merandez, Pinto Aloysius, Condrad D'sylva, Douglas Simcock, Kenneth Pinto, Lester Noranho, Nelson D'couto, Nobert Mendonza, Norman Noranho, Norman Young, Robert Pink, Rodney Castelino, Rogers D'souza and Ronald Rozario and many, many more who I cannot recall.
Whatever be the case, it is my firm belief that it is the school years that lays a strong foundation for a person and most friendships built during those years last longer than the ones developed in universities.
Gently blows the breeze on Windham Hill
About ten years ago I had picked up a CD, simply titled TOUCH. This was released on the Windham Hill label, released in India by BMG Crescendo in 2001. Then, after listening to the tracks for a couple of times, the CD was relegated to my rack as part of my growing collection of music, a result of having worked in the music industry for over 16 years.
Just the other day, I was dusting through my old collection of music, in an attempt to segregate them according to genres, I again chanced upon the Touch CD and slipped it into the player's tray. What resulted was 56 minutes and 49 seconds of sheer bliss. Here is why:
Windham Hill began as a label creating a renaissance of music for the guitar. In celebration of 25 years of the guitar, Windham Hill compiled a collection of exceptional guitar recordings ever since the label was formed. Renowned music producer Dawn Atkinson was assigned the job of selecting the songs to be put on the album. And, Will Ackerman, accomplished guitarist and founder of Windham Hill Records, was requested to provide the liner notes.
Founded in 1976, Windham Hill became a pioneer in establishing a new genre of music whose artists combine classical, folk and jazz backgrounds to create a new sound.The label has always stayed a small and dedicated one and in the 25 years leading to the release of Touch, it had grown in different directions while all the time adhering to the tradition of interesting, ahead-of-the-time, quality releases for which it is known.
Will Ackerman writes in his liner notes:
Windham Hill Records began without the label name attached to it when I recorded a simple collection of guitar solos in 1975 called In Search Of The Turtle's Navel. I followed that with my second LP, It Takes A Year, in 1977. The entire adventure was saved from being a vanity effort when I convinced my cousin Alex de Grassi to record Turning: Turning Back. We then added my Childhood and Memory and Alex's Slow Circle in 1979. Thus began a great journey which includes a wide range of releases by pianist George Winston.
Touch features two tracks by Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries and Rikki's Shuffle, two tracks by Will Ackerman - The Impending Death Of The Virgin Spirit and Shella's Pictures, two tracks by Alex Grassi - Western and Turning: Turning Back and Russ Freeman's Larry's World, Snuffy Walden's Who Lives Up There, Steve Erquiaga's Pavane, Sean Harkness's Coming Home, David Cullen's On The Way and Doyle Dykes' Nothing's Too Good.
Says Ackerman about some of the tracks, in his liner notes:
"Engineer Steven Miller and I were in a mobile truck with earphones on when Michael Hedges unleashed Aerial Boundaries and, without exaggeration, the world has never been quite the same since.
The liner notes of Turning: Turning Back and Slow Circle describe me as the producer of those recordings. I have never done less in my life. Alex Grassi always knew what he wanted, how he wanted to get there and precisely what he needed to exact from himself to accomplish it.
While best known for his work in jazz, Russ Freeman began in acoustic finger-style guitar. Larry's World is a wonderfully upbeat piece incorporating a lot of polished technique in a short space of time.
What makes Steve Erquiaga so remarkable is that his arrangements and performances so effectively blend his deep respect for that repertoire with the ability to create a new, personal and contemporary form. In the Pavane by Faure, which was written in 1886, Steve brings the piece wonderfully alive into the 21st century.
Sean Harkness thrives in every musical genre and ultimately it seems as if he, to put it simply, just loves music. Coming Home is a piece Sean wrote while visiting with his family and features him on both nylon and steel String guitars.
A recording artist in his own right, David Cullen has released a considerable catalogue of recordings, both solo and ensemble. On The Way, he describes as an attempt to capture the lyricism of Ackerman in combination with the technical prowess of Ralph Tower. It is a reminder, too, that the trip should be about the journey, not just the destination.
What struck me then (referring to a concert) still strikes me now: there are plenty of technically precise guitar players in the world, but to find someone who possesses that ability and combines it with musical expression from the heart is a rare and wonderful thing indeed. Doyle Dykes is very much that combination."
Touch will help you renew your enthusiasm for the great music that has come to be known throughout the world, a genre that Windham Hill Records has endeavoured to bring to the world of music.
Just the other day, I was dusting through my old collection of music, in an attempt to segregate them according to genres, I again chanced upon the Touch CD and slipped it into the player's tray. What resulted was 56 minutes and 49 seconds of sheer bliss. Here is why:
Windham Hill began as a label creating a renaissance of music for the guitar. In celebration of 25 years of the guitar, Windham Hill compiled a collection of exceptional guitar recordings ever since the label was formed. Renowned music producer Dawn Atkinson was assigned the job of selecting the songs to be put on the album. And, Will Ackerman, accomplished guitarist and founder of Windham Hill Records, was requested to provide the liner notes.
Founded in 1976, Windham Hill became a pioneer in establishing a new genre of music whose artists combine classical, folk and jazz backgrounds to create a new sound.The label has always stayed a small and dedicated one and in the 25 years leading to the release of Touch, it had grown in different directions while all the time adhering to the tradition of interesting, ahead-of-the-time, quality releases for which it is known.
Will Ackerman writes in his liner notes:
Windham Hill Records began without the label name attached to it when I recorded a simple collection of guitar solos in 1975 called In Search Of The Turtle's Navel. I followed that with my second LP, It Takes A Year, in 1977. The entire adventure was saved from being a vanity effort when I convinced my cousin Alex de Grassi to record Turning: Turning Back. We then added my Childhood and Memory and Alex's Slow Circle in 1979. Thus began a great journey which includes a wide range of releases by pianist George Winston.
Touch features two tracks by Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries and Rikki's Shuffle, two tracks by Will Ackerman - The Impending Death Of The Virgin Spirit and Shella's Pictures, two tracks by Alex Grassi - Western and Turning: Turning Back and Russ Freeman's Larry's World, Snuffy Walden's Who Lives Up There, Steve Erquiaga's Pavane, Sean Harkness's Coming Home, David Cullen's On The Way and Doyle Dykes' Nothing's Too Good.
Says Ackerman about some of the tracks, in his liner notes:
"Engineer Steven Miller and I were in a mobile truck with earphones on when Michael Hedges unleashed Aerial Boundaries and, without exaggeration, the world has never been quite the same since.
The liner notes of Turning: Turning Back and Slow Circle describe me as the producer of those recordings. I have never done less in my life. Alex Grassi always knew what he wanted, how he wanted to get there and precisely what he needed to exact from himself to accomplish it.
While best known for his work in jazz, Russ Freeman began in acoustic finger-style guitar. Larry's World is a wonderfully upbeat piece incorporating a lot of polished technique in a short space of time.
What makes Steve Erquiaga so remarkable is that his arrangements and performances so effectively blend his deep respect for that repertoire with the ability to create a new, personal and contemporary form. In the Pavane by Faure, which was written in 1886, Steve brings the piece wonderfully alive into the 21st century.
Sean Harkness thrives in every musical genre and ultimately it seems as if he, to put it simply, just loves music. Coming Home is a piece Sean wrote while visiting with his family and features him on both nylon and steel String guitars.
A recording artist in his own right, David Cullen has released a considerable catalogue of recordings, both solo and ensemble. On The Way, he describes as an attempt to capture the lyricism of Ackerman in combination with the technical prowess of Ralph Tower. It is a reminder, too, that the trip should be about the journey, not just the destination.
What struck me then (referring to a concert) still strikes me now: there are plenty of technically precise guitar players in the world, but to find someone who possesses that ability and combines it with musical expression from the heart is a rare and wonderful thing indeed. Doyle Dykes is very much that combination."
Touch will help you renew your enthusiasm for the great music that has come to be known throughout the world, a genre that Windham Hill Records has endeavoured to bring to the world of music.
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