Blog Post #6: Exposing the Hidden Crisis (Assignment #2)

Here is a portion of Assignment #2, which focuses in on a particular art project that matters to me greatly!

2.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in India, the third largest population affected with this illness. There is especially a high prevalence among impoverished female sex workers because they are unaware of safe sex and prevention of transmittance. Afraid of the stigma of being perceived as promiscuous, many Indian women do not wish to receive help if they are tested positive because they will be shunned from their parochial villages. Since India likes to keep a conservative façade, a disease caused by sex is appalling and demoralizing. Hearing these depressing details at a meeting for Association of India’s Development(AID) during my visit to University of Buffalo, New York, I was motivated to expose this hidden crisis. The only question was how could I help, especially since I did not attend this college. I needed to find a way to unite people for this noble cause by sending a message of humility and harmony that everyone could understand. It then came to me—the piano would be the perfect medium for communication because the language is universal. So, I decided to create a CD to speak on behalf of the subservient population in India who are afflicted with HIV/AIDS. Illuminating the universality of emotions including sorrow, happiness, and empathy, I wanted to create a united front in combating this disease by sending a message of diversity appreciation, compassion, and humility. I was able to accomplish this overarching theme of unity by selecting songs to create an emotional narrative, practicing and learning the songs through different approaches, and using the composers’ and my own stylistic elements such as tempo, tone and style to represent each emotion explicitly and distinctly, resulting in my piano charity CD—A Hidden Crisis: The HIV/AIDS Challenge in India, my biggest artistic achievement.

Because I had a very particular goal to create awareness and unity around this hidden crisis through my music, song selection was a very crucial part in completing this emotional narrative. To accomplish my vision, I consulted with my piano teacher and told her that I wanted to create a story with each song representing a universal emotion such as sorrow and happiness. I also wanted to incorporate different genres and periods of music into this CD to symbolize the diversity in the world. Hence, for thirty days straight, I went through thousands of new and old songs in order to choose the perfect amalgamation. After listening to the songs about twenty times each, I finally chose six songs that represented the project perfectly. The first four songs were from each period: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary; the last two songs were from the Bollywood genre. Choosing the perfect fusion of songs was a very important step in my process because these unique songs needed to come together in unity to create a cohesive story based on universal emotions, which ultimately served to help ameliorate the high numbers of people afflicted with the fatal illness.

After choosing the songs, the next most important part in bringing awareness to HIV/AIDS in India was learning and practicing them until each represented the universal emotion or experience that every person faces, despite social and ethnic barriers. Luckily, I already knew how to play the first three songs: “Sonata No. 6” by Giovanni Battista Pescetti, “Sonata” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and “Consolation No. 1” by Franz Liszt, so I approached them in a similar fashion. The last 3 songs—“Variations on a Slovakian Folksong” by Dmitri Kabalevsky “Kal Ho Na Ho” by A.R Rahman and “Kisna” by A.R Rahman—took a longer time to accomplish because I had to start at the beginning phase. The indicator that told me these songs were ready was when I memorized them and physically felt the emotion of each song. These universal emotions—sadness, happiness, consolation, appreciation of diversity, compassion, and humility—are experienced by everyone, forming a cohesive story on unity in order to bring people together for the cause.

Hence, in order to create a sense of unity among the people, these songs represented the entire theme of the piano CD: to unify the people by creating a universal message to which everyone can relate. We can relate to each other because of our analogous emotions and experiences. Appreciating our similarities, we could uncover the hidden crisis of HIV/AIDS in India and help diminish the skyrocketing numbers, which is the ultimate purpose of this CD. The piano was the perfect instrument in fighting this cause because it was language with no barriers. Each note of the piano is a letter; each stanza is a sentence; each phrase is a paragraph; each song is a story. This emotional narrative successfully united people to form a united front in battling with the hidden crisis.

Blog Post #5: The Magic of the Harmonium (Assignment #1)

Here are portions of my Assignment #1 essay. Basically, this describes a particular moment in my life that really shows my relationship to music.

The temple looked like a palace. Gold and maroon drapes. Cream marble pillars that stood on top of brownish-maroon granite floors. Beautiful oil paintings that covered the ceiling. A fourteen-foot dome at the center of the building. Customized woodcarvings from India. It was 10:55 P.M on August 13, 2009. The day of Janamshtami, the birth of Lord Krishna. I was sitting at the front of the newly built Krishna Valley Temple in Apple Valley, California, admiring how I helped in making this dream of the first Hindu temple in the High Desert become a reality. However, contrary to the royalty of the temple, my peasantry nervousness overtook my admiration for the temple as masses of people were flooding through the door, rushing in to secure a good spot for the show. The show I had to perform. I felt sick.

Picture of the Krishna Valley Temple:


It was black outside. The full luminous moon shined through the skyscrapers on the forty-eight foot ceiling of the temple. The temple hall glistened; everything was spotless. The granite floors were so clean that when I looked, I could see my own reflection. An unattractive face. The perspiration dripping down my face smeared my black eyeliner. My golden concealer became blotchy and conspicuous. The redness from my anxiety on my cheeks looked like a cheap and tacky blush. I was scared. I was insecure. I quickly looked away from this hideousness and continued to admire the beauty of the temple.

The prominence of the harmonium was reflected by its regal appearance. While I camouflaged with the rest of the surroundings, the harmonium, as always, made an appearance. I looked tacky in my gaudy gold and red Indian suit that weighed 10,000 pounds, but it looked elegant and sophisticated. The brilliant silver knobs looked like majestic jewelry. The luminous white paint dressing it stood out in the gold and maroon setting. The sparkly keys shined in the bright light. With the spotlight on it, the harmonium was the star of the show.


At each angle, microphones surrounded the harmonium and me, entrapping us in one set position. I was stuck. Even if I wanted to run away, I could not because the wiring would arrest me. Terrifyingly, I looked around the room and saw over three hundred people sitting down while more were swarming through the door.

The head priest approached me, saving me from my insanity. He said it was time. “Mentally take us to Mathura, India, [the actual birthplace of Krishna] tonight,” he told me. I looked at the clock and it was exactly 11:00 P.M. I took a deep breath. I had to begin the show.

Ever since I was five years old, I have been raised with a strong religious background. My parents put me in Hindu classes so I would not lose touch with the Indian culture and Hindu religion, despite being thousands of miles away from my motherland. However, at this age, I was too young to understand the importance of these classes.

I began to learn the piano when I was eight years old and a year later, my parents put me in harmonium and singing classes for Indian music. I felt an immediate connection to each of these forms of art, especially the harmonium. I found myself impatiently waiting for my classes and constantly practicing when I was not in class. Playing the harmonium and learning how to play the hymns that have been in my religion for all of eternity awakened my soul and gave me a profound connection to my culture and religion. Although I was born in America, playing this instrument finally gave me the identity as an Indian. It linked me to my culture and helped me understand my religion. When I played the harmonium and sang the Indian songs, I felt sacred. Calm. Satisfied. My whole body felt pure as if I was swimming in the holy waters of the Ganges. At that point I knew I had a special relationship with the harmonium, and music in general.

From ages ten to fifteen, I would play the harmonium and lead the singing every Sunday evening during our religious classes. Each Sunday, we would alternate going to homes of various Hindu families because we did not have a local temple. Extremely inconvenient for everyone! I was finally fed up with this when I was fifteen. I told my dad that I was sick of bringing my heavy instrument around from house to house. The harmonium deserved better treatment; it was too good for this. Unfortunately, he did not take me seriously. So, I proved to him that the Indians of the High Desert were ready for a temple. I built a donation box out of a shoebox and made tacky decorations all over with my glitter markers. Within three weeks, I collected three thousand dollars, which was enough for my dad to initiate the project. The temple was built three years later. Finally, not only would God have a permanent home, but my harmonium would too. The harmonium motivated me to do something special for my culture and religion. It was because of my relationship with the harmonium that I went through with this time-consuming and very difficult project. It always inspired me.

Now, sitting in the temple that I helped create, I had to just begin the show. Even if my stomach was in knots and my flesh was burning. Not to mention, my memory had completely blanked. However, when I placed my hands on the smooth white and black keys, I felt at ease. Everything came back to me. All of the five hundred plus people no longer mattered to me. It was just the harmonium and myself.

As I was starting to enter a new world by getting so involved in each note of the music, it occurred to me how melodious the hundreds of people sounded together in parallel with the harmonium. I have heard some of them sing individually and to say in the nicest way possible, it was not pleasing. However, they sounded beautiful now. When I looked around the room, most of the audience was in an out-of-this-world trance. Their eyes were closed. Their facial expressions were at peace.

Midnight was approaching—the climax of the celebration. My mind was dancing to the intensity of the music. The vibrations of the harmonium that resonated in each inch of the temple made my heart pound faster and faster. The fastness and power at which the harmonium was being played gave me goose bumps. The hall was thundering with the people clapping so loudly and in rhythm. The people began to sing louder and louder, but their voices never were overbearing to the harmonium. Even when I felt like I could not hear my own voice, I could still hear the harmonium. It was always primary.

I finally opened my eyes and started to become aware of my surroundings. The big hand on the clock struck midnight. Finally, the long awaited curtains opened. The people became so excited, impatiently pushing their way to the front to have the first look of the deities. I was lucky enough to be accompanied by the star of the show to have the front row, center seat.

Lord Krishna and Radha deities at the temple:

At 12:30 A.M, I closed the performance. The people paid their final obeisance to the Lord and rushed to the kitchen for the “prasad.” But, I sat around for five more minutes. I needed time to recover from the roller coaster of emotions that I experienced that night. After gathering my thoughts on the transcendence of the evening, I put the harmonium back in a safe place. Away from the hyper little children who thought of it as a toy. As I was doing this, I could not help but think how different tonight would have been without this delightful instrument. It held the hundreds of people together. It transformed the night into something out-of-the ordinary. Once again, the harmonium exceeded my expectations and inspired me even more. I looked at my hands that were all red and blistered from playing for so long, but I did not even feel the pain. I was way too captivated by the entirety of the night.

When the people came to me to congratulate me and thank me for the amazing night, I politely thanked them. However, I knew I would be cheating if I took all the credit. It was the harmonium that transformed the night. It always brought out the best in me. It made me happy. It made others happy. It inspired me to work hard for what I believed in. It linked me to my culture and religion. It has transformed my life. The harmonium is magical.

Blog Post #4: "Sensational"

The name of our group for our Writing 340 group project is “Pamplemousse” which means grapefruit in French. There is no significance why we came up with this name except for that it is a really interesting and fun word to say! I was working with Alexis Kaneshiro who is a fine arts major emphasis in design and Carlie Stracka who is a fine arts major with an emphasis in sculpture, while my major is Biology. Not only is my major polar opposite to theirs, but my areas of interest in art are also completely different. Both of their artwork consisted mostly of sculptures, where as my main art form is music—piano, harmonium, and Indian traditional dancing.

Coming up with an idea was a challenging task for us because our areas of art were completely different. Even if both Carlie’s and Alexis’s focus was in sculptures, both of their styles were very different. This was really interesting for me because I do not have much knowledge in scupltures so I always associated all sculptors together. However, I did not know how different each sculptor’s approach is. Alexis uses more soft materials like felt and and cloth, while Carlie uses more hard materials like metal. So, it was difficult to think of a project, since we definitely did not want to compromise anyone’s art forms.

When we all met up, we brainstormed a lot of different ideas. One included a sculpture that we all would work on together set in a nature scene, while my piano music plays in the background. However, we did not LOVE the idea so we still tried thinking of different ideas. Our main concern was that we wanted to do something fun which incorporated all of our styles.

Because we wanted to create a light-hearted and enjoyable project, I chose one of my piano songs, “Sonata” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to represent the theme for the project. This song is a very happy and jovial song, representing the carefree childhood days in my opinion. So, Alexis and Carlie each used this song as inspiration in representing happiness and their childhood to create sculptures using their own style and materials of choice.


Alexis created a brightly covered cacti made out of felt, while Carlie created a metal flower, welded together from chain links, in order to represent happiness and thier childhood. It was interesting because both of them noticed the progression of scales in "Sonata" so they wanted to create a spiraling in their sculptures.
Carlie felt like flowers were very symbolic of happiness and childhood and here is a picture of her sculpture.

Alexis felt like the progression upward of the cacti represented happiness and a spiraling of emotions. Here is a picture of Alexis's sculpture.

Their sculptures really complemented my piano piece as well as the overall theme of the project. I thought their perspectives were really interesting and their artwork was really symbolic and beautiful

I wanted to also create something, but I knew I would be incapable in making a sculpture! So, because I am intrigued with culinary arts, I wanted to create art by cooking. Recently, I have become obsessed with shows like “Last Cake Standing” on Food Network, which create artistic masterpieces out of food. I think the art of cooking can be very symbolic and expressive, especially because the presentation and taste of food is very distinctive for different cultures. So, I also wanted to make decorative cookies, which symbolized happiness and good childhood memories. Also, cookies and sprinkles were a BIG part of my childhood so I thought this project would be incomplete with out them!
Here is a picture of the cookies I made.


Basically, this project used all of the senses: listening to the music with our ears, touching our respective arts with our hands, smelling the cooking with our nose, tasting the food with our tongue, and using sight to make our project with our eyes. Also, using our senses is so important in art, which is why I think the senses of artists are heightened because they pay the most attention to detail. This is why we entitled our project "Sensational."

Blog Post #3: My Artist's Statement: My Infinite Passion

I classify myself as an eclectic artist. When it comes to music, I have schizophrenia. My mind wanders from instrument to instrument, genre to genre, and style to style. That is why I refer to music as my infinite passion. I love the piano, harmonium, and Indian traditional dancing (specifically, Bharatnatyam, Kathak,and Hindi Film Dance). I think it is this diversity in music that captivates me the most. Each of these art forms holds a special meaning to me and satisfies all of my different needs. My relationship with music is my motivation and inspiration to express my concerns, identify with my religion, and embrace my culture.

Expression: “Music expresses that which can not be said and on which it is impossible to be silent” – Victor Hugo
I have been playing the piano for twelve years now and it has become such an important part of my life. Just as Hugo says in this quote, the piano is my medium for communicating my concerns and emotions. A writer's pencil is analogous to the piano because the instrument is my means of expression. The amalgamation of the notes and chords on the piano forms a sentence that can make more sense than "normal" words. Playing the piano commands attention; people will listen to my music even if they do not listen to me when I speak. Also, the language of the piano is universal among all cultures and ethnicities. Even though, a person may not be able to understand the native language of a certain country, people can communicate via music; it is the commonality among us all. It allows me to express my opinion to an audience that is not limited in scope. Utilizing the piano as my pencil, I created a piano CD, A Hidden Crisis: The HIV/AIDS Challenge in India, to express my concern for the skyrocketing numbers of HIV/AIDS in India. I held a fundraiser for this CD and a charity concert, with all proceeds going towards helping the disenfranchised population in India suffering from HIV/AIDS. I always use the piano as my voice and it is my medium to which I can help those who are less fortunate than me.

Spirituality: “Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” ~Ludwig van Beethoven
The purity radiating from the sound of the harmonium is an example of what Beethoven says. Especially in my life, the harmonium has fostered my relationship with the Hindu religion. I started learning the harmonium when I was only eight years old, and the holiness of the instrument made me intrigued with Hinduism. The more I learned to play and sing the bhajans, the more I became connected with my faith. It is because of my relationship with the harmonium that I came up with the idea of creating the first Hindu temple in the High Desert: Krishna Valley Temple. Throughout the struggles, the harmonium always gave me motivation and inspiration. I also recently recorded a CD of myself singing and playing the harmonium with a tabla player and other musicians. The CD is “Krishna Valley Temple Daily Artis” and consists of the six morning hymns that are sung as well as six different evening prayers that are are part of the daily ritual in the temple. When I am not at the temple to lead these prayers, the CD is what plays. I also held a fundraiser for the temple by selling these CDs, with all proceeds going towards having classes to teach the youth harmonium and singing classes. From personal experience, the harmonium is the biggest factor which allowed me to learn and understand Hinduism, which shows how powerful and influential music truly is in my life.
Here are some pictures of me singing and playing the harmonium at the grand opening of the Krishna Valley Temple in Apple Valley, CA.



Culture: "We ought to dance with rapture that we might be alive…and part of the living, incarnate cosmos."-D.H.Lawrence
Growing up thousands of miles away from my mother country, I find my ethnicity in the form of Indian traditional dancing, which has helped in formulating my Indian identity. Specifically, I have learned Bharatanatyam, Kathak, and Hindi Film Dance. Each of these dance forms is unique in its approach and even the music sounds completely different for each style of dance. What is intriguing about Bharatnatyam is the predominant usage of hand movements in order to depict emotions and tell a story. On the other hand, Kathak places greater weight on rhythm in the feet. Both of these forms of dance are very elegant and graceful, and tell devotional stories through each movement. Hindi Film Dance is a less traditional Indian dance form and is more energetic and lively. It is mostly used in Bollywood movies and tends to incorporate different forms of Indian classical dance in the routine. I love all three dance forms and it would be impossible to pick my favorite. Whenever I dance, I get lost in the rapture and I feel alive, as Lawrence refers to in his quote above. Each move, each step, and each routine depict the colorful and rich Indian culture.

Here are two pictures of me doing a dance routine which incorporates Bharatnatyam, Kathak, and Hindi Film Dance all into one dance.




I use music to speak; to help; to connect; to identify. It is my infinite passion. Music makes me feel special, and takes away all my stress. I have so many interests in music because of its diversity. I am pursing my goal of becoming a physician right now so most of day consists of biology and chemistry classes. In these classes, I have no control because I cannot change the outcome of the experiments or facts. So, I think what intrigues me about music is my ability to control the results. I do what I want to do when I dance and play the harmonium and piano. This one quote from Albert Einstein that is probably a perfect description of myself as an artist is: “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” The only difference is that even though I am an aspiring physician, I am still a musician at heart. I still see life in terms of a musical that is full of color rather than a scientific experiment that is black and white.

Blog Post #2: “Capturing Nature’s Beauty: Three Centuries of French Landscapes”

I recently visited the exhibit “Capturing Nature’s Beauty: Three Centuries of French Landscapes” at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. There were more than 40 drawings from various artists, each unique in depicting French landscape tradition. I was intrigued by the contradiction of this exhibit because the artists depicted a realistic portrayal of natural beauty yet it was idealistic in its approach. Specifically, two different paintings each by a different artist caught my attention, for the better or for the worse.


The first painting that captivated me was “Landscape with a Bare Tree and a Plowman” by Léon Bonvin. Out of the entire exhibition, this was my most favorite painting. It was the contrast of colors that made it so appealing to the eye. When I initially saw this painting, it made me feel calm and content. The tranquil peach-ish sky melted into the dark musky ground. What was so odd to me was that a naked, scrawny tree was the center of attention. The farmer was so minute in comparison to this huge tree that I only came to realize that the plow boy was actually present after gazing at the painting for 15 minutes. It is only when you step a foot away from the painting that you can actually see the man. The first question that came to my mind was why is this less-than-perfect tree so important while the farmer is almost invisible? Is the artist highlighting the beauty of imperfections in nature as superior to the human life? I think Bonvin wanted his viewers to formulate their own answers and interpretations for these questions. The painting uses a variety of shades of browns and earthen colors. The setting of this painting is a dusky dawn in the middle of a simple and picturesque farmland. Bonvin uses brown ink and water colors for this painting. It was a very realistic landscape, but simultaneously the soft colors made the picture idyllic and charming.



Very different from the previous painting, “Ruins of an Imperial Palace, Rome” by Jean-Honoré Fragonard initially confused me. The drawing was cluttered and crowded,so it was unclear where to focus on. Without the title, I could not tell what the artist was trying to depict. The drawing was done in red chalk and the artist differentiated objects by using different shades of a rustic red color. For using only one color, the artist was very meticulous in the differentiating the details. I enjoyed the sharp contrast the artist was making between nature and the building itself.While the building was collapsing, nature was still left untouched, empowering the role of nature in the painting. However, I found this picture very bland and monotone. The lighting used made the setting seem stormy and gloomy. It definitely gave a vibe of destruction and despair. The artist used a low viewpoint, which made the overall outlook awkward and incomplete. Overall, this was my least favorite painting in the exhibition.

I really enjoyed looking at the paintings in the “Capturing Nature’s Beauty: Three Centuries of French Landscapes” exhibition. Each of them was unique and represented the painter's style and meaning. I am really into landscape paintings, so this was especially interesting to me. Also, another plus point is that it is at the Getty Center, which is an artwork in itself!
If you want to visit this exhibition, it is going on until November 1, 2009. I highly recommend you go!

Blog Post #1: "Mozart of Madras"

A.R Rahman, known as the "Mozart of Madras" is a very versatile artist; he is a singer, record producer, and film composer. He is one of the most famous musicians in India, and his talent has recently become exposed in the Hollywood industry through the soundtrack in Slumdog Millionaire. Music has always been in Rahman’s blood. He was born into music since his father—R.K Shekar—was a South Indian film composer. At a very young age, Rahman began to cultivate his musical talent by using his father’s equipment such as a keyboard, harmonium, and guitar. Rahman continued his musical studies at Trinity College of Music, receiving a degree in Western classical music. After this, Rahman created a music studio in his house and started off composing for Indian television and commercials. He was finally recognized for his talent by Mani Ratnam, a Tamil film producer, who asked him to compose the soundtrack of the South Indian movie—Roja.

Even in his first movie, Rahman achieved the award Best Musical Director at the National Film Awards in India. He went on to be the music director of over 100 Bollywood movies. He has sold over one-hundred million records, claiming prominent awards for his musical talent in National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards, Golden Globe, Academy Award, and Oscars, just to name a few.

Rahman, an eclectic artist, incorporates the different genres of traditional music, including Carnatic music, Qawalli music, and Hindustani music, as well as Western Classical music, into his musical work, which is why I absolutely love him. His unique style of music is evident in the recent Hollywood hit Slumdog Millionare that received eight Oscar awards. Traditional and contemporary Indian music, Latina music, Reggae, Westernized music are all used by Rahman in this soundrack, which has made it so distinctive in its sound, thus very successful.

Rahman has always been a guide in my own musical practices.I can relate to him not only because he comes from an Indian background but also because of what his music entails. He is a multifaceted artist, as am I. I have many different passions, including the piano, harmonium, singing, dancing and a recent interest of the mridangam. I have learned Indian classical music as well as American classical music, which are both clearly evident in my music. I love the amalgamation of different types of music and creating a sound that is unique and harmonius, just as Rahman does. Unfortunately Rahman doesn’t disclose his music, but I still challenge myself to learn his songs on the piano by ear training. I have ear-trained three of his songs, which takes long hours of practice for many months. The meaning behind the songs in combination with the melody are very moving and make the hard work worth it. Here is an example of a song called “Kal Ho Na Ho” by A.R Rahman that I have ear-trained and translated onto the piano:

Not only is the melody of this song beautiful, but the meaning behind it is as well. The English translation from Hindi of the main stanza is:
“Life changes its beauty all the time
Sometimes it’s a shade, sometimes life is sunlight
Live every moment here to your heart’s content
The time that is here may not be tomorrow.”
This is just one example of Rahman’s songs that have such a beautiful meaning in combination with the musical elements that make it so pleasing to hear. It is very important to me that my music has a message, that is able to go through all people, no matter what their ethnicity is. Music is a symbol of unity. As A.R Rahman has said, “Music is language itself. It should not have any barriers of caste, creed, language or anything. Music is one, only cultures are different. Music is the language of languages. It is the ultimate mother of languages.”