Aradhna plays Bhajo Re in Varanasi on September 4, 2010

As many of you know, my daughter Christina, her husband Suj and son Kavi are visiting Suj's family in Mumbai, India. I am trying to distract myself with various projects, but last night my husband Ray and Jenny and Rachel and myself went an hour away to downtown Birmingham to eat Indian food at our favorite restaurant Taj Curry House. The food was awesome as usual and after dinner we went nearby to see Aradhana, a band that plays classic Indian music with sitar, tabla, guitar and bass. Before the music started the band served up some delicious chai masala to everyone there. I imagined that Stina was drinking some chai in India with me!
The venue was a large loft apartment in what used to be a old department store divided up in to apartments. Floor cushions were scattered with a few big couches for seating ,adding to the cultural experience. The band was not made up of Indian guys, but non Indians, the sitar player having grown up in India with missionary parents he was fluent in Hindi and played the sitar beautifully. The tabla player (percussionist) was really good also, my husband especially loving the musicianship of all the players. (he has played guitar since he was a teenager)
I loved the fact that I was experiencing India separately together with Stina. And there were various Indian folks there adding to my across the world feel.
Christina told us about this event because she is friends with the band on facebook or we would never have even known about it. If you are reading this Christina, thanks for the hot tip for a wonderful fun night!