Taking a moment, to express gratitude
Hello dear friends,
Once again from the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year 2020. This is going to be a slightly lengthy post so please bear with me :-).
Looking back, these past 12 months have been nothing short of life changing. After the end of my 2 decades old corporate Journey in January, taalmagic was a very organic transition into doing something I loved instead of being forced to do something that I didn't because I "had to".
In all these months, I have been through the entire circle of sorrow, self-loathing, self-doubt, second guessing my decisions and finally making peace with the course I have chosen. I have looked inside myself and decided to trust life and just walk the path. Today, I am a lot more confident about my decision to not go back into the world that I have left behind and do the one thing that I have always wanted to do - play music.
In January last year, I was confused about how all this will play out in the grand scheme of things. My mind was constantly juggling with all the various directions I could start exploring; thoughts of teaching music, playing music, organizing concerts, promoting Indian Classical Music, becoming a You Tuber, etc. etc. It was all very overwhelming to be honest. I finally found the wisdom to calm down and decided to take baby steps - sometimes moving is all that is needed. Once I got moving, destiny showered kindness every step of the way. I am now teaching music, playing music, organizing and promoting Indian classical Music - I couldn't have asked for more.
I feel extremely fortunate that I approached a school, asking for an opportunity to teach tabla and it was instantly accepted. While the response in this first year has been far from encouraging, I certainly got my foot in the door. I hope to build on that in the coming years. This one engagement alone gave me a huge confidence boost.
Next came the question of how can I start performing. This was one of those things that initially burst my bubble and almost had the potential to bring my dream crashing down. I was approaching various artist managers and art foundations, asking for a chance to play tabla and it led me to a very huge realization - who am I and where do I really stand among existing professional tabla artists. The answer was a very simple two words - NOBODY and NOWHERE. While this was sad and hard hitting, it also gave me much needed direction on what I need to work on. It was clear, nobody was going to call an unknown person. It is this situation that prompted the idea of taalmagic. I created a platform for not only promoting Indian Classical Music, but also to provide a stage for myself to perform. And it has worked out wonderfully for me. I now have a ready made option to play tabla with a lot of different artists - its a win-win, The artist gets promoted, music gets promoted, I get to play and everyone gets paid (that'll need another full article! LOL).
My moment of reckoning was when I got to organize and showcase an extremely talented artist and a wonderful human being - Shri Runit Arya (Of the "JAGJIT SINGH GHARANA"), in Bangalore. I had not expected this opportunity so soon but it happened and "Jashn'e Jagjit" is so far one of the best experiences for me. Runit Bhai! Thank you very much.
Among other things there was also a lot of momentum on this whole social media presence. Facebook/Instagram and YouTube have shown immense love and support - something that is truly the driving force for any aspiring artist.
Overall 2019 has been a very eventful year and it has set the tone for the forseeable future. I look forward to improve myself as a musician, play more music and present more and more interesting bouquets of talent to promote Indian Classical Music.
Last but not the least, all this would not have been possible without the relentless support and kudos from my dear friends and family. - THANK YOU.
Cheers & Love,
Anand
(Founder - www.taalmagic.com)
Once again from the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year 2020. This is going to be a slightly lengthy post so please bear with me :-).
Looking back, these past 12 months have been nothing short of life changing. After the end of my 2 decades old corporate Journey in January, taalmagic was a very organic transition into doing something I loved instead of being forced to do something that I didn't because I "had to".
In all these months, I have been through the entire circle of sorrow, self-loathing, self-doubt, second guessing my decisions and finally making peace with the course I have chosen. I have looked inside myself and decided to trust life and just walk the path. Today, I am a lot more confident about my decision to not go back into the world that I have left behind and do the one thing that I have always wanted to do - play music.
In January last year, I was confused about how all this will play out in the grand scheme of things. My mind was constantly juggling with all the various directions I could start exploring; thoughts of teaching music, playing music, organizing concerts, promoting Indian Classical Music, becoming a You Tuber, etc. etc. It was all very overwhelming to be honest. I finally found the wisdom to calm down and decided to take baby steps - sometimes moving is all that is needed. Once I got moving, destiny showered kindness every step of the way. I am now teaching music, playing music, organizing and promoting Indian classical Music - I couldn't have asked for more.
I feel extremely fortunate that I approached a school, asking for an opportunity to teach tabla and it was instantly accepted. While the response in this first year has been far from encouraging, I certainly got my foot in the door. I hope to build on that in the coming years. This one engagement alone gave me a huge confidence boost.
Next came the question of how can I start performing. This was one of those things that initially burst my bubble and almost had the potential to bring my dream crashing down. I was approaching various artist managers and art foundations, asking for a chance to play tabla and it led me to a very huge realization - who am I and where do I really stand among existing professional tabla artists. The answer was a very simple two words - NOBODY and NOWHERE. While this was sad and hard hitting, it also gave me much needed direction on what I need to work on. It was clear, nobody was going to call an unknown person. It is this situation that prompted the idea of taalmagic. I created a platform for not only promoting Indian Classical Music, but also to provide a stage for myself to perform. And it has worked out wonderfully for me. I now have a ready made option to play tabla with a lot of different artists - its a win-win, The artist gets promoted, music gets promoted, I get to play and everyone gets paid (that'll need another full article! LOL).
My moment of reckoning was when I got to organize and showcase an extremely talented artist and a wonderful human being - Shri Runit Arya (Of the "JAGJIT SINGH GHARANA"), in Bangalore. I had not expected this opportunity so soon but it happened and "Jashn'e Jagjit" is so far one of the best experiences for me. Runit Bhai! Thank you very much.
Among other things there was also a lot of momentum on this whole social media presence. Facebook/Instagram and YouTube have shown immense love and support - something that is truly the driving force for any aspiring artist.
Overall 2019 has been a very eventful year and it has set the tone for the forseeable future. I look forward to improve myself as a musician, play more music and present more and more interesting bouquets of talent to promote Indian Classical Music.
Last but not the least, all this would not have been possible without the relentless support and kudos from my dear friends and family. - THANK YOU.
Cheers & Love,
Anand
(Founder - www.taalmagic.com)
