Maya Swell Press

Back in Bangalore for the second stint of lessons in Hindustani raga, and Saturday turns out to be one horrendous bad hair day. An afternoon of getting increasingly pent up, and I think the only way of straightening my head out is a decent night of dance … it’s about time to explore the rich […]

Late march, around the 23rd, arrived at Gokarna. The dream of a relaxed sit by a beach with a sunset over the ocean was coming closer. It was a near thing … made the morning train from Mangalore with plenty of time to spare, and then fluffed around watching the world go by … watching […]

I had read in that infamous guidebook about a style of ritual dance-performance, Theyam… it seemed like something worth exploring … a full night of trancy beats had eluded me so far, and this seemed to be about as close as I was going to get. Theyyam is centred around Kannur in northern Kerala … […]

Exhausting journey into Kerala, coming into Kunnur. At first Kunnur seems a bit of a dissapointment as a town, though it promises to have both Theyyam, a few bay side beaches with facing sunsets. But the town is large commercial, a bit smelly (diesel mainly thank fuck), and very busy. The bus stand is a […]

I had read in that infamous guidebook about a style of ritual dance-performance, Theyam. This led me from Madikeri to Kannur in northern Kerala, apparently the hub of Theyam activity..I had been wanting to get another dose of Kerala since the beautiful morning train journey from Chennai, and the Theyam seemed like a beautiful, mad, […]

Real time, around March 15 …. initially I’d thought that Madikeri would be a brief stop between Virajpet and Kunnur, but as the bus pulled into town, I felt relieved to see so much green. Kushalnagar is still in harsh country, but Madikeri is very much in the hills, plantation country, very green, well wooded. […]

Jotting notes in Goa between swims, bike rides and belly turns. Looks like I’ve got my second serious case of wierdness in the stomach, and yes … it was almost certainly the water. After being offered dodgily filtered corporation water by Narasim with no ill effects, I took a few risks with water from coolers […]

So Bangalore on a whim an accident a chance meeting and hells own bus ride from the coast. One of the cities I’d not expected to get to. I am not surprised by it. It’s dirty, probably slightly more polluted than Chennai, though less piss and shit on the pavement, and a few more trees. […]

After the comedown from Mani’s amazing wedding, and the incredible sights and people met I spend a few hours in Mangalore quite isolated. Kadri is taken up with family business, loose ends and ritual. Many attendees are heading straight back home after the wedding, and the Kadri floor is thinning out very quickly. I have […]

The marriage of Kadri’s son, Mani, to Adhithi in Mangalore was one of the big social events of the year for this corner of the Tamil music scene. Many of Kadri’s family, friends and close connections are making the journey to Mangalore. Many more will be at the reception in Chennai in the first week […]