Playing: football and tabla
I consciously devoted this Sunday to observing people who are really good at and enthusiastic about what they are doing.
Football I
After a sweet-sweet breakfast with the dearest flatmates (viva fruit salad and caramel yoghurt) I rushed to the National Stadium where a friend of mine, Hannes, works. Essentially a student of political economy in Berlin Technical University, he came to India to work as a football coach. He deals with kinds – unprivileged kinds, street kinds, kinds from rich families...any kind of kinds, to put it short. From the way he was taking about his job it appeared he is really excited. So I wondered if I could come once… Not to spy, just to visit ;o)
I come in the middle of the training. There is a whole team of coaches and different groups of children: so, they would divide and go for various activities at various parts of the field. They would line up for warming up, or would split for actual playing, or would practice in a chaotic and playful manner .
Hannes does everything seemingly effortlessly. He’s tired and not particularly energetic today (they started early this morning), but how can you make kids’ eyes sparkle if your own ones do not?!
They would tease him, he would pretend to be mad and would start kinda like fighting (more like conquering for him, surrendering for them: no chances against 2-m long Hannes). The ritual is known to all anyways, and it seems a great fun for kinds to be “killed” by their German coach….
Kids just get so happy .. if only you could see with what kind of admiration they look at him. Communication goes smoothly despite language barrier and Hannes seems to have developed ways of communication with kinds.
Just four girls I found there – two older ones and two really junior – as dedicated and as good as the guys are.
There are some guys who are not part of the programme, but they would come and watch the training and kick ball off-site.
The smallest one gets so happy when Hannes while getting around the field finds some time to devote to this kid too. What starts then! All the zeal and wish to appear great show up in the kid!
Children appear to be amazingly self-sufficient and barely pay any attention to me when playing so I just could shot them as much as I want (I am telling you, people, I am dreaming of 10-15x zoom for such occasions). But once they have a break it’s started – what’s my name and just one picture and conspiratorial smiles and winking.
Football II
Later on I am going to Kanak’s just to find him with shaved head (amazing change) – in the Liverpool T-shirt excited about the football match Liverpool vs. Manchester city. This is thanks to (thanks or due.. I do not know yet) him that I get involved in the game: and even though the major criterion for me is the number of the hot guys in the team, I am getting some clue about the rules and techniques. But Kanak is right – It’s fun to watch people who are ready good in what they are doing. Even you’ve got just a rough idea about what actually they are doing. I recall this line from “Master and Margarita” by Bulgakov about Margo “and she’s got passion about all the people who do something first-class”. У нее была страсть ко всем людям, которые делают что-либо первоклассно.
Tabla
The next landmark of the Sunday agenda was tabla concert at Nehru park (Music in the park project). It was Zakir Hussain http://www.momentrecords.com/zakir.html performing. However little the name means too me I got to know that this musician is very big and admired. Noteworthy, he was voted Indian sexiest men in India once. And I can understand Indian women here: tabla playing requires really magic hands. What else but hands, ha?
Large open air it was: Chanakyapuri (this governmental residential area with major embassies) was packed with cars, people were sitting on the grass, standing and just roaming around. Tender wind swished the dark. Sound of the music gradually fills anything in the park – the air, the space, the minds. It spreads, but does not dissolve. Playing tabla is very sensual. I am thinking of piano: however exciting the performance might be the system is pretty explicit: finite number of keys to press – finite amount of sounds to come out… Now think of tabla – the small round is an infinite arena for experimenting – different parts of the surface to be touched with varying strengths with varying number of fingers with rhythm up to you. Just improvising.
Football I
After a sweet-sweet breakfast with the dearest flatmates (viva fruit salad and caramel yoghurt) I rushed to the National Stadium where a friend of mine, Hannes, works. Essentially a student of political economy in Berlin Technical University, he came to India to work as a football coach. He deals with kinds – unprivileged kinds, street kinds, kinds from rich families...any kind of kinds, to put it short. From the way he was taking about his job it appeared he is really excited. So I wondered if I could come once… Not to spy, just to visit ;o)
I come in the middle of the training. There is a whole team of coaches and different groups of children: so, they would divide and go for various activities at various parts of the field. They would line up for warming up, or would split for actual playing, or would practice in a chaotic and playful manner .
Hannes does everything seemingly effortlessly. He’s tired and not particularly energetic today (they started early this morning), but how can you make kids’ eyes sparkle if your own ones do not?!
They would tease him, he would pretend to be mad and would start kinda like fighting (more like conquering for him, surrendering for them: no chances against 2-m long Hannes). The ritual is known to all anyways, and it seems a great fun for kinds to be “killed” by their German coach….
Kids just get so happy .. if only you could see with what kind of admiration they look at him. Communication goes smoothly despite language barrier and Hannes seems to have developed ways of communication with kinds.
Just four girls I found there – two older ones and two really junior – as dedicated and as good as the guys are.
There are some guys who are not part of the programme, but they would come and watch the training and kick ball off-site.
The smallest one gets so happy when Hannes while getting around the field finds some time to devote to this kid too. What starts then! All the zeal and wish to appear great show up in the kid!
Children appear to be amazingly self-sufficient and barely pay any attention to me when playing so I just could shot them as much as I want (I am telling you, people, I am dreaming of 10-15x zoom for such occasions). But once they have a break it’s started – what’s my name and just one picture and conspiratorial smiles and winking.
Football II
Later on I am going to Kanak’s just to find him with shaved head (amazing change) – in the Liverpool T-shirt excited about the football match Liverpool vs. Manchester city. This is thanks to (thanks or due.. I do not know yet) him that I get involved in the game: and even though the major criterion for me is the number of the hot guys in the team, I am getting some clue about the rules and techniques. But Kanak is right – It’s fun to watch people who are ready good in what they are doing. Even you’ve got just a rough idea about what actually they are doing. I recall this line from “Master and Margarita” by Bulgakov about Margo “and she’s got passion about all the people who do something first-class”. У нее была страсть ко всем людям, которые делают что-либо первоклассно.
Tabla
The next landmark of the Sunday agenda was tabla concert at Nehru park (Music in the park project). It was Zakir Hussain http://www.momentrecords.com/zakir.html performing. However little the name means too me I got to know that this musician is very big and admired. Noteworthy, he was voted Indian sexiest men in India once. And I can understand Indian women here: tabla playing requires really magic hands. What else but hands, ha?
Large open air it was: Chanakyapuri (this governmental residential area with major embassies) was packed with cars, people were sitting on the grass, standing and just roaming around. Tender wind swished the dark. Sound of the music gradually fills anything in the park – the air, the space, the minds. It spreads, but does not dissolve. Playing tabla is very sensual. I am thinking of piano: however exciting the performance might be the system is pretty explicit: finite number of keys to press – finite amount of sounds to come out… Now think of tabla – the small round is an infinite arena for experimenting – different parts of the surface to be touched with varying strengths with varying number of fingers with rhythm up to you. Just improvising.
posted by Olga Tikhonova | 1:49 pm
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