Viswa - Asia Tour 2012 (Part 1)

I really have meant to write more, but the travel schedule has left me exhausted. I left Houston on December 6 and landed in Singapore on Dec 8. (By way of Moscow). Upon landing, the composer John Sharpley was kind enough to lend me his spare bedroom to recover from my 22 hour flight. It was wonderful to be able to see him. I then took the metro into Singapore for a couple of meetings. (I'll let you know with whom should they come to fruition.) That night I jumped on a plane to Mumbai. For those of you who don't believe in miracles, I highly recommend riding in an Indian Taxi. It's miraculous that there aren't more accidents than already happen. As my aunt said, "it's best to get in the taxi and close your eyes until it arrives at your destination."

I stayed at my cousin's place and spent some time with my 92-year old uncle. (One day!) The next day was off and running - I met an Indian tenor, Amar Mucchala in Bandra and then headed into Mumbai. I stopped by the NCPA and said hello to my old friend Khushroo Suntook and finally ended up meeting my brother's boss from his time at PUKAR for dinner.

The next day started with a meeting with the famous Mumbai filmmaker (Bollywood for you Americans), Shyam Benegal. It was a true delight to meet with him. We had a great meeting and discussion about a variety of subjects. (Again, if it comes to fruition, I'll fill you in!) I did a good bit of walking around Nariman point and then headed off to the Taj Lands End to meet another director - Feroz Abbas Khan. We talked about theatre and art for a few hours then it was off to a private screening of his new film. The film was really wonderful. I look forward to seeing it again when it makes the international circuit as I have no doubt it will. I had one more day in Mumbai with the family then it was off to Bangkok to meet my parents and Somtow Sucharitkul.