Indian Offerings

I may be back in dreach and snowy Scotland, but I am finally getting the chance to write a little of what happened this time in India. My project brief being very different, and really only 2 weeks long, I planned a lot more for myself this time and set up extra work to keep me occupied for 6 weeks!

After the success of Delhi and a little visiting of last year's projects in Mumbai I caught the train down to Goa for a working holiday! My aunt is currently the project director for Sunaparantha arts centre in Panjim and she had been desperate to get me to do a bit of work for her. I started my work off with a 2 hour music skills workshop for trainee SEN teachers at Nirmala College in Panjim which went down well. A group of 25 women quickly shedding their inhibitions to become fairly outlandish and imaginative performers in some cases. We worked on some body percussion together and the results were very creative and confidently shared amongst the group.

I was very excited to be a workshop leader on India's first ever Art Skills Mela at Sunaparantha over the weekend of 15th-17th February. I conducted 3 days of music workshops for mainly non musical professionals including teachers, social workers, education development workers, designers and many others, whilst other artists were leading workshops in Creativity and Wellbeing, Photography, Visual Art, 3D Modelling and Drama. 

There seemed to be a real hunger and enthusiasm for learning new skills, trying out new ideas and being creative. The atmosphere that the participants brought was very mutually supportive and whilst a few of my activities were challenging for some, people were genuinely interested in helping others. My workshop was based on group activities and the fact that the groups really connected well meant that the work was very effective. Sharing, supporting and listening were all attributes that the participants naturally brought with them. 

a musical conversation between participants...where will it go?!

I feel that the participants in Goa, had never experienced anything quite as interactive, creative or freeing musically as my workshop. Many of them gave me verbal feedback that they would really appreciate more training in this hands on way because it helped them become more imaginative, interested, engaged and motivated.

Being part of the skills mela was wonderful, not least because it’s great to be part of a bigger concept of art skills training for practitioners in India. The opportunity to work in conjunction with other art forms is very limited for me so it was great to see other workshop leaders at work and hear a little of their experience. There was a lovely sense of creative cohesion throughout the Mela. 

Here's some of the feedback from the participants:

-’Mind blowing sessions'

-’I learnt how music and sounds can be used creatively and differently by anyone’

-’I’ve learnt lots of interesting activities which I will use to entertain, capture attention, and teach children, which I am certain they will enjoy’

-’I just felt that today was a fantastic experience’

-’I felt on top of the world’

-’I will make use of the ideas in my class and I know my children will enjoy this too!’

-’I’m going to be much more playful in my approach to music’

participants on the skills mela at Sunaparantha practising their musical creations

So after the hard work a much deserved rest on the beach with much sea swimming in mighty waves and a trip up the river at Chapora - we saw crocodiles!! Very exciting! A few pics below to show just how much fun I had - it's not all hard graft!

THEN...back to Mumbai for a week or so. I did 2 pieces of work which were both really enjoyable. The first with my friend Ayush who is starting his own business providing music workshops. We combined forces for a day long workshop at Magic Bus Centre near Karjat, just outside Mumbai. We had a totally mixed bag of kids - 20 from Mercedes Benz International School and 20 from a local school all around 11 or 12. The day before the workshop we went along to meet the kids and had a visit to the local school which was amazing. The welcome was out of this world - all the children dressed up in traditional dress and performing dances. Here's a few pictures to give you an idea of just how beautiful that morning was!

The following day our workshop got off to a great start with lots of mirroring to music, non verbal communication games and then a workshop with mask making and music making with found junk. We ended the day with performances from small groups using both masks and junk percussion and it was great fun! The real challenge of this workshop for us was that the kids didn't share a language but by the end of the day we felt they had really made the effort to communicate in whatever way they could - our goal was achieved. 

Pics coming soon... 

I'm in the paper!

Very excited to be on the front page of the Indian Express last week!!

Working With Homeless Communities in Mumai - URB.im published my article this week!

Access to live music the world over isn't a right and people don't always have the chance to connect with it, especially not if they live on a roadside in Mumbai. Last year I was lucky enough to be offered a three-month musician's residency in Mumbai at world class music venue blueFROG, funded by Creative Scotland and Live Music Now Scotland. I worked on blueFROG and Acorn Foundation's joint outreach program, Dharavi Rocks, which gives children from the slums of Dharavi access to making music.

Traveling around the city by train I had always seen the basket making homeless community at Mahim, and was somehow drawn to their precarious lives as I passed by between Bandra and Mahim station. Towards the end of my stay last year, I was introduced to Abhishek Bharadwaj who set upAlternative Realities, campaigning for homeless citizens' rights in the city. He invited me to come and play an informal concert for the homeless community that lives on the pavement around Mahim Station, and I jumped at the chance. On one of the busiest roads in Mumbai at rush hour, I played my violin for an ever-growing, curious and very excited audience. The reaction was incredible, much warmer than I expected it to be — there were children and adults dancing, singing, clapping along, begging me to play their favorite Bollywood songs one more time; it was hard to leave.

This year I returned and we arranged three concerts in one day with homeless communities in Mahim, Ghatkopar and Mankhurd. The warmth of these groups as they respond to the music was phenomenal. The twinkle in their eyes and their broad smiles hide the struggles these people go through every day. At the Mankhurd concert, one of the eldest men played a drum and sang beautifully, and everyone joined him, singing and clapping along. Then we played together and the audience was transfixed. We don't share a language, but there was so much musical communication between us. Afterwards, he took my hand and thanked me for the music with tears in his eyes. For me, it is an absolute pleasure to interact with these marginalized people. To be invited into their pavement homes, with the ground swept and a mat placed down so that I can sit and perform is an honor; I rarely feel this welcome when I go and perform in a world-class venue. Their access to the basics is so limited but their access to culture is suffering too and this is such an immense part of what makes us who we are. When people have access to live music perhaps they reconnect with their identity and it makes them not just people who sleep on the roadside but human beings with interests, culture, and a strong sense of placement in their community.

Laura Grime is a successful musician, music workshop facilitator and instrumental music teacher based in Scotland. Working both in the UK and internationally, her diverse practice encompasses performance and teaching alongside a varied career in participatory music work with children and young people. Laura also works with adults to facilitate skills development and builds capacity for music as a tool for professional and personal growth.