A R RAHMAN'S MIRACLE CONCERT AT DAYTON-OHIO

1st published in http://www.daijiworld.com.ashe This article is about Indian Music Director/Singer A R Rahman's unique show in Dayton, Ohio. Here she describes her experience at his Cross Over theme concert. Being a keen photographer also, she was sad that no photography or videography was allowed. - Editor-in-chief)
May 4, 2006
Close your eyes and imagine yourself as a music conductor.
Now imagine about 150 White, Afro-American Chinese, and, Indian American college students as performers for your show.
Also, imagine many of these students know nothing about Indian film music and you are teaching all these kids how to sing A R Rahman hits.
Well, Mr. Rahman and the music conductor DrEthan Sperry from Miami University, Ohio did exactly that for a great cause.
I was lucky enough to experience the mesmerizing show of Rahman benefit concert called "Wake up" at the Trent Arena, Kettering, Ohio on April 22, 2006
Along with Eastern Michigan University, MI and from Miami University, Ohio students, Rahman and well known Cellist from Chennai V R Sekar, singer/actor Kailash Kher and Vasundhara Das and many others performed to raise funds for students to travel to India and experience the culture of India.
Major performers didn't charge a penny for the show. Instead they put the money in to the fund set by the organizers.When I heard about this show from Ms Das, I thought it was impossible.
I was doubtful about American students' accents. Even though, at times the songs sounded a bit different from the original, for my surprise, it was just a miracle. All of them did a pretty good job. There were great dancers too.
Some of the songs were from Taal, Takshak, Yuva, Dil Se, Nayak and recent popular movie, Rang de Basanti too. As an Indian American, I feel I have been connected to my Indian roots through music and especially through A R Rahman's. Hopefully there will be more of these kinds of shows in the future.

My Rendezvous with Singer/Actress Vasundhara Das

1st web news by Marsha-published by www.daijiworld.com
News -- USA: Nine-year-old Marsha Narrates Her Meeting with Vasundhara Das
My Rendezvous with Vasundhara Das
Recently, I had an opportunity to meet with Vasundhara Das ("It's time to Disco" and "Monsoon Wedding" fame) in a hotel where my parents, 5-year-old brother Vivek and I stayed in Florida. It turned out to be a pleasant experience for me. I bumped into Ms Das several times over a period of three days, and ended up strolling around and having informal and memorable conversations with her. She made me feel comfortable enough to discuss from a Bollywood movie 'Monsoon Wedding' to a cartoon movie 'Ice Age'. She never made me feel that I was just another nagging 9-year-old kid asking her silly questions; instead, she answered each and every one of them very politely and patiently.
I had heard about how 'Monsoon Wedding' was shot with the help of a small camcorder. So I asked my first curious question about it. She answered, "Yes, it was really made out of one those small camcorders that we hang it on our shoulder. Once the movie was shot, it was transferred to a chip and then to a computer to make the movie look bigger on screen".
I asked if acting was like really, really hard. She said it depended on how hard one wants to work. I asked her if being an actress was fun thing to do in life. She said it depended on how he or she wants to make it as fun. Then I asked her questions about her multilingual talent. When I requested her to sing in French and Spanish for me, she gladly accepted my request and sang a few lines in both languages. We discussed 'Ice Age' (cartoon movie) and Harry Potter books. Ms Das told that she had read J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series books and she liked them.
Vasundhara Das asked questions about my school, exams and my extra-curricular activities. When I mentioned her my extra curricular activities such as swimming, piano classes, she said to me that she fervently wished she had time to do such activities. I told her all about my hometown in the midst of beautiful Smokey mountains in Tennessee. I told her if she ever wanted to feel closer to nature or would like to join me for activities, she was most welcome to visit me anytime and she just smiled (maybe, in agreement!)
I asked her for her e-mail ID and telephone number. She gave me her autographed business card. Seeing it, I asked her why her business card looked so plain and simple. She said she liked simple things. She also autographed my brother's T-shirt and mine. The time that I spent with her flew too quickly. I drew a heart on her arm and signed my name on an envelope that she was carrying in her hand. Then we hugged and said goodbye to each other. Since then I have been in touch with her through emails.

Let's go to the Henry Doodle Zoo, Omaha, NE" Travelogue and Pictures"

Following article was originally published by www.daijiworld.com, "A well-known Coastal Karnataka web portal among mangloreans", later blogged by www,zoo-talk.com




Every time my parents say to me, “Let’s go to the zoo”, I get excited and say to myself, Wow! I am going to see… up close and personal of carnivores, I am going to visit all kinds of creatures from all around the world.

Once I enter the zoo, mixed feelings take over my excitement. I wonder about the plight of the captivated animals. I feel sorry for those tigers, lions, panthers lying around. I wonder how they must be feeling behind those fences. Are they happy because they never have to hunt food? Are they happy not having to look for water? I also wonder about the animals like the deer, zebra, and antelopes. Are they happy with limited, restricted natural habitat? Are they happy because they don’t have to be the prey of tigers, lions or are they bored just sitting around and not knowing how the real life scenario would be in a thick vast African jungle or in Asia?

This time, I was visiting one of the largest zoos of the world, Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE. Once I was inside the zoo, I had same old questions inside my mind, but slowly and steadily, I changed my mind about the facilities of this particular zoo.
The most interesting creatures of all that I saw were the Egyptian geese. First I thought that they had only one leg. I wrote to the bird expert, Bob Lastovika, who works at the Zoo; he replied to me that he gets lots of questions about Egyptian geese's legs. Actually they do have two legs. Depending on temperature of the surrounding, they have one tucked up. Later I found out that many birds stand on one leg while resting or roosting. Birds withdraw one leg into their warmth of the belly feathers to conserve heat loss. The joints in the legs are such that they are able to lock in without loosing balance while resting on one leg. I saw orangutans (Henry Doodle is famous for orangutans) chasing each other, eating and sleeping. A gorilla picking nose and eating it (may be in boredom).
I saw strikingly beautiful scarlet macaws. I couldn’t believe how big they were! I felt sad to learn they are one of the endangered species, since people capture them to keep them as their pets.
It was the perfect sight that I got see of an Indo-Chinese tiger and her cubs who were littered. Mr. Lastovika mentioned to me in his email that the mother cat was brought from Malaysia about year and a half ago. She is seven years old and she had littered for the second time.
I was pretty surprised to see the peacocks strolling around without any fear around, making themselves very much at home. I was lucky to see the stunning display of peacocks’ train of feathers. They never seem to be bothered by the visitors.
Henry Doorly Zoo is one of the most unusual zoos I have been in North America. I got a feeling of visiting different continents of the world, since the zoo contained indoor rainforest, largest indoor desert dome, pathway under shark tunnel, cat complex that . Also I enjoyed watching “Volcanoes of the deep sea and The mystery of the Nile” at their IMAX Theater.
The zoo is designed very well with many many features Animals were displayed lot more realistic environment and seem much more relaxed in comparison to many other zoo animals. I’m sure, no creature would be happy in any zoos around the world, but I was very happy to see the impressive facilities at the Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE.

Travelogue of my trip to Jamaica, West Indies

D A I J I W O R L D - By Marsha Girish. Johnson City, USA, January 9: I was always curious about the place where my parents lived, soon after they moved from India, ...www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=9268&n_tit=Yeh+Mon!+Jamaica+-+No+Problem+-+a+Travelogue+by... - 22k

Marsha's memoirs "Summer 2006 vacation in India"

D A I J I W O R L D Marsha's Memoirs : When the Original Home Beckoned... ! ...www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_archives.asp - 83k

Winning a bronze medal in Indian National Aquatic competition

The Hindu : Sport / Swimming : Four more records
Marsha Girish (Kar) 0:38.03. 200m individual medley: 1. Jyotsna Pansare (Mah) 2:44.84 (NMR); 2. Sanskruthi R. Chinya (Kar) 2:51.92; 3. ...www.thehindu.com/2006/06/20/stories/2006062004081900.htm

Final Results Tulip Time Scholarship Games Girish, Marsha, Cross Country - Girls, 11 & 12, 1st Place ... Girish, Marsha, Golf, 11 & 12, 1st Place. Cieza, Noah, Soccer, 6 & Under, 1st Place ...www.cbhi.org/content/737069.shtml