Notes From the Road

Sat Nam everyone!

Greetings from New York!

I wish that I had some pictures from this morning. We had a beautiful morning sadhana at the Guru Ram Das Ashram in Brooklyn New York. As the sun rose in the living room packed with people we sang to Guru Ram Das. Nothing gets better then this for me.

This past weekend we had a children's singing hour and two concerts at Golden Bridge New York. That was fun... its amazing.... but this new center which is related to the Golden Bridge in Los Angeles has very similar energy to its sister center. I really enjoyed being there. We also went to two Gurdwaras in Richmond Hill this Sunday. That was a fun kind of situation.... lots of people and lots of Raagi Jathas waiting to play. Manish has only been to one other Gurdwara with us... in Sweden. It is really interesting bringing someone into a Gurdwara who has never been before.... because they see it from a very innocent place. I have really enjoyed having Manish with us because when I speak to people about the Sikh faith and way of life I am aware of Manish sitting next to me on the stage. This has helped me to be very aware of what I am saying, and really say it in the spirit of Guru Nanak, with universal acceptance and truth. Some of you may want to know the story with Manish and how we started playing with him....

Well here it is....

Last year just before we went to Europe, Krishan Prakash informed us that he couldn't come to play tabla with us because his mother's health wasn't so good. We really had alot of compassion for him.... since that time his mother has actually left her body... so I'm glad that he got that time with her. Needless to say we had to find a tabla player for that tour... and so we contacted our friends Deva Premal and Miten who play very beautiful devotional music for audiences around the world. They told us about Manish and he happened to be available for our concert in Sweden. Manish literally walked in just in time for a small sound check before the concert and then we played together. GuruGanesha and I were amazed. Playing with him felt like being on a river... the music just flowed, and the rhythm ebbed and curved with our music very gently and beautifully. We enjoyed it so much that we asked him if he could stay with us for the rest of our European tour. He was able to come to Spain where we had 900 people waiting to hear us. I am so grateful to Manish that he was there with us because his playing and presence really helped us to deliver a beautiful energy that night that was in complete honor to the mission of Guru Nanak. We received a ten minute standing ovation.

After that we returned home to our regular touring team. We really love Krishan Prakash, and we loved playing with him. But, one afternoon he surprised us and told us that he would much rather do the sound for us then play tabla. GuruGanesha and I couldn't believe that someone would want to do sound and not be doing music. But, this is what Krishan Prakash went to school for... to be a producer and sound engineer. He is an artist at it really. So, we made a big leap and wrote an email to Manish who was living in an ashram with his teacher. He had given his teacher three of our cds, and his teacher absolutely loved them and used them in his retreats. When Manish received our request, he asked his teacher for his blessing, and it was given to him full heartedly. That was back last fall. It took alot of effort to get him over here.... including a work visa, plane ticket... etc. We are very grateful to have him... and the sound is absolutely fantastic with Krishan Prakash on the board.

In the light and Grace of Guru Ram Das
We travel from city to city
Walking in the footsteps
Of our great teacher the Siri Singh Sahib.
Sometimes our feet slip out of his big shoes,
But always God is there to catch us,
Keeping us on the mission
Of spreading peace
Through the Guru's hymns.

May love and light and peace be yours today, and may God's Name be on your lips.

Sat Nam.