We stopped and got some corn from the locals here on the bridge over-looking the damn. This is in Pune.
This is like the down-town area of Pune. A market street...or what they call a bazaar. If you can believe motorcycles would go through in between all of those people, sometimes even cars. There was a time that a motorcycle came by me so close that the handle bar caught the strap of my camara case. Thankfully she wasn't going that fast.
I would always brace myself when we would come to a stop, cause that's when someone would come right up and beg. It was so heart wrenching when it was a child or a young mother holding a baby. I'm inside what is called a rickshaw...it is open on the sides and people walk all along everywhere on the street, so the beggars would come right up to you and touch you. I was so afraid that when the cars would start moving again that they would hit this little boy, but Tushar reassured me that the boy was very used to the traffic and the traffic was very used to kids and people walking all around the street. There were several times that I struggled to hold back the tears, sometimes it was too much when I would be missing my own children and then see all these kids and babies the same ages as mine, homeless, naked and begging...and I would lose it.
This was on the way to the studio. Those little buggie things are the rickshaws. They are everywhere....like little taxi's, but they are open. Sometimes I would have to pretty much jump in quick, cause those drivers just take off! The motors are like lawn mower motors...they use a rip chord. The were especially fun to ride in when it was raining! :-)
In the center is Dominic, he's the bass player on the album...amazing, truly pro.
Sitting in the chair is Noam Vazana, she played the trombone on a couple of the songs!
This picture we are posing for press. To my left is Chinmai Harshe, the recording engineer on the album, and to my right a friend of Tushar's and a famous Bollywood director who's name is Vishaal Bahardwaj (he stopped by the studio to say 'hi' and he also listened to a song, and loved it! :-) Next to him is of course, Tushar Parte...he is who I collaborated on the album with...the one who invited me and flew me to India!
This is the room above the studio room where we would have lunch and dinner. The food was so yummy. There was always also a little treat with every meal...my favorite part. :-) To my left is Chinmai, and to my right is Tushar.
This is Hamza, he is the drummer on the album. Very talented and fun to hang out with.
Here I am with Suchita and Juie (my right). I stayed with Juie and her family during the first week of my stay in Bombay. I fell in love with this family, they treated me like I was a part of their family. Juie is only 15 and so mature and wise, she really impressed me. Juie and her family are dear friends of Tushar and Suchita. Suchita has been giving Juie singing lessons for many years.
Here I am with Suchita and her best friend Darshina. I instantly connected with these wonderful women!
Here I tried to take a picture of the man who is in the doorway. He looked really cool...long white beard, a turban on and a wrap around bright orange skirt...if you look close you can kind of see the orange skirt. But, anyway...it turned out to be a cool picture with the buildings and the rain and the guys on their motorcycles.
These are the beautiful mountains that we passed through driving from Bombay to Pune (about a 3 hour drive). These mountains are covered with waterfalls just about every where you look...and it was so misty from the monsoon season...so beautiful and magical.
The waterfalls were just everywhere....there were a lot that were even falling onto the road a little bit.
We stopped when we saw some monkeys hanging out on the side of the freeway. In his hand is some corn on the cob that someone must have given to them just before we saw them.
Here is an old beautiful bridge that we passed under....I think someone told me that it was 100 years old.
This is the view from the bedroom I stayed at in Pune. There is a balcony off of the bedroom....I think the flat is 7 stories up.
This is the view from the balcony off of the living room. This is Tushar and Suchita's second home in Pune.
Our studio time got some press in a popular Marathi Bombay newspaper. Here is the news clipping with that picture noted above. It's a pretty long article, I wish I knew what it said! ha ha :-) But anyway... it was a pleasure meeting him, he was very nice.
