Last weekend Hannah, Al and I made a wonderful visit to Agra, seeing the Agra Fort, and of course the Taj Mahal. Getting up at 5am we stood on the rooftop of our hotel as the pale dawn light illuminated the Taj Mahal in the distance. (I'll try not to make this blog TOO corny...) When we arrived at the Taj by 6am there were relatively few visitors and the buildings were simply breathtakingly beautiful.

We spent the afternoon at the massive Red Fort, the red sandstone military stronghold converted into a white marble palace by Shah Jahan (who built the Taj Mahal) - a palace in which he would later be imprisoned by his son. From the massive ramparts the Taj Mahal is visible on the other side of the city. I could write about this all day, but it's all been said before! It's just a wonderful, wonderful place.

We had dinner on the roof of a hotel at the Taj Mahal's south gate, watching the sun set on the glistening marble... ... ...

As we returned to our hotel we found ourselves caught up in an enormous Hindu water festival called Bam Bam Bullai, in which thousands upon thousands of boys and young men surge through the streets, barefoot, completing a complete circuit of Agra while dancing to Indian pop pumping from speakers at the every street corner and chucking water around. Being westerners we were mobbed every time we stepped into the street. We couldn't move without a throbbing crowd pressing against us in seconds, all wanting to shake our hands or have us take their picture. Eventually they decided I was too dry so I was promptly drenched by a cheering crowd. One of the main culprets immediately came at hugged me, as if to say "no hard feelings". There weren't any! One guy, soaked with water and sweat, put his arms around me and shouted above the crowd, "Your God, my God - same!" It was a fantastic experience to be welcomed into their festival so willingly.

As we left the hotel for our train at 5am the following morning the thousands were reduced to hundreds, some still walking (or limping), others asleep in the road.

On more piano related matters, I've found the opposite from Ruiari: the group classes are stifling as all students have different levels of ability and it's difficult to work on a level which is productive for all. Very impressed that Ruairi is making a success of it though (going to pinch some of your techniques...)

Solo lessons I'm finding much more rewarding, and it's great to see some kids actually smiling in lessons - something which I feel they're not used to. One lesson recently was particularly satisfying. A girl played me her exam piece and was clearly unexcited by it, understandably - it's a very boring piece. However, underneath I could see she was quite musical and just needed and opportunity to enjoy some music in order for her natural musicality to come out. "So do you like this piece?" I asked. "No." They're usually not so honest. "How about this one?" and I played her a short, punchy and fun piece by CPE Bach which was well within her capabilities. "Much better!" After 45 mins of slow methodical practice, one minute before the end of the lesson she played it for the first time all the way through with both hands, turned round and gave me a high five. It wasn't a very technical lesson, but seeing her transformed for boredom to genuine enjoyment and satisfaction was immensely fulfilling. I'm feel I'm making similar progress with other pupils.