Harkamal Singh
London, ON
January 6, 2012

Midcourse Review

This course has thus far helped me attain a better understanding of the logic behind Lai Yog. We started with a gat Kaida in ‘dhaiyya tala’ and saw its evolution starting from dooser jati, teeser jati, khand jati and finally sankeeran jati. While studying these compositions I also gained a greater appreciation of how important the pronunciation of each syllable of tabla bol is and how its nikaas changes even with a subtle difference in pronunciation (For example, the difference between ghin and ghiN as well as ghirdnag and ghinnag). I also improved in my speed of writing down compositions and writing them down in proper manner, making sure that I know how to differentiate and separate each syllable of the composition.

One out of the many important nukta’s Bhai Sahib stressed in this course was the importance of tuning ones instrument and how crucial it is to have at least some sur gyan before that is even possible.

I was also introduced to some beautiful new nikaas forms on the jori that I need to work on (dha ghin n-nan ng-dhey tran). Another highlight of the course was seeing how the pura of a jori is changed and seeing all the small things one must be mindful of that make a huge difference in the end.

Another very important event of this course was that my gat hand was corrected and I must continue working hard to keep it the way it was taught.

Bhai Sahib stressed that what we do is ‘karte di vidiya’ and hard work is paramount. By the Guru’s grace, I hope that I will be able to work hard some and continue to grow in this vidiya.

I very grateful for the patience and care Bhai Sahib has taken in his teaching for this course and laying down some crucial foundations for us. I was also very moved by Bhai Sahib introducing us to the concept of guru-dakhshina. The sanskaar taught in the Guru’s court never ceases to amaze me.

I have set the following goals for myself that I must work on before the next course:

• Riyaaz of all the gat kaidas I have thus far learnt. The practice I had done up till this course was using the wrong hand formation so a lot of hard work now needs to be done
• I need to work on all my saath compositions at the double speed.
• I also need to continue working on my tali and be able to recite at least all the saath thekas at the single, double, three times, and four times speed
• I am also going to start working more on vocal riyaaz and doing atleast a half hour of akaar everyday.