This was a very interesting day because we learned a bit about Indian culture and their music.
We met up at New College Durham at 8:00 and jumped on the bus, that took us to Kala Sangam which is an Indian arts centre in Bradford.
When we got there, we were lead into a big dancing room. We were asked to take off our shoes and socks by the two Indian instructors. That surprised many of us, and some of us chose not to take them off. I immediately took mine off and was ready. Once the others had gotten ready, they put on the Indian music and that’s when the first Indian instructor taught us the dancing choreography. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would have been. I think I did pretty well. After we finished with the dancing, we all sat down on the floor and listened to the second Indian instructor play his flute, with an Indian instrument going on in the background. I closed my eyes and felt the music. I got goosebumps from his playing. It was very relaxing and peaceful. After that, we were asked if we played any instruments and I was one of the few who did.
I play guitar, I said. However there were no guitars, but I wasn’t so bad at playing the Congo drums. They asked me to grab a drum and start a rhythm. I started banging on the drums, and then he started playing his flute along to the beat. Everyone started singing the little Indian song that they had taught us. At first, I was the only one who played the drums. Later on, 3 more students were asked to pick up a drum. Four girls were asked to pick up a tambourine. So once again, I started the beat and the boys followed along. Then the girls came in with the tambourines and then the flute came in and everyone was singing. It was great fun.
When we finished in that room, we went upstairs for some Indian food. It was different than anything I’ve ever had in a restaurant. It was spicy and good.
When we had finished eating, we hopped back on the bus and went to the National Media Museum. When we got there, we were asked to make a short video commercial about the museum. However, it didn’t turn out as I expected. Everybody started forming groups and no one had any idea that I was a very skilled moviemaker. They didn’t seem to believe me when I told them I was very good with film making, so I just decided to hang back. They were very excited about this small project. I was randomly put into a group and I just followed my group around, thinking about how I would have done the commercial. I gave them some tips and tricks with camera work. It was interesting to see my group working together.
When we had all finished recording and editing our commercials, we sat down and watched each of them. We had some good laughs.
…And so we got back on the bus and went home.
AmerBosnjakUKstudy 