Aarian Marrivada Alaniz - Return of the Maya

Aarian Marrivada Alaniz, "Return of the Maya" 2023
Analog Paper Collage on Arches Paper (11x14 inch)
Photo © Leticia Alaniz

Becoming an artist for Aarian Marrivada Alaniz came naturally, instinctively and with deep never-ending passion.  This is Aarian’s debut showcasing the art of his young imagination.  He has demonstrated a creative interest since he could hold a paint brush at the age of three.  Painting and drawing at floor level, he instinctively created art that evolved into forms that are influenced by personal motivation and his surroundings.  Between the age of six or seven, Aarian began to create art influenced by several schools of art that he most loved, including Modern and Abstraction, with a special interest in color and Wassily Kandinsky art.  He perceived everything in a much broader and deeper sense creating narratives from memory, music and his favorite literature.  

In this first professional exhibition, Aarian presents a piece titled, Return of the Maya.  It's an authentic analog collage that celebrates a life of mementos through his eyes.  Aarian has no limits on his decision of splashy color and bold choices of narrative.  There's a cherry-red car in the shape of an ultra-cool rocket that represents suave road trips from a bygone era.  A giant Mayan stone head with an ever looking eye in black and white sits on a colorful Mayan weave.  A monkey sits in the style of Auguste Rodin's bronze sculpture: The Thinker in a playful take in front of a computer with the word "Loading" over his head.   The piece is exhibited as part of a juried group exhibition: Memento: Art That Reminds Us, at 9th Street Studios in Wichita Falls, Texas under the direction of curator and artist, Amber Day Scott.  Another aspect of the exhibition is an audio recording and a personal essay that accompanies the piece.  The essay written by the artist describes his piece:  


My name is Aarian I am nine years old. This is my very first collage. The Mayans from Guatemala and Mexico are in my heritage because my mother is Mexican and my father is from India. The giant Mayan sculpture head is ancient beauty in stone carved hundreds of years before the conquistadors from Spain arrived. I have memories of road trips, sitting on sarapes and weavings at the beach and eating fresh fruit and ceviche. I have my favorite colcha that I call the "colores colcha," the sombrero represents my grandfather, the orchids the south of Mexico. The monkey represents me, learning technology.

Photo © Jess Clark 2023

Aarian perceives art as seriously as he plays music.  Along with creating visual art, Aarian is a musician and composes on the piano original works which he declares are a continuation from his canvases.  Impressionism is another school of art which he particularly enjoys and composes melody beyond standard lyricism.  One of his first compositions is a playful melody that he titled, The Detective.  His freeform melodies are enmeshed with his visual work and his inspirations are infinite.  

Aarian Is mentored by his mother who is also an artist.  He creates in acrylic, oils, oil pastels, and paper collage.  

Aarian Marrivada Alaniz
© Leticia Alaniz 2023

Mango Ice Cream - From The Convent of Santa Clara Mexico

Mango Gelato or Ice Cream (Helado de Mango)
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2015

India is the world’s leader in mango production and recently, México was reported to be the leading exporter in tropical America, with a volume surpassing 312.5 metric tons and reaching over 22 countries.  These reports are confirmed by the branch of the government of Mexico: SAGARPA, (The Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food).  The mango tree is grown in 23 states in Mexico but there are ten states that produce over 98 percent of the mangos.  The state of Guerrero is the principal producer followed by Nayarit and Sinaloa.  But where did mangos come from?

The mango appears in many myths and legends:  In indian Vedic literature it is spoken of as a transformation of the Lord of Creatures, Prajapati, who later became the Lord of Procreation.  One of the most famous legends tells the story of the sun princess who was burned to death by an evil sorceress.  When the ashes cooled, the wind sprinkled them on the earth and fertilized it.  From there, grew a lush green tree that bore the fruit and flowers of the most fragrant perfume…  The emperor was enchanted by the fragrance and fell in love with the flower and subsequently its fruit.  When ripe mangoes fell to the ground, the beautiful, delicate sun princess emerged once again.

The Mughal ruler Akbar the Great (1556-1605) was entranced every time he ate a mango so he planted an orchard of mango tress at Darbhanga in the state of Bihar, called Lakh Bagh which literally meant that the number of tress was exactly one lack or 100,000.  For many years the mango became an important high status pursuit and the cultivation of mango orchards was reserved for the kings or rajas and nawabs.  They say the enlightened one, the great Buddha, meditated many hours of his days under a mango tree.  It is well documented that the mango tree has been cultivated for over 4000 years and is known in early sanskrit writings as amra.

     

The mango is the tropical fruit of the mango tree belonging to the Anarcardiaceae family.  It is native to eastern India and Burma.  The Indian mango Mangifera indica, is the descendant of a wild tree still found in northeast India.  Thru the passage of the silk road, it reached Persia where it was highly prized, cultivated, and traded in east Africa.  With it’s high status symbol it became associated with wealth and was spread eastward to China.  By the 15th century, when many explorers were traveling the seas in search for riches, word reached the Portuguese real fast and soon enough they traded mangos as a highly valuable commodity first in Brazil, then finally by the end of the 18th century, the delicious golden fruit worth its weight in gold was introduced into Mexico.  It took long enough!

Mangos were adapted in Mexican cuisine right away in savory dishes as well as in sweet dishes.  By the time they were introduced, the nuns of the famous convents were busy making hundreds of delicacies, especially right in the heart of Querétaro and Puebla.  The convents in Mexico became very famous for its kitchens and in 1700, in Mexico city alone there were about 22 convents.  The nuns dedicated their time to the culinary arts inventing all types of sweets, candies, custards, sweetmeats, fudges, cajeta (caramel), Rompope (a type of liquor made with egg custard) and cold fruit desserts.  One of the most famous recipes that came out of a convent which is a favorite flavor that glows from the windows in a bright yellow to orange hue when you pass by the neverías or ice cream parlors is helado de mango, gelato in Italian, or simply ice cream.  When it comes to helados and sorbetes or Mexican ice creams and other frozen delights, Mexico really shines. The main difference in helado (which literally translates to freezing cold) and  ice cream is that ice cream is made with cream while helado and gelato are made with milk, fresh fruit, and in Mexico even chile!

Following is the rich, delicate recipe for Helado de Mango from the kitchens of las monjitas (the nuns) from the Convent Of Santa Clara in Puebla Mexico:

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup of sugar

4 egg yolks

1 3/4 cups of milk

1/2 cup of cream

2 - 3 large ripe mangos

1 tablespoon of lime juice

DIRECTIONS

Peel and slice the mangos.  Scrape the skins clean of all the mango (as much as possible).  You don’t want to leave behind even one tiny delicious morsel.  Pureé in a blender or food processor with the lime juice.  Strain in a bowl to leave behind strands.  You will have about one and a half cups of purée.  In a dry bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until creamy and pale.  Next, in a medium saucepan, bring milk and cream to a simmer.  Turn off the heat and slowly whisk a little at a time half of the the simmered milk into the egg mixture bowl.  Return everything to the saucepan over a very low heat and keep on stirring until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  At this point it is a creamy custard.  Remove the mixture from the heat.  You can strain it at this point into a larger bowl, but I don’t bother with that step.  I don’t mind little bits.  Let it cool for at least ten minutes then mix in the mango pureé.  You can now taste the wonderful flavor.  Let it cool completely preferably overnight in your refrigerator.  But if you can’t wait, go ahead and at room temperature, process the mixture in your ice cream maker or churner (you can also churn by hand the traditional way).  The recipe makes one quart and you can double for two quarts.  Your family will go crazy over this!

References:

La Tradicional Cocina Mexicana y Sus Mejores Recetas

(The traditional Mexican Cuisine)

by Adela Fernández

Panorama México Press

©1998

Edible Memory: The Lure of Heirloom Tomatoes and Other Forgotten Foods

by Jennifer A Jordan

University of Chicago Press

© 2015

SAGARPA - México

Tamarind Margarita

Tamarind Margarita
Photo by Leticia Alaniz © 2015

Tamarind has a very rich legacy in Mexico, but it traveled a long way from tropical Africa and made it’s way into southern India before it reached the Realm of The New Spain.  It was the Arabs who then carried tamarind pods from India and introduced it to ancient Persia, now known as Iran, the Gulf region, and even back to Egypt.  Pulp from the pods was dried, made into paste, syrups, used in cooking and for medicinal purposes.   

Like all riches, especially those we can eat, tamarind reached Europe in medieval times, introduced by the Arabs.  The journey continued until the indehiscent legume (a legume that does not split open when ripe) finally arrived in Mexico, brought over during the colonization by the Spaniards.  The tamarind tree was soon cultivated with much success in the hot tropical states of Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas.  

Growing up, especially during festive occasions, there were always many sweet, savory, spicy and tangy candies made with tamarind pulp.  There were those that came in little pots shaped like a jarrito, or the clay pots used to slow-cook beans and other delicacies.  The varieties are in the thousands, but another one of my favorites was a flat laminate-shaped tamarind paste called Pulparindo.  Then there are the all famous diablitos or little devils, aptly named because they are shaped like a small stone, it looks black, it is so sour and as many mexican candies, it is covered in lots of dried chile, salt and sugar and it makes your mouth water bringing out the inner child.  I don’t know why they are called diablitos, but I used to think it was because only the devil could be brave enough to eat those!  

Even the little ones start eating tamarind with chile at an early age.  In order for  their their little hands to hold a sweet and sour tamarind candy, there are the cucharitas, little spoons with the tamarind dried on and covered with sugar.  The sourness tickles their little tongues and they make cute, puckering faces as they eat them!

All types of Mexican savory dishes are prepared with tamarind pulp.  A loin in a rich tamarind sauce is one of my favorites.  Grilled fish or other types of seafood fare well too.  A velvety thick tamarind sauce called chamoy, is also used in a variety of ways.  It is poured over shaved ice, especially delicious in the hot summer.  It is made into paletas or popsickles, and it is cleverly drizzled to coat the inside of a glass, right before an icy cold beer is poured.  It takes everything to another dimension.

Below is classic Margarita made with the pulp of tamarind.  The flavor is very tart with a tropical sweetness.  It’s just perfect!

Ingredients

2 oz of Tequila Blanco (Herradura is a good choice)

1 oz of tamarind concentrate 

1 oz of triple sec or Cointreau

1/2 oz of Agave nectar or simple syrup

Lime for garnish (optional)

Preparation

Coat the rim of a margarita glass or a rocks glass with a mixture of salt and dried chile, or if you prefer sugar, or even mexican Tajin fruit seasoning,  fill with ice and set aside.  Add the remaining ingredients to a shaker and fill with fresh ice.  Shake, and strain into the prepared glass.  Garnish with a lime wheel (optional).  

Andhra Prawn Fry or Royalla Vepudu

Andhra Prawn Fry (Royalla Vepudu)
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013
All Rights Reserved

India is a country with an extremely diverse cuisine.  There are many regions, and each region specializes in dishes highly evolved according to available ingredients.  This is hardly surprising given the versatile cooking techniques and the ingenuity of combining flavors to shape a unique dish.  

In the coastal regions of the state of Andhra Pradesh, seafood doesn’t fall short on the menus.  The aquatic prosperity of Andhra can be attributed to its abundant water supply from the delta of the Godavari and Krishna rivers along with the great Bay of Bengal.  

The sea is home to innumerable forms of life.  Thru the years of its history man has learned to use its resources for his survival and has depended on the sea’s generosity.  From the vast array of aquatic products that can be harvested from the sea, prawn or shrimp are considered one of the most valuable.  

An early morning visit to the fish markets in Andhra proves the best possible choice in the bounty of the sea  as well as the catch from inland rivers, reservoirs, lakes, and southern backwaters.  Fishermen bring their catch for sale on the spot, for transporting around India, or for quick freezing for international shipping.

Boats have come ashore as the sun rises in coastal Andhra
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013
All Rights Reserved

The cuisine of Andhra is one of the spiciest of all Indian cuisines and it represents a culinary joy combining spices, meats and seafood of which all are abundant.  It is exotic, rich and aromatic, and when prawns come into the kitchens of expert cooks it is a delight to the senses and the soul.  

Indian cooks, especially in the coastal communities have many recipes along with plenty of imagination for improvisation with only a few ingredients.  As with all seafood recipes from anywhere in the world, Indian recipes rely on ultra-fresh seafood.  

Following is one of Andhra’s most exotic recipes for prawns: Royalla Vepudu or commonly known as Andhra style prawn fry.  With plenty of spice its for those who prefer robustly flavored dishes or for those who have a flare for  a dish that will tickle the senses all at once.  Andhra style prawn fry is excellent in flavor and with its delicate aroma, its one of the jewels of indian seafood.  This dish can be served with rice or enjoyed as an appetizer paired with a medium body craft beer such as IPA, Bock or Ale, or even a very chilled favorite Lager.  

Andhra Prawn Fry

(Royalla Vepudu)

Preparation 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

4 Servings

Ingredients

500 gms prawns, peeled and deveined

1 1/2” ginger 

3 green chiles

1 1/2 tsp of red chile powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp lemon juice or yoghurt

3 finely minced garlic cloves

2 medium, finely slices onions  

1/2 tsp fennel seed powder

15-20 curry leaves

2 tbsp grated coconut

1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (optional)

1tsp coriander powder

1 1/2 tbsp garam masala powder

1  tbsp cooking oil

salt to taste

Fishermen at a coastal market in Andhra Pradesh, India
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz
© 2013 All Rights Reserved

Method of Preparation

Grind the ginger and green chiles to form a paste.  

Marinate the prawns in the ginger and chile paste along with 3/4 tsp chile powder, turmeric powder, lemon   juice or yoghurt, and salt for 10 minutes.

Cook the prawns in just enough oil to lightly coat the pawn for 6 to 8 minutes.  Remove from heat and drain any excess liquid.

Heat oil in a pan, add minced garlic cloves and sauté for half a minute.  Add sliced onions, fennel seed powder and curry leaves and sauté for approximately 7 to 8 minutes until the onions are caremelized. 

Add the cooked prawns, coconut, the remainder of the chile powder, fenugreek powder, coriander powder, and garam masala powder.  Dry stir fry for 3 minutes over medium high heat.  Season with salt and turn off heat.  Serve immediately.

Kartik Trivedi - A Rare Interview With The Classical Composer & Artist

Maestro Kartik Trivedi
Classical Composer and Artist
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013 All Rights Reserved

For many, classical Indian Raga music and visual art are two different things.  But for Maestro Kartik Trivedi they are inseparable, one and the same, as he has delicately explored with his very own unique sound and impressionist paintings all with the touch of his fingertips on the piano keys and with a paintbrush.

Kartik Trivedi is a living legend from the Northwestern state of Gujarat, in India.  He is considered one of the most fascinating contemporary artists of our time.  As an accomplished classical pianist, composer, and painter he has been honored with innumerable awards and accolades around the world. 

Few artists accomplish so much in their lifetime and his history is nothing short of incredible.  Maestro Trivedi granted me an afternoon for a very personal and rare interview.  I am honored to share with you a rare insight into his personal world, his art and his music.

Leticia Alaniz: Welcome Maestro Kartik Trivedi.  What was your childhood like and whom was your biggest influence?

Trivedi: I was born in a small village called Lunsar on December 10th, 1937.  I remember a quiet and peaceful childhood and as early as age five I began drawing.  My father named Shri Laxmishanker Nanjibhai Trivedi, was the head school master and a fine water color painter.  He nurtured in me my visual creativity.  My mother named Sharada, was a folk singer and she was my first and most important influence in music.  She taught me the fundamentals of folk and Raga music.  Here were the beginnings of my humble life and career in fine arts.  

When I was a child, my natural surroundings were also very encouraging.  There was a very beautiful and fine lake nearby and a shrine that my mother used to take me to called 'Shri Mataji Divine'.  I used to sketch there for hours and I used a newspaper in the beginning, because I didn't have drawing paper.

Oil on Canvas by Kartik Trivedi
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013 All Rights Reserved

When I was six years old I entered a statewide art competition and won first place.  I was the number one painter and that was a very big encouragement for me at the time.  And then as time goes by, my father got transferred from one place to another, and that in a way allowed me to learn different cultural aspects.  I was very happy that I had the opportunity to meet different types of people and learn about their customs and their music.   

Leticia Alaniz:  Did you have a piano at home?

Trivedi:  I did not have a piano at home.  I was introduced to a keyboard instrument when I was ten years old called a harmonium.  It has the same keyboard as a piano but it sounds like an organ.  So I was able to learn scales just like if it was a piano.

Leticia Alaniz:  You have lived in the US many years, what year did you come?

Trivedi:  I came to America in 1967.  I went to a school, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and there was a very beautiful student center, and on the second floor there was a Steinway grand piano.  At night I used to go there to practice and I found lots of students interested and they would all sit around the piano and listen to me play.  I was encouraged a lot and they said, "Why don't you give a concert?  We like your music very much".   After That I had learned how to sing north Indian classical music which I play known as Hindustani music.    

Leticia Alaniz:  How did you start incorporating the piano into Ragas and into that style of classical music?  

Trivedi:  When I was in India I used to play a flute called bansuri, and I had learned how to sing classical musicals and I learned how to play the sarod, an indian stringed instrument.  When I was experimenting I found out that it is possible that someone can play the complete form of Raga music on the piano.  In my days we had maybe three or four musicians interested that were experimenting with the sound of the piano.  

I use the second pedal to sustain the sound and the third pedal to elevate the sound so it almost sounds like the sound of the sarod.  It depends on how you strike the note. And after you strike the note, one is expected to create  some kind of appropriate environment so that the Raga can sound in a most appropriate way.  

Leticia Alaniz: You're one of the few artists that has been playing this type of music around the world. Maestro Ravi Shankar was one of the first whom introduced classical indian music to the western world and in particular to the US.  Are you in any way compared to him or are you asked questions?  

Trivedi: I have a lot of respect for the late Maestro Ravi Shankar.  He is a very great composer and a very great sitar player.  I used to listen to the great sarod composers as well and when I was living in Santa Clara, I decided to study a masters degree in world music at the San Jose State University.  I worked with many great music teachers which highly influenced me into learning more.  At that time my main instrument was the piano.  Today, I have my own piano which is a german piano made by Schulz Piano Company and it is already about 115 years old!  

Leticia Alaniz:  And it still sounds good!

Trivedi:  Oh, very beautiful!  It has a beautiful sound and I just love that sound!  In America for some time I played piano in Indian restaurants.  I would play somewhere in the corner and not disturb the patrons.  

Leticia Alaniz:  You went from playing in restaurants to playing at the world famous Carnegie Hall!  Tell us more about that.

Trivedi: I performed at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City.  I performed in the first half, I opened the concert.  And the second half, my teacher played with the sound of the sarod.  The sound of sarod is always there because the sarod always attracted me so much.  And then I also performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.  

Leticia Alaniz:  No small feat!  

Trivedi:  You may not believe this but when I gave a concert at The Lincoln Center, the New York Times printed my photograph on a music page and you know, I have a very old bow tie, I loved to wear that bow tie.  I have kept that bow tie as a memento.  But my friends tell me that I look very funky! 

Leticia Alaniz: An artist is an artist!  

Trivedi: I just love that funky look!  I have a three piece suit which is now like a four piece… but that's alright…

Oil on Canvas by Kartik Trivedi
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013 All Rights Reserved

Leticia Alaniz:  An artist dresses as he must dress…  (we laughed a lot)

Leticia Alaniz:  I want to ask you about your paintings… Your art is considered very impressionistic and beautiful.  What inspires you?

Trivedi:  When I was in high school in Gujarat, at that time I had the opportunity to see the books on French and American impressionism.  From the very beginning I liked pastel colors and somehow the different sense of composition at the same time, the choppy brushstrokes and all that, you know.  The colors were so fantastic and the analyses of sunlight and light in general.  So I liked that and I immediately started working in an impressionist style.  

When I came to America, I was stationed in Cleveland, Ohio and not to far away from my apartment there is a very great and famous museum, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and that is where I saw the originals.  Until 1967 I had never seen an original.  

I used to lecture inside the museum for adult education.  I would take a group of 10, 20, or 30 people and would take them from one gallery to another gallery.  At that time I was studying to receive a MA degree in Art History from Case Western Reserve University.  My first degree is in the area of Economics and Political history that I received form Gujarat State University.  As You call Texas State we have Gujarat State which is a very developed state culturally and economically.  

I had a lot of student friends that studied art history in my lectures and they told me about Kent, Ohio.  I heard about the University and so I went there and I received a MFA, Master of Fine Arts in paintings.  At that time I was a very fine, a very good impressionist painter and I just continued to experiment in that particular style.  

Leticia Alaniz:  What painters do you consider your most influential?  

Trivedi:  One, which I would like to mention is Claude Monet.  I used to teach Claude Monet's paintings.  I taught art history classes and later art appreciation.  We analyzed and talked about different styles of paintings, cubism, impressionism, post impressionism, renaissance, baroque and all of those..

Leticia Alaniz:  In your own art work, what subject is what you paint the most?

Trivedi:  My style of painting is impressionist.  But I also paint in a very native style, a very decorative Indian style of art.  In 1960, while still living in India, I won a national recognition award.  My work was highly appreciated.  That in a way encouraged me a lot.  At that time I was working near a college near the Arabian Sea, near the seashore so I painted my surroundings.  

Leticia Alaniz: Do you incorporate mostly nature and landscapes, portrait or religious motifs?

Trivedi:  I do paint portraits, but mostly I call myself a landscape painter.  I love landscapes so much!

Leticia Alaniz:  And Speaking of portraits, I know of a very famous one that is hanging in Buckingham Palace.  

Trivedi:  Yes well you see, my few friends from London, England called me and they said that quite a few artists from all over the world have presented their paintings about the special occasion, the marriage of Lady Di and and Prince Charles.  And I wanted to do something and I found some photographs of the entire wedding procession, so I decided to do a special painting of the marriage procession.  I received a very, very nice response, it was a great honor.  Prince Charles' secretary wrote me a very fine personal letter saying that they all loved my work.  Of course that encouraged me.  

After that I did a special painting for late President of France François Mitterand and he liked my work very much and today as I understand, the painting has been sent to The National Cultural Heritage museum of France.  I feel happy, I say Voilå!  But very good, ¡Muchas Gracias!  Eternally thank you!  

Leticia Alaniz:  I understand that your paintings are also hanging in the house of late President Ronald Reagan and also with Bill Clinton, among many others. 

Trivedi:  Yes that's true!  I did a special painting for late President Ronald Reagan.  The subject is called, "Welcome Home".  When the 52 hostages came back from Iran, there was a very big procession.  In the back you see the senate building, the congressional building in Washington DC and there was so much happiness everywhere.  So I studied a couple of photographs then did a special painting.  President Ronald Reagan liked it and Nancy Reagan also liked it very much.  Another painting that I did is called "Spring Melody".  The paintings had an impressionistic touch.  A lady from California called me and told me that my paintings were put on display at the presidential library in California which is near somewhere in the Los Angeles area.  I am so happy!  A poor artist like me can do little good things in this world.  

Leticia Alaniz:  You're an amazing artist!   

Trivedi:  President Bill Clinton's painting was, "Autumn in Chicago".  I think that event was also very well covered by CNN News.  

Leticia Alaniz:  Did you get to present the painting personally?   

Trivedi:  Yes!  I met him personally!  There is a book written about me and it's called Kartik Trivedi, Contemporary Impressionist, that is the title.  That was printed in New York City and this was many many years ago.  So I presented him the book and we took a photograph and he was very kind, and he said, "I will carry the book", and so he was carrying the book with him.  An he also wrote me a very nice thanks letter.  I feel very happy and I thank him and thank everybody, those who arranged it.  And the painting I think they said they liked it.  

I presented a second painting to President Bill Clinton when there was a very big parade in New York City.  It was when the American Army came back from, let's see, from where?  Saddam Hussein's country, what is that called?  Oh my mind!  

Leticia Alaniz: Iraq, Desert Storm.

Trivedi:  Yes!  That was a very big parade.  You remind me because I may be talking wrong, I get lost!  So whenever everybody is ready I'm ready…  

Camerman Tony Quinn:  We're ready…

Leticia Alaniz:  We are rolling, but this is good…

Oil on Canvas by Kartik Trivedi
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013 All Rights Reserved

Trivedi:  When the American Army came back from Iraq I presented a painting to President Bill Clinton and Lady Clinton.  There was a very fantastic parade that I attended and did some drawings.  There were so many very fine and big American flags hanging everywhere.  That was a very wonderful subject for a painter like me, other people have also painted this subject, and so I painted that and they liked it.  This painting is also at the Presidential Art Collection a the White House.  

These are some of the things that I like.  You see, this is so funny… When I did my first painting for President Ronald Reagan, he was a very kind person to me and he used to write letters to me and I used to read, and you know the postman used to come all the way to the second floor of my apartment.  He would knock on the door and say, "Mr. Trivedi, you open the door, I have something for you!"  And I said, "Oh my god, I don't know what that could be."  But he said, "Mr. President has written you a personal letter!"  I would tell him, "I have a can of soda for you!"  And he was always so happy to get a can of soda.  You see, before President Reagan wrote me a letter, that was always a question.  Everybody used to ask me, "Is there anybody who knows you?"  And my Indian background taught me one thing, "Yeah, my god knows me", but it wasn't helping me at all.  So I had a couple of xerox copies made and then I would say, "Yeah, yeah, Mr. President knows me!"  So I would tell my friends sit down, have some tea or coffee.  It was a very interesting and funny thing.  

Suddenly, I would do another painting.  I made one when I was in Santa Clara, California, and I took a painting all the way to the White House and it was wonderful.  I enjoy doing special paintings for dignitaries, a religious leader or a great musician, a writer, or a playwright, actors, actresses.  You see, I'm a painter, I'm a teacher, I was a teacher, but now I retired I think since January 2011.  So now I play piano.

Leticia Alaniz:  You retired form teaching but not from painting…

Trivedi:  No, no, I still paint.  Recently I have written a book and I came to Dallas city because I heard that the people of Dallas city are very friendly and very generous and very loving and caring, so since the last two or three weeks, I'm experiencing their love and care and all that.  I would like to come back to Dallas some day.  

Leticia Alaniz:  You are always welcome.

Trivedi:  Thank you!  Hardly you cannot find such wonderful people anywhere else.  Music has been very much a part of my soul.  Can I talk something about my mystical experience?  

Leticia Alaniz:  Oh yes, of course!

Trivedi:  This is a most true story…  This was 1975 and I was living in Bedford, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.  One day in the morning it must have been around 4:00 or 4:30.  And a very, big, golden light… I saw a golden light, someone woke me up, I was still in the bed, and the background was the white wall of my apartment, that golden light spoke to me, the language is English, and said that at one point in time I was a very famous musician in Germany.  And they said we have reserved your german house, you are in heaven, it is filled with music.  And after my death, they will take me back to my German house which has a very grand piano.  The golden light talked to me and said that we are going to take you back to music.   And the thing was so personal, so special.  

Leticia Alaniz:  It sounds like it.  So spiritual!  

Trivedi:  Yeah, why would anybody care to come from heaven, without appointment or anything in the early morning and wake me up and say, "Hi…Hey you, I want to talk to you!"  At the time, I had to have eight graduation units of the 96 I needed to graduate with a MFA, so eight units I took in music and I made a presentation.  This was music I know, this much I can play, this much I can talk and they liked it very much.  And they also gave me a scholarship.  They said, "Yeah, you are very good".  So, eventually after that I fell down and broke my fingers and took care of my fingers.  I moved to Santa Clara and I went to San Jose University and told them my story.  "I said, look I want to study music."  They said, "What do you do?"  I said, "I'm an art instructor."  So they asked me to come for an interview.  They looked at my credentials and they encouraged me to study music.  If I want to go back to 1975, I would say that the golden light was burning fire.  

Leticia Alaniz:  Well I don't think that was just a golden light because here we have proof of your recordings.  It was a dream for you, but it is a reality for your fans and those whom appreciate fine music.  Tell us about this.  

Trivedi:  The Raga Impressions!  You know I'm an impressionist painter, and when I look at the keyboard of a piano, I think, why can't I create a painting.. you see each key on a piano keyboard has a special color.  I look at the entire keyboard like there are so many colors there.  So striking a piano key in such a way, so it should create an impressionist brush stroke.  So the basic idea is, can I do that, can I be allowed to do that, and lots of great musicians say, yes it's very possible and also very acceptable because you are still working within the classical discipline.  So within the classical discipline, I play classical hindustani music.  I get a tabla player which is a pair of indian drums, and we practice and I try to create the entire mood, the Raga mood that is.  So in The Raga Impressions there is a complete presentation in a most traditional,  classical way.  But then in some cases I am running of it and creating and impressionist feeling of a Raga.  It shouldn't be very difficult to understand, that is what I'm trying to do.  Something very light, very much just searching for a light, in a most lighter way.  

Leticia Alaniz:  The cover to this collection of Ragas is absolutely beautiful and it is also one of your paintings.  Will you play one of your Raga pieces for us?  

Trivedi:  Yeah, I certainly would.  Thank you, thank you very much for asking me!  Let me tell you one thing.  I play very much in a traditional style.  You know, our classical Indian music is very monophonic, at a time you touch one note.  Western classical music is a form of compound sound which we call polyphonic.  I will do two small pieces for you and your audience.  One will be very traditional, I will try to play like a sarod.   The other piece which I will play in a Raga, at that time I created a very special romantic feeling.  My work got very much influenced by Chopin and Franz Liszt, and one I like a lot Schubert.  Here is a piano, my favorite instrument because I like the sound and it is the discipline that I belong to.  I'm a historian of hindustani music and in my studies in the classroom and outside the classroom, I love Frederick Chopin's trait, I'll do a little bit of that for you.  Remind me if forget, there is something that is not in our tradition, a heavy imposition and the introduction of the polyphonic system.  So then, I'm a student.  I'm trying to create a totally new music.  

Leticia Alaniz:  It's all unique and original.  Everything that I have heard of yours is unique.  I have never heard anything so amazing like this because there are many artists whom record a specific style but yours is totally unique. 

Kartik Trivedi & Leticia Alaniz

Trivedi:  Thank you, I appreciate your good comments and as you know a good comment always helps the artist.  A bad comment can kill the artist.  People get so much joy out of it, ahh I killed him man!  Stop!  help him, help that poor guy or poor girl!  So we need a lot of encouragement and a lot of good things around us.  By the way, soft drinks always help me, getting lost into my little world of art and music.  Sometimes one can goes inside my system, and I feel oh my god, I'm on the ninth cloud, it could be even the tenth cloud who knows!  

Leticia Alaniz:  Let's hear you play a little bit.    

Trivedi:  First what I will do is play a small Raga, then I will talk a little bit, then a polyphonic piece.

Leticia Alaniz: This is a mystical experience!   

Trivedi:  Yes, very mystical!  Oh! I'm gonna get you!  I like the sound of piano so much.

Leticia Alaniz:  Yeah, so do I…  What is this piece you're going to play for us?  

Trivedi:  It is a very traditional classical raga a Noon Raga, it is a noon melody, and I will play in a very traditional style like an instrumental solo.  Next I would like to do a special piece for you and your audience in a western polyphonic sound which is basically in a pentatonic scale.  

Leticia Alaniz:  Thank you very much for playing two beautiful pieces for me.  It has been an immense honor and pleasure to meet you and I thank you for your time and I appreciate you coming out for this very special interview.   

Trivedi:  I feel very honored to be interviewed by you and I just don't know how to say thanks, thanks a million!  

Leticia Alaniz:  It has been all my pleasure and I thank you.  May you have a long life.  

Trivedi:  Muchas gracias señorita. I hope I didn't goof too much today... 

Maestro Kartikbhai as he is respectfully called in Gujarat culture, is an artist whom had a dream since his early childhood.  Since his humble beginnings he worked hard to become an accomplished musician, composer and painter.  He has an enviable personality that flourishes with grace and comedy and if you look carefully it is exposed onto his music and paintings.  With sincerity and dedication he has lived a life of accomplishments holding four Masters degrees in Economics/Political History from Gujarat State University in India, Master in Art History from Case Western Reserve University, Master of Fine Arts from Kent University, and a Master in World Music from San Jose State University.

His piano compositions are deeply moving, mesmerizing, and emotional and they convey his message through one's body, mind, and soul.  It is music that cannot be placed in one single category.  It is a loving marriage of classical indian hindustani music and western classical.  He is a living legend, a rare musician.

Note: This is a transcript of an interview that was filmed live and unscripted.  A special appreciation for cameramen Tony Quinn and Joe Rodriguez of JR Media Group International, Yogi Patel of Pratham USA, Mihir Patel, Prerna Bohre, and David Roziere for providing the location for filming.  

Please Join for an Art Exhibition & Piano Concert By Kartik Trivedi.  

Sunday, March 24th 2013

At Windsor, 7750 LBJ Frwy. Dallas, TX 75251

Art Exhibition: 12 pm - 7 pm

Music:      5 pm - 7 pm

Salaam Bombay!

Mira Nair directed one of my all- time favorite Indian films: Salaam Bombay! (1988) which is considered one of the top foreign films ever made.  Few Indian films reach western audiences the way Salaam Bombay! touched the hearts of many in a raw look into a small slice of life of a child played by Shafiq Syed in a city of millions.  There's so much to discuss on this genuine gem of a film centered on the unfortunate adventure of an 11-year-old boy named Krishna who ends up alone in the big city of Bombay now known as Mumbai.  Krishna lives with his mother and older brother whom constantly bullies him.  One day he gets very angry at his brother after being bullied and he sets fire on his brother's motorbike.  To punish him, his mother tells him he has to pay for the ruined motorbike and that he will have to work hard.  She takes him to a traveling circus and abandons him there telling him not to return home until he has earned 500 rupees or the equivalent of little over $7 dollars.  The boy eagerly begs for work at the circus and he's taken on.  As expected, the circus boss takes advantage of him and overworks him without pay.  One day the boss sends him to run an errand and when he returns, the traveling circus has packed up and left him behind with nowhere to go.  Alone and without the money to repay for the motorbike, he decides to take what little money he had and buys a ticket at the train station to travel to the nearest city, Bombay (Mumbai).  

Shafiq Syed in the role of Chaipau in
Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay!

Upon arrival, he's robbed of his meager possessions by other homeless kids.  He follows them into the dangerous red light district where he meets and befriends Chillum, a street-smart sixteen-year-old drug pusher and addict.  The streets in this old district are not only dangerous, they're dreadful and sad, where hundreds of children live and die on the streets, many at the hands of traffickers and abusers.  At this point, Chillum gives Krishna a new name, Chaipau.  Chaipau knows Chillum is not to be trusted but he has nobody else whom he can turn to and feels even a little bit safer in his company.  Soon Chillum helps Chaipau get a job as a runner (chaiwallah) selling tea (chai).  His job is to run up and down flights of stairs with trays of tea to a community in several buildings where he discovers a dark and savage underworld of drugs, prostitution, sweatshops, and poverty.  Chaipau sleeps anywhere he can in an abandoned building and he works hard saving everything he earns.  He hides all his money behind a brick where he thinks he can keep it safe.  He has only one goal in mind and that's to return home with the 500 rupees.  

Chaipau carries on for what seems like months with big dreams of earning enough money to return back home to his mother.  One day, Chillum convinces him to tell him where his secret hiding place is and that he will help him return home.  Chaipau, innocently believes him.  But Chillum betrays him and steals all the money leaving Chaipau with nothing and a heartbreaking feeling of hopelessness after working for such a long time.

As the narrative of the film continues, the audience develops a sense of pain along with the boy, yet the director's clever treatment of the film demonstrates how cruel a big city can be to a small boy.  He encounters countless abusive incidents from the tea (chai) vendor until one day a positive light sheds hope on him to cope with his loneliness and fear.  He meets a young girl of sixteen named Manju who lives with a Madam that runs a brothel.  Sadly, the Madam has plans of an age-old custom of selling the young girl's virginity to the highest bidder.  Chaipau wants to help Manju of her miserable and sad fate so he plans to help her run away.  It will be an extremely difficult escape so he pours gasoline in the room where Manju sleeps and sets the place on fire escaping out into the streets with Manju.   

Filmmaker Mira Nair

Mira Nair's gritty treatment of the film lends itself to the telling of the story in a docudrama style allowing for full bright colors photographing the sights and sounds in all of its naturalness.  The film is so real and raw, that it provokes many emotions in the viewer.   It offers a touch of fable much like beloved Charles Dickens' story Oliver Twist.  The director mixes realism, poverty and merciless satire as a way to describe the effects of harsh, brutal day to day worries of a small but highly intelligent boy.  Child labor exists in many parts of the world and India is not unique to these circumstances.  Chaipau endures a miserable existence and escapes into the streets carving out a chance for a better life along with other children in the streets of Bombay.  He is an innocent child trapped in a world where his only options seem to be working as a tea boy.  From this unpromising setting, however, a fairy tale also emerges. In the midst of corruption and degradation, the essentially innocent Chaipau remains pure-hearted; he steers away from evil when those around him give in to it, and in proper fairy-tale fashion, he eventually receives his reward.  On the way to this happy ending, Nair explores the kind of life an orphan, outcast boy could expect to lead in the largest industrialized city in India.  It is a film that raises concerns.  Is there hope for the children?  What will be their fate?  

Leticia Alaniz and Mira Nair

Salaam Bombay! is in Hindi and it is beautifully photographed by American cinematographer Sandi Sissel.  

A chai wallah (tea) runner in a crowded market in India.  

The small clay bowls are used to serve the tea.

Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2008 All Rights Reserved 

The following is a poem paying tribute to Salaam Bombay! by: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

All day I carry glasses of tea

down streets full of holes or feet

waiting to trip me.  Above summer is singing

the feathers of black pigeons

that circle and circle. Gopi carries a knife

with a twisted snake handle.

Each time a glass breaks

Chacha cuts my pay. 

Dark windows.

Women with satin eyes calling me. The tea

thick and sweet in its rippling brown skin.

Downstairs pimps play cards

all day. I take a sip from each glass

when no one is watching.

Broken-horned cow, chewing garbage

in the alley where we sleep.

Rain soaks my yellow shirt, turns the tea to salt. 

The cinnamon smell

of women's brown bodies.

When you can't stand any more.

the pavement is soft enough.

I am hiding my money behind a loose brick

in the bridge-wall.

First thing to learn: melt into pavement

when you hear police vans.

Sometimes my skin

doesn't want

to hold in all these bones.

Chillum sells hashish

to tourists by India Gate.

It pulls you out of your body, flings you

into the sun. The night Gopi mugged the old man

he bought us all

parathas at Bansi's Corner Cafe. 

Footsteps follow me, a muffled cough.

My soles are turning to stone. I must

lie down. The night-dust is warm as Shiva's ashes. 

When I have five hundred rupees

I can go back

to my mother in Bijapur.

Till I fall asleep I watch

that fierce glistening,

the sky full of scars.