Man With Sign, April 7, 02026
I wake before the alarm, but I'm still a tad behind by the time I leave the house, arriving at Roosevelt Circle at 7:32 under grey skies that portend rain. I've brought my umbrella, so I'm prepared. Set up my sign and speaker, lean on railing, hold up SCIENTIFIC IGNORANCE IS A POOR FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC POLICY. No Craige today.
1/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufxo5YZXUto
#ClimateChaos #GlobalWarming #HindustaniMusic #CitizenActivism
Turns out it's not rain, but snow. Granted, it's snow that melts immediately, dampening my speaker and making my foam-core sign a little soggy. A guy in a solar installation truck leans out and yells, "I know, right!" and I give a responsive smile and wave. The get-a-job guy of course hollers "Vote Trump!" because of course he does. The other drivers stay focused on the road ahead.
2/
This week's practice is narrowing down to a very tightly focused exploration of layakari. I am concerned with tempo superimpositions inside a 15-beat string within medium-tempo rupak, in support of the Jaunpuri bandish, "preetam aawo." Today I spend the first twenty minutes securing a 4:5 polymetric, resulting in 12 notes evenly spaced over 15 beats, first in sargam, then with text.
3/
I go over this very meticulously, then downshift to sing a 3:5 relationship, spreading 9 syllables over the same stretch of time. It is always a challenge to sing the slower speed in polymetrics. With attention paid to the underlying subdivisions, I gradually get these notes in their correct positions, then switch from sargam to text. Can I move from the 3:5 to the 4:5? Not yet I can't.
4/
Over the rest of the hour I move back and forth, first between the 9- and 12-syllable strings, then expanding to include a 2:5 sequence (6 notes in 15 beats) at the slower end, and a 5:5 rendition (15 notes in 15 beats, lined right up with the drums) at the faster end. Each string has its own text sequence, drawn from the second line of the asthai (which otherwise I haven't sung at all).
5/
At some point I unfurl my umbrella, because whatever this stuff is that's coming down, it's getting me soggy. Eventually I make a video (while holding the sign, umbrella, and camera — AND singing) which demonstrates the tempo shifts reasonably well. And by then it's time to pack up and go home, which frankly sounds like a damn good deal.
6/
The minute I get this posted I have to go out again to pick up our car from the mechanic, then home for a day of students, resistance chores, a meeting, and a rehearsal. The daily dose of lunacy from the White House would be horrifying and demoralizing, if I paid attention to it. Which, alas, I do. Can't avoid it, no matter how much you may want to.
Stand. Resist. Tell the truth.
See you tomorrow.
Man With Sign
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Warren Senders