My first encounter with banjo playing was when I encountered Bela Fleck's mad solos in a version of Dave Matthews Band's. i.e., DMB's excellent torrent of a song 'Two Step' (this is another live version). And after that, for the longest time, I thought of Bela Fleck as this wild woman who came down from a remote Appalachian 'hollow' to blast me out of the chair with her banjo (note to self: hollow banjo half rhyme, use it in a poem); and soon after a close friend F, who is also a great live music afficiadno, disabused me of such romantic notions.

Bela Fleck is infact a man, who travels around minstrel like, with his virtuiso (Victor Wooten is a MOFO bass genius, as can been seen this clip and this clip!!) filled band called The Flecktones. And boy, if you think banjos are for the hillybillies, you better take a look again.

As they used to say in the gold rush parts of Jojaah (i.e., Georgia, the state I live in) "thar's gold in them thar hills!" Also speaking of Jojaah, in the blockbuster movie on backcountry whitewater rafting redneck horrors, 'Deliverance', based on poet James Dickey's novel of the same title, one of the best scenes is this fantastic banjo guitar duel.

Finally, on a plane ride few years ago, in one of those in flight magazines, I encountered this a profile on Alison Brown, who turned from an investment banker for Smith Barney, post Harvard, post UCLA business school, into a star banjo player! This goes on to show that redemption is still possible apres signing up for the suits. Also while I didn't find any clips featuring Alison by herself she can seen playing the banjo here. On a final note she was also for a little while a member of the excellent bluegrass band Alison Krauss & Union Station.

Also isn't banjo a nice resonant word?

Where Amardeep brings the old topic of arranged marriage into the Sepia Mutiny Chowk, and sets off a comments riot. And into such meele I enter, chucking my mask of obscurity, and throw the following stone.

Ah yes, this is an old whipping horse that I have ridden quite often. So much so that recently I seemed to have morphed into an apologist for arranged marriages, especially when older 'firangis' associated with an international students & locals friendship organization in this city, smirkingly ask me, 'So Mr. S, are you going to have an arranged marriage too?" when the issue of marriage comes up. Then I am almost tempted to turn racist/ sarcastic, and riposte, "Madames & Sirs, unless any your progney mates with me, an exotic animal, yes, I will have to resort to such strange rites." I also half tempted to recite this poem to them in order to explain such irrationality of the natives.

That said, I think Ms. James's article, if not exactly revelatory, was superior to this other recent article on the same subject that was recently sent to me by a friend. And if you want to read, here lies my rejoinder to that latter article.