Dinner with the Flute maestro!

I had the fortune to have dinner with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia in Rotterdam on the 21st June 2007. Julia, his disciple, whom I met at an Indian Restaurant (Maurya) while she was having a flute recital, had invited me to this dinner. Panditji teaches flute/music at the Rotterdam Music School (Codart), and spends few months in Rotterdam during the summers. This dinner is an annual event, wherein the entire Indian Music department gets together. The dinner this year was also to celebrate Panditji's 69th birthday on 1st July 07. Meeting the students was quite interesting. All, but one, students were non-Dutch; from Germany, Bulgaria, France, Mexico, Israel, India! Meeting Panditji, dining with him, and talking to him in such a casual environment was an unexpected but wonderful experience. We met at around 6.00 p.m at India Paradise, and were together for about 3 hours.

In the picture above, Hariji can be seen in a casual attire and a very relaxed mood.

The dinner in progress...