[Carter]: Vijaya Sundaram is a native of northern India who has been a resident.
[Sundaram]: Southern India.
[Carter]: Southern India. You know what? I just knew I couldn't go the whole night without blowing something. OK, very good. Southern India, who has been a resident of Medford for a number of years. She lives in Medford's other west, that is Felsway West. She is a truly creative spirit. Vijay is an accomplished poet and what I call a literary lioness. She is also a songwriter, a singer, and an adjunct professor, no, an assistant professor in the English and Humanities Department at Bunker Hill Community College. She has been a traditional classroom and homeschooling elementary grades teacher, as well as a poetry and literature professor. Her written work has appeared in publications like the Rising Phoenix Press and the Stardust Review. And just a few weeks ago, her first full collection of poetry called Fractured Lens, very good, was released by Somerville-Sylvania Barber Press. I have known Vijaya for a little over two years now. We've worked together on a few occasions, and I've been blessed by our association and allyship. She is a poet of great power and clarity. There is substance, style, and depth to her writing. She is a progressive thinker and understands social injustice, prejudice, and systemic inequity from both a personal and intellectual perspective. In many ways, we are kindred spirits. It's my honor and my pleasure to bring my good friend and poetry peer Vijaya Sundaram to First Fridays at the West Medford Community Center.
[Sundaram]: Thank you so much, Terry.
[Carter]: Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. So I'm going to let you run in just a second, because I'm only going to get this one more time. So as I participated in your recent inauguration, I had the opportunity to present a new poem extending words of welcome and speaking to the transition. So as is my custom in hosting these evenings, I'd like to share a piece of verse. And this was that poem, and it's called The Refreshing. We keep it fresh, my friends, not because the first thing wasn't a good thing, a timely thing, an honorable thing, even a historic thing, but because the next thing matters too. It extends equity. It doubles down on diversity. It infests in inclusion. It creates a rising tide that lifts our mystic ships yet again. Our new embrace is warm and substantial, even as our goodbye is sober and heartfelt. We haven't lost. We've learned. And that is ripe fruit for renewal and restoration and revolution. Inaugurations and installations are both splendid invitations for a good thing, a timely thing, an honorable thing, even a historic thing. So have no lamentations in this place. Our task is both noble and necessary. We rejoice in what we came to do. We resound in what we came to do. We refresh in what we came to do. We release in what we came to do. If one holds the torch too long, the oil of his anointing will burn close and at caution. Wisdom reproaches and advises, do not let darkness beckon. Light a new candle and pass it on. The centurion awaits her in ordination. The sentinel watches at the ramparts. The vanguard prepares to approach. The next herald must have her say. The same sun shines equally on antiquity and perpetuity. Let the old inform the new, even as the midnight sky informs the morning dew at the break of dawn. Let what was become what is and is to come. So let's keep it fresh, my friends, because while the first thing was a good thing, a timely thing, an honorable thing, even a historic thing, the next thing matters too. Let it extend equity. Let it double down on diversity. Let it invest in inclusion. Let it create a rising tide that lifts our ancient ships yet again for Vijaya.
[Sundaram]: Thank you so much. What a beautiful poem. I'm going to have to clap.
[Carter]: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. So that's the lay of the land. So let's have a friendly chat with my old friend and your new friend Vijaya Sundaram. So Vijaya, can you talk a bit about your early journey to the US as an immigrant from India? What brought you here and why did you stay?
[Sundaram]: Oh, well, that would lead me to include my husband, Warren, who very kindly showed up and gave me my glasses when I needed them. I completely forgot I needed them. Thank you. I had to signal to him. So I met Warren in 1986 in the city of Pune. I had just arrived in Pune in 1985 from the south of India. He had just arrived in 1985 from Boston. on a scholarship to study Indian classical music. I was at Ferguson College studying my masters in literature, and he was there hosting musicians in his house. So through a series of interesting events, I ended up at his place, not knowing it was his place. We met each other. We became instant friends. We talked. We played music. We sang. Two years later, we got married, and I came here. Wow. That was it. We thought that we'd be here for a short while, but his father said, nope, we're going to arrange for a green card for you. So he did. And I thought, OK, brief while. And then the time flew by. And then I said, OK, fine. It looks like I'm going to live here. So I became a citizen in 1999. What brought me here is really getting married to Warren Sanders, a musician and a band leader and writer and educator himself. OK.
[Carter]: Fantastic. Fantastic. And clearly, the same thing that brought you here is the thing that keeps you here. Yes, indeed. Really good. Really good. differences, whether it's cultural, sociological, environmental, between where you were and where you are.
[Sundaram]: So when I was in the city of Madras, which is now Chennai, and Pune, which is now Pune, things obviously weren't as automated as they are now. And so the differences there were that people would The body language is different. Facial expressions are different. You speak English, but it's not the same. It's not that we spoke a different grammar. It's that we spoke a different culture of English. It's hard to explain until you've lived in two places for any length of time. If you just go and visit, it's not the same thing. People will make allowances for you. But if you live there and then you live here, you learn that your facial expression and your body language change imperceptibly. The way you walk, the way you carry yourself. So in the city of Pune, men didn't look at women directly unless you were equals in college or something like that. You'd sort of look. sort of respectfully sideways, maybe not directly. So that's one of the differences. So I remembered feeling annoyed when I went back and people didn't look at me directly because I'd gotten used to it over here. So another thing that I had gotten used to, well there's so much. I remember when I spoke over here and gestured, people didn't understand me. And I thought, surely I'm making sense. I'm speaking grammatical English, and I speak and enunciate clearly. So what is it that they're missing? What is it that I'm missing? And I think they were primed to misunderstand me, and I was primed to not understand that they didn't understand me. Do you know what I mean? I think I do. It's really hard to explain, but I remember thinking I was very clear and someone misunderstood what I was saying. And it is, it's almost like when they hear your name, for example, you write your name, Vijaya, they imagine that it's something else. It's exactly as it's written. But because mentally you're thinking it's a foreign thing, you are sort of not noticing what it really is. Again, it's very imperceptible. When I went back to Pune the first time, All the shopkeepers said, where are you from? I said, I'm from here. They said, no, you're not from here. Where are you from? So both ways, everything changes. And it's impossible to put it into words. All I know is you stand differently if you're in America. You talk differently, you are more direct. In India, they are direct, they are very direct, but it's different eye contact. That's just one of the things, and then of course everything else is too big a thing to go into. It's a cultural thing, it's a different talk entirely.
[Carter]: What do you miss? What kinds of things do you miss?
[Sundaram]: In India, people show up unannounced. So the doorbell rings and it's your friend. It's a neighbor. And you're not supposed to get annoyed. So I got annoyed. After I'd lived here for a while, I went back and said, why don't you call me? I'm not ready. I'm not dressed. Forget it. It's very sweet. It's one of the nice aspects of India. People come. There's fluid movement between homes and houses. People show up, and they're there for you in a way. It's not that obvious here. I'm not saying they're not here for you, but it's too far-flung. The communities are too disparate. But in India, my mother and my aunt live alone now in a flat. My grandmother died, my father died, my grandfather died. Two older women living alone. And they're very brave. In India, it's always the man who protects you. Over here, too, actually, but people deny it. I'm talking about the mindset. But here, it's much more independent. There, the women are becoming more independent. I miss the coming and going of people over there. I miss the crowds on the street. I could ride my bicycle late at night and never be afraid. I would ride from Deccan Gymkhana, where I would have done a recording for the Indian Institute, the Film Institute of India, with Warren. He was staying there. And then I'd ride my bike home, and it would be midnight. And people would be going, not just men, but men and women and children going for a midnight snack for the local restaurant or something. It was really charming, so I miss that. When I first came here, I thought, where are all the people? There's no one. You go out on the street at 8 o'clock and you're saying, I'm afraid, you know, that was the first year after that I got used to it.
[Carter]: There are a lot of communities where they roll up the sidewalks at 10, you know, where I live in Randolph now, yeah, they pretty much roll up the sidewalks at 10 o'clock. I like that, I like how you said it. You homeschooled your daughter? Yes, indeed. Okay, okay. Did you ever say, what the heck have I gotten myself into? How is it different from teaching a group of young people in a traditional classroom?
[Sundaram]: So I have the advantage of having taught in public school. I taught for 17 years in Winchester as an eighth grade English teacher. I saw what the pressure was on the kids. I inadvertently added to that pressure, even though I did my best not to, and they appreciated it a lot. You still have to because there are expectations. There's homework, there's tests, there's things you need to prepare them for. The parents are, you know, I need my child to get into Harvard or whatever, you know. So you have to, deliver without killing their spirit. And I did my utmost. I worked like a dog. Okay, dogs don't work, but I worked very hard. I worked to make sure that I provided a safe and happy place for the students. There would be music playing, but still, I saw what their pressure was. When they came into the classroom, I'd have a free ride when they came in. There'd be a prompt on the board. There'd be some guitar music. and there'd be plants hanging from the walls, from the ceiling, pictures, no motivational pictures, just pictures of art. And so that was nice, but not everybody had that. And I'm not blaming anyone. We need to deliver, and public schools are great. And I love being a public school teacher. I still think that we need them. People think it's either or. It's never either or. I loved being, and I would have continued being, a public school teacher had I not gotten burned out from giving 100%, 200%, if that's possible, every time. But I was getting older and tired, so I left that. But I saw that. And so when people in my public school asked me, why are you homeschooling your daughter? I said, there's room in the world for all kinds of people, and there's room in the world for all kinds of schooling. There's public school, there are private schools. No one questions the private schools. Why are they even there? And then the charter schools, they take, you know, some... Bits of both. Yeah. And then, so I said, there's room for all of us, and there's room, and if you can do it, why not? And look, I'm reducing the pressure on public schools by homeschooling. So my arguments were very logical, and they couldn't really say anything against it. But I didn't plan to homeschool her. It was my husband who came up with the idea. And I said, I've been in school my whole life. I love school. What do you mean homeschool? And he said, no, let's give it a try. And it worked. It worked because we are both teachers. And we know what needs to be done. If we don't know a subject, we know how to approach not knowing it. But even those who are not teachers will tell you that homeschooling worked for their children. It depends on how involved you are and how much you love learning. And I had students in my public school who said, you're homeschooling your daughter? I wish I were homeschooled. And I said, no. That mindset was already there in them. It doesn't matter. I think schools can sometimes reduce the incentive to learn, and it's no shame on, I mean, it's the way the system is. And I have nothing against, I mean, we're trying to do the best we can for everybody, and not everyone has the advantage of being homeschooled. And I love the public schools because they give lunch, breakfast, They had the kids who didn't have, I had some students who didn't have that at home. And they would come and have their free lunch or breakfast. They had access to guidance Councilors. They had access to psychologists. I was so grateful for that. There are some things in homeschooling which could be improved. No one really checks on you, you could be doing anything. So there are some good things and bad things about both. Have I covered everything?
[Carter]: Well, I have a sense that the accountability piece wasn't a big deal for you.
[Sundaram]: Not for us, but it could be. I don't think you needed folks checking on you.
[Carter]: Okay, very good, very good. So talk a little bit about your work at Bunker Hill.
[Sundaram]: So after four years of intense homeschooling, so we were homeschooling while I was a public school teacher. I'd come home after teaching for six hours, spending time with my students after school and coming home, and I'd read six chapters at a time of a book for my daughter. I would leave assignments for her. She was not good at handwriting. She's a great mind and wonderful speller and a great thinker. But her handwriting was still, you know, awkward like mine is still. So I would leave these little dotted things for her to write over when she was very little and then she got better. I would teach her some math, Warren would teach her more math and music and woodworking and Indian and Western music. So she learned guitar growing up and classical Indian music and we enrolled her in Indian dance class and swimming. So all of that, so after four years of doing intensive that and nothing else, I began to feel the itch of wanting to teach in a public setting. So I found, someone said, you should apply to Bunker Hill Community College. And I said, but don't you need a PhD? And they said, no, not always. So I applied, and I went through the interview process, and that was as an adjunct in 2019. Then they had an opening. I applied and interviewed. And they gave me the job last semester, last fall. So this is my second full year at Bunker Hill now. I love it. Absolutely. And I love teaching those students. They're fantastic.
[Carter]: So what surprises you most about the work that you do in teaching now, your students and such?
[Sundaram]: Well, when I first entered the college, and Bunker Hill is quite a sprawling place, I knew very little about it. I frankly didn't know anything about community colleges, shame on me, but I didn't. And I learned rapidly. And the first sense was that I have entered the United Nations. I loved being there. So many brown faces, so many Africans from Africa, so many African-Americans, so many Spanish speakers, so many people from various countries, from Eastern Europe, from India, from Pakistan, Bangladesh. I loved it. China and some Japanese students and some Vietnamese students. So I had students from everywhere. They came with different strengths, and it was lovely to teach them. They were there to learn. The difference between teaching children, and again, no offense, children are beautiful to teach, and grown-ups is that The grown-ups are there because they want to learn. And the children are there because they're made to go to school. Let's face it. They'd rather be outside playing, and who can blame them? But I love teaching these students. And it was hard because there was a multiplicity of educational systems to which they had been differently exposed. And so I had to figure out how to make it equitable for all without dumbing down the syllabus and making it inspiring. So they had to read William Zinsser, or Kurt Vonnegut, or Virginia Woolf, or James Baldwin, who is very hard for even English speakers to read. He is such an intellectual giant. I made sure we read Maya Angelou, we read people from various places, Sandra Cisneros, some Indian writers as well. I wanted to represent the multiplicity of voices. to represent in class for them to relate to at different levels. And I said, look, you may not understand the language. I will read all of the words and all of the sentences. I recorded hours of this stuff. I said, look, I will read, I will stop, I will explain each sentence if it's difficult, every word. And they really liked it. Wow. They were willing to go with me. How beautiful. That's a lot of work, but I liked it a lot.
[Carter]: So you went through, obviously, the heart of the COVID-19 scourge, and it's changed the way that we behave in general, but how did it change the way that you approached collegiate teaching?
[Sundaram]: I had to teach a lot online. And that was a rapid learning for me. I went from not knowing anything about learning management systems to learning it as fast as possible and using every possibility it offered. That was great. I like learning new things. It doesn't matter what it is. So that was fun for me. And I learned how to use all of the technological stuff available. And they gave us some training, but I also poked around and figured out some stuff. And so most of the classes were online, but then they began to have them in person. And so that was nice, to have both.
[Carter]: So I'm going to shift gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you, what made you decide to apply for the Poet Laureate's Opportunity in Medford?
[Sundaram]: I actually knew nothing about it. A friend of mine, which is not actually a friend, an acquaintance, whose children took my poetry club. I teach homeschoolers online. I call it Poetry Club. And they come. I have children from various towns. And so her children were in Medford. She lives in Medford. And she said, you know, this thing is being advertised. You should apply. My children rave about you. I said, because I wasn't reading the paper. I was too busy teaching.
[RhUNhYl62Oo_SPEAKER_05]: Yes.
[Sundaram]: So I didn't see it. And they said, you should apply. I said, OK. So the first time I applied, but I didn't get it. Terry got it. This is great. I was so happy you got it. I did not feel bad at all, not one whit. So just letting you know that. OK, thank you. The second time. I was just so pleased that it was there, that they chose a worthy person for it. And a delightful, worthy, and wonderful poet. There we go. I'm not sucking up because I have no dog in this game anymore, right? Dog in this fight. See, this is an American idiom which I have just used for the first time.
[Carter]: We do a bunch of stuff that we don't even understand. Dog in this fight.
[Sundaram]: But then I almost didn't apply for this year's. I actually thought, nah, why? So the same person reminded me. And two or three other people said, you should apply. Heather Meeker Green. I thought she might be here today. She runs the farmer's market. Absolutely. So she said, you should apply. I said, but really? And she said, yes. So I did. Pretty much before midnight on the day that it was due.
[Carter]: Well, when I found out that they weren't going to extend my term of office and that they definitely wanted to go with a new laureate every two years, you were the first one that I thought of. Thank you. I said to myself, I hope she applies. Thank you. And full disclosure, they didn't really ask my opinion. So I would have been on the horns of a bit of a dilemma because I'm friends with folks. But really, I thought that it was a feather in their cap, so to speak, to have you. And I wasn't at all sheepish about sharing the distinction with you because, like I said in the piece,
[Sundaram]: Pass the torch along. It's moving on. I really like that, actually, that we can have many poets coming, because Medford has some really, really good poets.
[Carter]: It does.
[Sundaram]: A couple of others who I hope will apply.
[Carter]: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I know this is subject to change, because the landscape constantly shifts under our feet creatively. But if you have a vision, of maybe some of the things that you'd like to do, or some of the things that you'd like to see as Poet Laureate, what would it be? What are some of the things you maybe thought about?
[Sundaram]: So I was actually thinking, and I don't know how this would work out, but I do want to run both an online and in-person poetry club. And I was wondering, and you can tell me what you think of this, whether it's okay to have one separately for older people and one separately for younger people or mingle and mix and have them, I have to find out where I can hold it. So I was thinking of asking the public library or maybe here to run a poetry workshop, to invite other poets. to just have fun because people want to write, people want to express and poetry I think is one of the most succinct ways in which we can convey emotion and intellect and ideas and joy and sorrow and all of those things without having to go into a long novel or you know explain everything. Sometimes the non-explanation helps. Sometimes people just want to be allusive and obtuse. And sometimes they want to be direct. Both are great in poetry.
[Carter]: Fully acceptable. I mean those 17 syllables in a haiku sometimes is all that needs to be said. And then sometimes like me, I'm a long form poet.
[SPEAKER_07]: I like long form.
[Carter]: I like to go in, as they say, and stay there for a little while. So yeah. But yeah. First of all, I think it's a wonderful idea. And there are a couple of things that I did that kind of scratched at the surface, but never really got there fully. If we were talking about doing it collaboratively or whatever, I probably would I wouldn't necessarily want to separate the age groups.
[Sundaram]: Yeah, I wouldn't either, really.
[Carter]: But I also believe that in some instances, young people are far more willing to share with their peer group.
[Sundaram]: There is that.
[Carter]: And they are intergenerational. I think what you can do, though, is- Maybe an intersection?
[Sundaram]: Exactly. You know, like Venn diagrams, so they can separate, separate every now and then, get them together. Absolutely.
[Carter]: That'd be fun. Three weeks separate, two weeks together, three weeks separate.
[Sundaram]: That sounds really nice.
[Carter]: So yeah, I think that's fantastic. So for you, I know that music is a huge part of your creative life. What kinds of things are you doing musically right now?
[Sundaram]: Oh, well, my husband and I and my daughter, who's now a freshman at UMass Amherst and has been there for exactly one week. Normally we sing every night together. We sing madrigals, 16th century madrigals. And we sing some old jazz standards and some folk songs sometimes. We play guitar together. All three of us play guitar. And so I do that. Right now it's just Warren and me. And so at home we go over those songs together and miss the third voice of our child. Other than that, I have returned to playing the sitar. I'm a trained sitarist, studied with a student who was a senior disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar. It's been 18 or 20 years since I played the sitar seriously. So I got myself another used sitar. I have a sitar of my own but that needs work. I've had it since I was 16 years old and I brought it to America with me when I came in 1988. But I got another sitar that somebody was selling on FB marketplace. And I was skeptical. I checked it out. It was a really good sitar. Not a bad one, anyway. And so I started playing it. And I played it practically every day, with the exception of four days somewhere in there. And I'm trying to get back to doing that music as well, my Indian classical music. For a long time, Warren and I also performed Hindustani vocal music together, but again, my voice is not its old self, so it's not as flexible, and I need to get back in shape. Everything needs to get back in shape. It's so annoying to be older.
[Carter]: Preaching to the choir there. Okay, all right. So, and you did mention one, obviously, and he's the artistic influence for a lot of folks, particularly in Indian music, but who are some of your artistic influences in music and art and poetry?
[Sundaram]: In music, I love the Beatles. I grew up listening to the Beatles, so that was my earliest Western music. I also heard Louis Armstrong, who was famous all over the world. You know, I never heard of Duke. I think I heard of him, but I never heard him. I listened to Frank Sinatra. A lot of Karen Carpenter.
[SPEAKER_00]: Queen.
[Sundaram]: It was the 70s, you know, and we listened to Karen Carpenter. She was sweet. Yeah, very sweet music. Lovely voice, but some songs are carol king. And I listen to, of course, Jethro Tull, and Queen, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. So those are some of the Western music influences. Indian music, Ravi Shankar, Vimsin Joshi, some of the Indian vocalists that won't be familiar to some of you. MS Subbulakshmi, she's very famous. So I listen to a lot of them. growing up, it was playing in the house. And of course, Indian Bollywood songs that were on the radio all over the place, blaring from houses, from rickshaws, from everywhere. It was in the air. Warren can attest to that. Music is in the air. like you cannot help but pick it up it's like that and no one thinks twice if you burst into song on the street here you have to think oh my god you know i remember being very wary about singing now i don't care i sing if i want to it doesn't matter but over there it was just you know everybody sang okay and you know you'd get in a train or something and a blind man with a little boy might come with a one-stringed instrument and sing the most unearthly beautiful music and then get off the train and maybe get make a few bits of you know few paisa few coins yeah coins and then go off so you know music was everywhere yeah I love it so that's in music and what was your other
[Carter]: Art, poetry, poetry in particular, yeah.
[Sundaram]: Poetry, yeah. I had a teacher in the seventh standard, seventh grade as you'd say here. I went to a convent school, so that's a separate story. I'm a child of Indian Tamil Brahmins who like several other Tamilians and Brahmins, sent their children to convent schools because that's where you got the best education. And they said, well, in an English-speaking world, we want our children to have the best chance. So we were all forced to speak in English in class, in school. None of us were encouraged to speak in our own language. I'm embarrassed about that now when I think about it, because I didn't grow up... I grew up speaking my language at home, but not in school. And with my friends, I spoke English. We all speak English. Anyway, so in Seventh Standard, the nun who was teaching us, Sister Lina, I've acknowledged her in my poetry book. Sister Lina was lovely. She was a very stern but beautiful-faced woman with a habit. In those days, they were the full habit. I don't know how they survived Chennai heat. And then they switched to saris, thank goodness. But they were the full habit. And she would read us Wordsworth. And my ears perked up. So William Wordsworth was the first. poet who caught my fancy.
[Carter]: Lyrical poets, yes.
[Sundaram]: I loved the romantics and the lyrical poets at that time. So I also loved Sarojini Naidu, who was an Indian poet from the freedom struggle era. And she wrote in English, but she wrote beautiful sort of lyrical poems about Indian situations. And Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian poet who won the Nobel Prize. That's right. He wrote in Bengali, but his translations were lovely. And I grew up reading his work. And then of course Keats and Shelley and the rest of them. And then Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, I loved them. And a whole lot of other poets. I read everything that came my way. When I was 10, actually, my neighbor Sunda, which was short for Sundaram, which is like my name, he was a writer and a journalist who had this beautiful, pristine bookcase, glass, several glass-covered bookcases in his house. He'd invite me over, and he and his wife would be very kind to us. His children were grown, and they had children. And I'd jump over the wall from my house to his house, and I'd go and stare like a kid in a candy store, because I loved books. I read them nonstop. I had no life. I mean, other kids, you know, I would climb trees like Maria von Trapp. I would scrape my knees. Oh, by the way, that was a big influence. And I looked at his books and I saw the complete works of Oscar Wilde. I saw the complete works of William Shakespeare. He also, he loaned me my Rabindranath Tagore and he said, keep it. He gave me the Oscar Wilde which came with me to America in 1988. I came with three big books, the complete works of William Shakespeare that my father gave me, the complete works of Oscar Wilde that Mr. Sundar gave me, and all of the Rabindranath Tagore. So his books, they were selections of poetry, so I can't even name all of them, there were so many, but I read all of those. When it came time for me to go to college, I'd read everything. So I had the best college life. I didn't need to study a thing. I was like, hi, hi. And I just did my work.
[Carter]: Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. I want to keep track of time because there's a couple of things I want to make sure we get to. So as you think about some collaborations and youth poetry and engaging more folks in the appreciation of the literary arts in Medford, what do you see as some of the possible challenges and some potential opportunities?
[Sundaram]: Challenges? I can't even think about what the challenges are because I haven't encountered them yet. It'll have to be a flight of imagination right now. I can imagine someone saying, why poetry? What's the big deal? Why should I write poetry? Why are you coming and bothering me with this stuff? I might try and rope them in with some beautiful poems and songs. I don't know. I'll try to get them dancing to something. There you go. I have no idea yet. I love it. But the opportunities, I think I'm going to combine music and poetry. Everything has a rhythm.
[Carter]: I love it. Oh my gosh. Maracas. Yes.
[Sundaram]: So I'll bring my guitar, my maracas. I have a dulcimer that Warren got me as a present once. Oh my goodness. And see what I can do.
[Carter]: Well, it's funny because, and maybe I thought about it once or twice, but I was never really thinking that. I wasn't thinking the way I should have been about the intersection of poetry and music. But you performed. Well, yeah. I had done a little bit, but meeting Jonathan Fagan kind of changed my trajectory considerably. And we have a CD coming out sometime in the next couple of months of the jazz that we do. And it's become the intersection of jazz and social justice. So it makes perfect sense. And it particularly makes a lot of sense when you're thinking about young people. because so much of the social information that they receive, and even the social contract that they begin to build in their own minds, comes via the music that they listen to. That's so true. So if positive messages and poetry can be blended with the kind of music that they're interested in listening to, and even some that they might not be, but get exposed to and say, ooh, this is a thing.
[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, exactly.
[Carter]: Yeah, I think it's cool. So, what would people who are just meeting you be surprised to learn about you?
[Sundaram]: What surprised you about me? I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask a question.
[Carter]: No, it's good, it's good. It's a fair question. I think what surprised me about you is how genial you are. If that's the word that I can use. How ready you are to embrace the potential for friendship. I mean, you didn't know me from a can of paint, but you knew that I was a poet. And I think you maybe gave me a little bit of credit for that. But when we talked, I immediately got the sense from you that here is a person that is ready to embrace a friendship. And again, you didn't know me, but it sounded to me like you had already said to yourself, well, if he's willing, I would like to be his friend.
[Sundaram]: Well, that's a lovely thing. And you know what? It goes both ways. I mean, you are one of the most generous, genial people I have met. And you were so warm and welcoming of me and Max and Julia, the other poets who we performed with. And you just, you didn't... begrudge us our poetry. You just come on in. And so you made it possible for us to feel that way. And so thank you for that comment. You're welcome. But I think you are also a very genial person.
[Carter]: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's lovely to hear it and it felt good to say it. Thank you. So yeah, absolutely.
[Sundaram]: I don't know what would surprise people. Maybe the fact that I have a dot. Is the dot even in the middle of my voice?
[Carter]: It's sitting where it's supposed to sit, I think.
[Sundaram]: It moves around. It has a mind of its own. Okay. Sometimes it shows up on my shoulder, I have no idea. So yeah, I have a dot and people wonder whether that's a sign of religion and yes it is for people but for me it's an identity marker. That's all it is for me. It reminds me, it's my umbilicus, it reminds me of my past and holds me to that because it's very easy to get swept up in whatever culture you're in. It's very easy to forget. You have to remember some part of who you were. And any person who thinks enough will reinvent himself, herself, themselves as time goes on. And we are constantly shedding the skin of our past selves. But I don't want to forget that part. No, that part is beautiful.
[Carter]: It's wonderful. Absolutely. Absolutely. And then the other thing that, you know, it didn't surprise me to learn about you because I had a sense that this was going to be the case. But in hearing you talk, and particularly in hearing you to read, just the... just kind of the lyrical nature of your voice. It sounds like singing, even when it's just talking.
[SPEAKER_07]: Lovely, thank you.
[Carter]: And for me, because I always like to think that that's what I do, that the rhythm and the lyrical nature of what I'm trying to get across, I'm always hopeful that people hear that. They say, you don't do that. Man, that's musical, brother. that jazz thing you just got that flow right and i'm even meeting you know brothers that you know they're a little bit more hardcore you know they you know they i say like we say they from the hood you know what i'm saying and so when they hear me they're they're like yo man i'm Yo, do you rap? Do you rap? I said, not knowingly, not intentionally, but a lot of where I'm coming from has kind of that lyrical edge to it. And especially when I'm going deep on some of these themes of social justice, because I know that younger people won't receive it the way that I want them to unless it kind of comes at them with a bit more of an edge to it. So I have those places in me, too.
[Sundaram]: I love the internal rhymes and the end rhymes that you have. They're so wonderful. And the consonances and assonances that you use in your writing, it's very rhythmic and flowing.
[Carter]: Thank you. Thank you very much. So I don't want the people to leave without hearing how wonderful a poet you are and you have your new book with you. So I was wondering if you would read a couple of pieces for us.
[Sundaram]: By the way, can you hear me well at the back? OK, thank you. Because sometimes people say I'm not speaking into the mic, so I just want to make sure. Thank you. All right. I didn't actually plan to decide which one to read, so let me see. It's OK. Okay, this is a more personal one, personal in the sense of not revealing my history or anything, but about my body. My body. A body is a curious thing to possess. I am conscious of mine as a friend with her own blind needs, her own mute sorrows, her loud joys. Her love of some fragrances and loathing of certain smells. Her ears that welcome all music. Her eyes that see beyond facades, but forget to see the facade itself. She is the entity who shares my other consciousness. When she is out of sorts, but I'm sanguine, we confuse each other. But sometimes it's the other way around. But mostly we keep peace between us. She keeps track of time, so that even when I'm not near a clock, she lets me know. When I'm hurt, she forces me to shut down my other self and attend to her. This is as it should be. She has given me space to live within her, and I love her, and I thank her for giving me room. She is a map of my journeys, and the road on which the journeys took place. And her imperfections, so many, fill me with quiet affection. And... She has shed her skin so many times and donned new ones, and her hands, all veined, have held this earth and other hands with love and trust, ready to give, even when she lost sometimes. Yes, she has failed me at times, but then I failed her even more. But mostly, we are at peace. I shall miss her when she dies. I do not think she'll remember to miss me at the time of her passing.
[Carter]: Oh, wow. Fantastic.
[Sundaram]: Thank you so much.
[Carter]: So I don't lie. She's wonderfully lyrical. She has a vivid imagination. And she knows her internal rhythms really, really well. Would you read another one for us? Sure. Thank you.
[Sundaram]: Let's see. So this was when I was reading about children in cages in detention centers and it was really hard and you feel so impotent with rage and you can't do anything to help because what are you going to do? You know, we don't have the power to go in and fix anything. All we can do is give money to the organizations that do, that are able to get their lawyers in and do all of that work. But I thought I'd write a poem about it. Here's the Thing is the title. Here's the thing about children in detention centers, abandoned, sick, dying, separated from all that is good. One cannot make poetry from it. One cannot make art from it. One cannot make anything from it, for it is unimaginable. It is an offense against humanity. It makes all other emotion hollow. It makes it hard to live a life that holds meaning. All joys and sadnesses become muted when set against it. And yet we struggle on, stupid, stupefied, stunned by it all. Still laugh, still eat and drink, still find pleasure in daily things. For if only sorrow and horror define us, what's left? So we make music and art and we sing even when our voices crack and other cracks form within. Dual consciousness is the new burden all of us carry as we try and carve out a different vision for all people, perhaps a different life, and work in what ways we can to tilt the balance a little in favor of humanity. And if the horror we see doesn't kill us all, the work we do might just save us all.
[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you. All right. Hear, hear. Hear, hear. Thank you.
[Carter]: Very good. So I want to make sure I give you the last word. OK. When you're parting shots.
[Sundaram]: OK. From here or? Just from your soul. From my soul. I say, my message to everyone is find beauty everywhere you look. And I know people say this, and we say this, that does not make it untrue. If you hear it a thousand times, it's still true. Find the beauty everywhere. Find empathy for suffering. Try and find joy in days when joy is lacking. Become the thing you look at. If you look at a flower, become that flower. Absorb its color. Let it become you. For a second, you are it. And that's really lovely. And likewise, you look at an animal. The animal is so pure, so true, like Walt Whitman said, I think I shall turn and live with animals. They are so quiet and self-contained. They do not complain, et cetera. I forget the rest of what he said. But I love the quiet and self-contained nature of things. So sometimes, when human beings become too much for us, become a thing, or an animal, or a bird, or a flower. It helps. And just be as true to yourself as you can, as well as not lose sight of actual objective truth. Do you know what I mean? You need to understand truth and truth. They're two different truths. And now I'm sounding very philosophical, so I shall stop. But thank you so much for listening. Thank you. Thank you.
[Carter]: Ladies and gentlemen, Vijaya Sundaram. Thank you. Thank you, Terry. Thank you. Thank you so much for bringing new perspective and your great talents to the arts community in Greater Medford. It's important work that you'll be engaged in, and I hope that the city will treat you at least as well as they've treated me. And to everyone watching, thanks so much for your attentiveness and interest in our discussion. Get ready for something very special on the musical side of the coin. We're gonna take a little bit of a break to reset our stage, and I'll share some announcements, and then we'll get started with the music for the evening. So, all right? Okay. Thank you, Vijay. Thank you, thank you very much. Lovely.
[Sundaram]: just because, I hope that's okay. You have copies of your books? Oh yes, I have.
[Carter]: Oh yes, yes, yes. So the book is called Fractured Lens, okay, retails $16, and if you'd like it, Vijaya has them available so that you can purchase it. Thank you. You're welcome. Let me just make sure I've got all of my ducks in a row paper-wise. Okay. All good? Okay. Very good. Good, good. All set. Is that under the table? Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right. And then which mic is this third mic? This third mic is for the mic. Oh, that's cool. So I'm going to bring that one out.
[o9F0qYH9Geo_SPEAKER_05]: So I think it was at 12 o'clock. OK. Cool. OK. Very good.
[Carter]: And if you need more gain, just let me know, and I'll come adjust it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can let you know.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's hers. So now is this kind of like here?
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. Yeah. This is cool. This is like the right way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that mic picking up the guitar in addition to her? do you want to be plugged in? yes I'll be plugged in Do you want me to try and grab an XLR and take a feed out of the end? Or do you want to just stick with it as it is for now?
[Carter]: I think it'll be OK.
[SPEAKER_00]: OK, we'll be OK the way it is?
[Carter]: Sounds good. She's mic'd up, so. OK, folks, we're going to keep it moving. OK.
[SPEAKER_03]: Keep her moving. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Carter]: OK. Very good, very good. All right. That's all right. Commerce, blind commerce. I love it. I love it. If it wasn't you, it would be me, so don't worry about it. I got books in the trunk of my car, just like I told you. OK. So, first of all, I want to, and you know, some of you might be in the audience and some of you might be watching out there on TV land and so forth, but thanks to everyone who joined us for the recent two-day Medford Jazz Festival. We had a great, albeit hot, time on both days, and the music was really, really wonderful. So it was a real, I think it was a real feather in the capital community center to be able to stage a two-day jazz festival again in our own backyard. So I just want to say thank you for everybody who came out. Okay, so elders, join us each week, Tuesday through Thursday, for a nutritious lunch and vibrant fellowship. Lunch is served at 12 noon. You can call 781-483-3042 to make a reservation with either myself or with Lisa. So if you feel like you have history with this organization, and want to show special love or support, please consider purchasing a commemorative brick to be placed under our front portico here at WMCC. This is actually the second iteration of the Brick by Brick fundraising campaign, and we're excited to offer a new group of friends and neighbors the opportunity to participate. see me or Lisa or actually any board member to get a form, fill it out, write a check. Placements are limited, so don't delay. And if you want to see what it looks like, right as you go out the front door to the left, there's one pad. We're going to actually excavate another pad, and we're going to have about 70 more bricks that can go in. So if you want to get a brick, climb on board. Okay, join us here at the WMCC in membership, and don't forget to attend our annual meeting at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 17th. New and returning board members will be voted upon by the active membership, and a progress report on the organizational health and direction of the WMCC will be shared. The new school year is upon us, and we have open slots in our after-school youth program for middle schoolers who are Medford residents. Please contact Lisa Crossman for details or to enroll new students. Okay? Okay, so how can you help us? Your tax-deductible donations help to support the mission of WMCC. Partner with us in carrying this mission forward. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this vital community organization. You can make your donation by phone, online, or by check. Please contact Lisa at 781-483-3042 for more information or to become a member. Okay, folks, enough for commercials. Now it's time to turn our attention to the lyrical miracle we've engaged for this evening's musical side of The Ledger. Okay, so tonight we're gonna go with two well-established and highly professional performers that have gained considerable followings and have also taken their wonderful talents beyond Massachusetts and New England. It gives me great pleasure to introduce Erin Hogan and Ike Sturm. I met Erin, oh please, yes, yes. Absolutely good time to clap. I met Erin a few years ago when we both joined our good friend Jonathan Fagan, convener of the Jazz Festival, Fagan, to present a program of poetry and song to a senior residential community in Newton. Erin began the program and I was really, really impressed. She has a remarkable voice. About halfway through my poetry, I got heckled. One of the seniors shouted, bring the singer back. So that's what we did, you know. Erin's extensive training includes heavy influences in classical music, opera, jazz, folk, and the great American songbook. Her amazing voice works beautifully in all these genres. She is from the Midwest.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, from Wisconsin.
[Carter]: Wisconsin, yes. And she is bringing her artistry to the WMCC for the first time. She is a vocalist with an amazing repertoire and a broad musical vocabulary, as you will soon see and hear. Welcome to West Medford, Erin Hogan. Thank you. OK. So, no less accomplished and highly sought after as a musician, a songwriter, composer, and arranger, let me also present Aaron's accompanist, bassist Ike Stern. Like Aaron, he is also from the Midwest, hailing originally from a musical home in Wisconsin. His first teacher was his dad, a renowned composer and arranger by the name of Fred Sturm. Ike has performed with luminaries like Bobby McFerrin, band leader Maria Schneider, and Kenny Wheeler. He has played on four Down Beat award-winning recordings and alongside numerous creative ensembles in New York where he spends most of his time these days. Ike also studied jazz and classical bass and composition while earning undergraduate and graduate degrees at the renowned Eastman School of Music. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm West Medford welcome to Erin Hogan and Ike Stern. The floor is yours.
[SPEAKER_03]: Whenever I hear that I play with Bobby McFerrin, I'm like, whoa. Yeah. Super lucky. So excited to be here. Thank you, Terry, for the warm welcome. And everyone, beautiful. Thank you so much for your offering. Yeah, I'm super excited to play. The first song I like to play is called Pretty Saro. It's an American folk song. But we kind of take our own little journey with it, inspired by jazz and all my different musical influences. I moved to Boston from Chicago where I was doing my undergrad. I just graduated from Boston University doing opera. So yeah, but I'm ready to take my own kind of journey with music and I'm really happy to share this with you all.
[SPEAKER_04]: Down in some lone valley, in some lonesome place, where the wild birds do whistle, the notes do increase. Farewell, pretty sorrow. I'll bid you adieu And I'll dream of pretty Sarah Wherever I go Oh Oh, I love pretty Sarah But I understand She wants a freeholder But I have no land I cannot maintain her On silver or gold nor buy all the fine things that a big house can hold. Oh. If I were a merchant and could write a fine hand I'd write my love a letter that she'd understand But I'll wander by the river where the waters overflow And I'll dream a pretty sorrow wherever I go. And I'll dream a pretty sorrow wherever I go, wherever I go.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you. It was so fun. Yeah. The next song I'd like to do, I'm really inspired lately by English folk music and Irish folk music. I've been listening a lot to that. I did some work with the Silk Road Ensemble last month in August, and it's really, that time is... asked me to reflect on my own heritage and my own influences too. I've studied jazz, I've studied opera, I've studied, and I haven't really studied folk music. It's only something that I've listened to and so I'm really happy to play these pieces by one of my favorite singers. Her name is Sandy Denny and she is just, I would say, I can't stop listening to her. I'm pretty obsessed. Next to like Joni Mitchell, I think she's like one of my favorite singers and someone that I draw a lot of inspiration from. And so these are two songs that are, I think, really special to me and I don't think are done enough. Actually, some of my favorite opera singers have done this first song, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, on some of their albums, so I can even hear the classical influences in this music. And yeah, I hope you enjoy.
[SPEAKER_04]: across the morning sky. All the birds are leaving, but how can they know that it's time for them to go? the winter fire I will still be dreaming I do not count the time For who knows where the time goes? Who knows where the time goes? Hmm. Sad, deserted shore. Your fickle friend. Ah, but then you know that it's time for them to go. But I will still be here. I have no thought of leaving. do not fear the time for who knows where the time goes who knows where For I am not alone. While my love is near me, I know it will be so until it's time for them to go. come storms of winter and then the birds in spring again. I have no fear of time. my love grows who knows where the time goes who knows where the time goes Do you ever follow and I'll never show? Do you see the water and watch it flow and float an empty shell? Do you think that I'm hiding? You've a fault in your senses. Can you feel it now? Time, what is that of no time? I've lived for a long while nearly everywhere. You will be taken, everyone, you ladies and gentlemen. Come on, listen with your ear upon the paving stone. Is that what you hear, the calming of the sea? Sea flows under your doors in London town And all your defenses are all broken down you laugh at me on funny days but mine's the sleight of hand don't you know that i'm a joker And I'm waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting for the land
[SPEAKER_03]: yeah super super so happy to be here with you all that's that was called the sea by sandy denny i love that song so much I'm super happy Ike's here to offer his amazing talents. Yeah, the next song I'd like to do is actually one of Ike's. It's so beautiful. It's called Connection. And he wrote this in 2020. And if you wanted to say a little bit about your piece, Ike, you'll quickly realize why it's like one of my favorite songs. So yeah. Yeah. So nice to be here with you guys tonight.
[SPEAKER_00]: What a beautiful space, this building, we got to walk upstairs and just get just a very early glimpse of like how unique and special and uplifting this place is. So I'm just really inspired being here. And this piece, I really, I was thinking about getting to play this piece in this space because I guess after a few years ago, when I heard the news about children being separated at the Mexican border from their Thank you. Hello, hello. Thank you so much, Kevin. Yeah, a few years ago, when I heard this news about children being separated from their families, it hit me so hard and I didn't, it's one of those helpless feelings where you don't want something to happen and you don't quite know what to do. And in my little sphere of influence, what I could do was sort of write my thoughts down and make some music. And we were able to share this at a church where I worked in New York City, a place they called the Jazz Church, called St. Peter's. And so we were getting to play this piece at that time. And I actually kind of put some other feelings into it, too, because I have two kids myself that are 14 and 18. Just took one of them to college, unbelievably, a few days ago. So my head's spinning a little bit. But this tune was written for them and also for the child that we all kind of find within ourselves, too, kind of digging back into our pasts and our childhoods. And so I tried, I don't usually write words. I usually write, you know, write chords in music. And so this was something that I tried to write the text for as well. And this tune's called Connection. So I hope you enjoy. You've got to be in tune to be able to connect, right? I have a friend that's a great jazz guitarist named Gene Perkinsini. He's in his 80s now. Thanks, sir. Sorry. This makes such a scene every time I try to say something. Maybe I should not say anything. That's a good hint. No, but I have a wonderful friend, Gene. And he always says, every time you're tuning your instrument, he goes, man, how long have you known about this gig?
[SPEAKER_03]: How long have I known about this gig? I'm going to spare you all from this mic. Write out the case.
[o9F0qYH9Geo_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_04]: A child is born. Their bond is torn. Can we be free as infants weep? They forget her face, their first embrace. We won't stand by as children cry. You are beautiful, my child, just as you are. I see you standing there with a heart that yearns in you, burns in me. Lean on me. You'll always be by my side. I'll be your guide. La, do, da, do, da, do. You are beautiful, my child, just as you are. I see you standing there with a heart that yearns in you, burns in me. Mercy flows. Connections grow. Break the wall. Divisions fall. A love like ours is in the stars. It's what we need to live and breathe. You are beautiful, my child. You, you are beautiful, my child. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. You are beautiful, my child You are beautiful, my child You are beautiful, my child Just as you are
[SPEAKER_03]: It's just one of my favorite songs ever. Yeah. Super, super excited to be here. Yeah, I'm going to bring back, I actually think I'm going to do both sides now by Joni Mitchell. She's also one of my favorite, favorite writers. And are you going to play upright or are you going to play up? Yeah. Yeah. Or this, whatever you prefer. Yeah, yeah. A. Yeah. We just got together today. We're like, today, like, yeah, we have no time to rehearse, you know, because we live far apart. Or G, G. Yeah. It's the ages old game of tuning. How y'all feeling? Good? It's Friday night. This is great. Great end of the week. Yeah. I think of these songs kind of like prayers, too. A big part of my music making starts in the church, and these songs, I love how this song can change through all the years that, from when you first heard it to like now, and it's like, it's a timeless song, and that's what I love about this.
[SPEAKER_04]: Rows and flows of angel hair And ice cream castles in the air And feather canyons everywhere I've looked at clouds that way But now they only block the sun. They rain and snow on everyone. So many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way. I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow it's clouds, illusions. I recall. I really don't know love. moons and dunes and ferris wheels the dizzy dancing way you feel as every fairy tale comes real i've looked at love that way And now it's just another show. You leave them laughing when you go. And if you care, don't let them know. Don't give yourself away. I've looked at love from both sides now. From give and take and still somehow. It's love's illusions I recall. I really don't know love at all. At all. Tears and fears and feeling proud to say I love you right out loud. Dreams and schemes and circus crowds. I've looked at life that way. But now old friends, they're acting strange. They shake their heads. They say I've changed. Well, something's lost and something's gained in living every day. I've looked at life from both sides now, from win and lose, and still somehow it's life's illusions I recall. I really don't know. I really don't know a lot.
[SPEAKER_03]: I feel like every time I play these songs it's like a new time. I can't feel my hands. I was playing so hard on the bass. I'd like to do the first song I ever learned. It's called Moon River. It's one of my favorite songs ever. And this is also probably like the first time we've ever played it. I feel like every time I sing this song, it's like the first time I've ever sung it. I have this woman in my life she's like my second mother and her name is Anita and we I used to go over to her house I'm a triplet I grew up in Wisconsin that's how I know I connected through his father who was an incredible music teacher of all my music teachers growing up which is like crazy But where I was going with this, this is my first music teacher, my neighbor, her name is Anita. And I have to mention her every time I sing this song because she used to sit, I used to sit next to her at the piano and she used to play this and we'd sing it together. And she was the one that taught me how to sing. And she, she calls me Erinita. And because she, she always wanted a girl and she has two boys who are like similar in age to my brothers. I'm a triplet. And so we would trade. Her boys would go over to our house, and I would go over to her house. And she is amazing. I pray for her. She's struggling with cancer. So if you can really just keep her in your thoughts and prayers. And every time I sing this song, I think it's like a prayer to her. And she's amazing. She's from India. And I learned a lot of my... like spirituality and the way that I just live from her. So I dedicate this to Anita. She's the most beautiful person ever. So yeah. Oh, I'm getting like choked up about her.
[o9F0qYH9Geo_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_04]: Moon river wider than a mile I'm crossing you in style someday Oh dream maker, you heart breaker, wherever you're going, I'm going your way. see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. We're after the same rainbow's end. Waiting round the bend. my huckleberry friend moon river and me do it one more time moon river wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style someday. Old dream maker, you heart breaker, wherever you're off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. Where after the same end, waiting round the bend, my huckleberry friend, moon river. and me.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. Great. That's also one of my grandpa's favorite song, too. Yeah, he loved that. He loved how you sang that for him. Yeah. It's good for silence. I'm choking on my own water. Sorry, guys. I'd like to do a song I wrote. It's called I Don't Know. That's what it's called, literally, which is funny. Yeah. And I wrote this actually because I've been really inspired by, I'll speak into the mic, Thich Nhat Hanh, who's one of my favorite teachers. If you don't know Thich Nhat Hanh, he is a Zen Buddhist master. He's so amazing. My favorite book of his, he has many books. I would say hundreds of books. And he's an amazing poet. And he's an amazing teacher. And he passed away last February. I think it's February 2022, or maybe January. And I wrote this song because I was really inspired by his teachings about the present moment. And I'm going to tune a little bit more, because I realize that it's a little humid outside. Our instruments have to get in the present. Yeah, it's like, ah. And living in the present moment is hard. It's one of the central practices of Buddhism. And it's also one of the lessons you keep learning over and over again. There's this podcast called The Way Out Is In. It's the Plum Village podcast. And Plum Village is the monastery that Thich Nhat Hanh It's in France, and I think now he has a monastery in Thailand, and there's a Deer Park Monastery in upstate New York, and there's many monasteries now. Yeah, like one of his attendants, his name is Brother Fapu, he was here, actually I got to meet him, Brother Fapu, he's like my, he's like a Buddhist celebrity to me, he's just an amazing teacher, he was Thich Nhat Hanh's, and he would like probably hate that I said that, but he's an amazing young Buddhist practitioner, a Buddhist teacher, and attendant to Thich Nhat Hanh for quite a while. And I came here to Harvard to open up the Chan School of Public Health, or open up a Thich Nhat Hanh, I think, research on meditation at Harvard. And he said that, Thich Nhat Hanh always had to practice mindful walking. Like there's this thing, the practice of just mindful walking is just like taking, being aware of each step. And we always walk, you know, because we want to get somewhere, but the practice for Thich Nhat Hanh is just walking to walk, walking with no destination. And so, I just think that that inspired the song too. And it's like a little mantra. If you've heard of mantra singing, it's something that I'm really into. Yeah, it's like a, it's like a mantra.
[SPEAKER_04]: Let go of the future or the past. The present moment's all we ever have. The clarity in letting go. The certainty in I don't really know. Guide me. Help me, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, The magic of discovering what heals our suffering. And each of us a light that shines that we live a life to realize. Teresa! Let go of the future, of the past. The present moment's all we ever have. The clarity in letting go. The certainty in I don't really know. The clarity in letting go. The certainty in I don't really know.
[SPEAKER_03]: I know we have about one more song, one more song. And this last one, I'm wondering, curious if you guys would like to join me in singing if we sung a little bit together. So I'll teach you this phrase. Ah.
[SPEAKER_04]: Will you go, lassie, go. And just repeat after me. Will you go, lassie, go. And we'll all go together. And we'll all go together. Pull the wire. time, all around the blooming heather, all around the blooming heather. We'll do it one more time together. Will you go, last year you go, and we'll all go together. All around the blooming heather Go beautiful!
[SPEAKER_03]: We have some experts in the audience here. Who is it you guys? It's awesome. We'll sing it one more time together.
[SPEAKER_04]: Wonderful. Oh, the summer time has come, and the trees are sweetly blooming, and the wild mountain time rolls around the blooming heather. Will you go? And we'll all go together, pull the wild mountain time. All around the blooming heather, will you go, Alaska go? And we'll all go together, pull the wild mountain time. all around the blooming heather I will build my love a bar near your cool crystal fountain and on it I will build all the flowers of the mountain Will you go, Classy, go? And we'll all go together, both wild and fine, all around the blue and yellow. Will you go?
[Cruz]: And we'll all go together, yes, on the wild mountains of America.
[SPEAKER_04]: ♪ If my true love he were gone ♪ ♪ I will surely find another ♪ ♪ Pull the wild mountain time ♪ ♪ All around the blooming heather ♪ ♪ Will you go, lassie, go ♪ ♪ And we'll all go together ♪ All around the blooming heather, will you go, lassie, go? Pull the wild mountains high All around the blooming heather Will you go, lassie, go? And we'll all go together Pull the wild mountains high
[Cruz]: All around the blue and heather. Wow!
[SPEAKER_07]: Jack Teck. All right, all right. Erin Hogan. Ike Sturm.
[Carter]: Thank you so much once again for coming out and joining us tonight. Thank you for Jaya Sundaram for sitting down and having a conversation with me. Just appreciate these nights that we have together because They're few and far between. We only do it once a month, and some months we don't get to do it at all. But when we do, it's really, really a glorious time that we have together. I want to thank my friend back there, Kevin Harrington. unassisted tonight, so, you know, he's a solo hockey player, right? He shoots, he scores. I just want to thank Executive Director Lisa Crossman for really, really being the wind beneath the wings of this program. for saying, yeah, I like this, this is good, we gotta keep on doing this, and going out and finding the resources to allow us to do it, so thanks everybody who's come out tonight. Think about the Buy a Brick campaign, 70 spaces, it's really, really a special initiative of the community center, we'd love to have as many people represented as we possibly can, folks who have history with the community center, folks who have love for the West Medford community. It's a real way to tangibly demonstrate that, you know, you are part of the heritage of this wonderful community that we're losing bit by bit. So having the Brick by Brick campaign allows us to retain bits and pieces of that heritage and that history. Continue to support us. Tell your friends about us. Next month, let's have twice as many people in the room, twice as many people at home listening, watching on 47 and 3 and the live stream on YouTube. It's been a wonderful evening. We're going to take a few pictures up here. And you know, you folks can hang out with us. But as we used to say at the end of the party, you ain't got to go home, but you got to get the heck up out of here.
[SPEAKER_07]: All right. Love you all. Thank you all very much.