Bangalore Stop.

While the world was waking up to celebrate "International Women's Day" we were making our way from Chennai to Bangalore by road. Chennai Live 104.8 FM full blast playing our session and it was a wonderful moment. We thoroughtly enjoyed the six hour drive through lovely landscapes and great roads. Ah Bliss. Hope we can say the same about the roads in our very own Nagaland too before long. As the day grew sultry, we spotted many minor mirages along the way.

Unveiling the new look.
Cap, earrings, green-yellow-orange neckpieces and outfit by Keds Krome.
Shawl, Tida, Vokha Choker and bangles- Traditional Chakhesang.

A little after 2 oclock in the afternoon, we entered Bangalore city and found our hotel in Indira Nagar with not much difficulty. Finding a place to eat seemed a harder task as we didn't realise there is most eateries would be closed post lunch. After a good hour of hunting, we finally found a biryani place and four ravenously hungry people wolfed down two plates each of Chicken and Mutton Biryani :)

5:30 pm Soundcheck and 6:30 pm Showtime. We performed for an exclusive group of invitees and Yoga Studio members. Some old friends and new friends turned up. Exciting times. 

After our set was over, it was time for photos and meeting everyone and chit-chatting away. Thanks to all the lovely people who came to support us. Hiyohey!

At the studio :)

Friday went by in a whirr and Saturday was soon upon us. Our Saturday gig was part of the Indie March at CounterCulture and we were doing the first half of the night followed by Parvaaz.

Indie March: CounterCulture Bangalore

Saturday started with us being welcomed into the lovely home of Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy and Vasu Dixit both renowned musicians and we had a gala time being really taken care of besides the musical treats they gave us. They were the loveliest of hosts. Hope to return the favour soon.

(All thanks to Iswar Srikumar and Anushka Meenakshi of Uramili).

5ish we land up at CounterCulture after a longish ride and did our soundcheck. 

Soon it was time for the show. It was wonderful to meet one very young Li fan who was accompanied by his parents and he stuck to us for a good part of the evening. 

(Can't seem to find a picture right now.)

If Saturday was busy, Sunday topped it all but in a very good way.
Sunday morning, we found our way to Yolk Studio. Imcha Imchen had told us of the wonderfully talented people at Yolk, Sam Mohan and Kalpana Kumar and it was a real exciting moment for us to be spending time with them. Too bad we were hard pressed for time as we had been too ambitious and crammed too many engagements into a single day. But here is hoping to spend more time with the lovely people at Yolk Studio again soon. And thank you for the scrumptious lunch which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Next stop was NCF Bangalore having invited ourselves to the service :) Thanks to the very warm Pastor Zhabu Yimsung and the chic super girl Zedino Seyie (who we were yet to meet in person but we bugged the hell out of her for all sorts of things including where to get a fast lunch) who made it possible and we were warmly welcomed to be a part of the special service for the outgoing members of NCF Bangalore. Had a blessed time indeed sharing our song and singing O Rhosi with the ladies from NCF Bangalore. Priceless!

It was then time to pack up and head to Delhi for the next series of events and Bombay and Mussoorie following soon enough. So it was really from North east to the far south and then central India to the west coast and up in the North, close to the Himalayas. Wow! Across the breath and length of the Country in a month. Thanks to God and all the wonderful people who made all these events happen. God bless you all. Hiyohey!

Content copyright © Tetseo Sisters 2011- 2013. All rights reserved. Do not use any images/content without  permission. All photographs by Tetseos except where indicated.

Chennai Times

On a balmy March morning, we left Kohima behind and drove through patches of pink, red and white along the winding roads of NH39 to Dimapur, our hired Eeco piled up high with bags and bags of clothes, our musical instruments, jewellery and costumes :) 100 kilos checked in baggage. Believe it or not!
We made quite a sight with all our bags at the airport and with a little help from the cheerful staff at the Dimapur airport, we boarded our plane to Kolkatta and a few hours later, we were in Chennai. Stepping out of the freezing airport AC to the warm slightly humid area outside, we were met by two young men from our host, Kalakshetra Foundation, speaking a most musical language. They helped us load our baggage onto a mini truck and drove us to our hotel where a delightful buffet was laid out. Hungry tummies that were growling got filled up with yummy chicken curry, daal, sambhar, rasam, fried vegetables, roasted chillies, papad and a host of other delicasies. Wow! Soon it was time to slumber and be ready for the big day.

First stop. Soundcheck after our Interview session at Chennai Live 104.8 FM where we chatted at length with RJ Sano and played some songs for the listeners as well as got to play our playlist for the Women's Day Special airing. Damn cool.

Outside the venue, Narada Gana Sabha Hall, Alwarpet, Chennai after our soundcheck. So it was back to our hotel for lunch and getting ready for the show. 6:00pm and showtime!!!
The show was a smashing success if we may say so. And our feelings were hugely reinforced by the feedback we received and the long queues to interact and get pics taken. Wooopeee for Li!

Ready! Get set and go!

Phrozü Li : Lamentations of women

The stories come alive....

Apulio Lizo

Exciting times :)

Fans of Li from Kalakshetra Foundation

New friends in Chennai

Post Leichal, we had more gigs to go in Chennai and we made maximum use of our time there by checking out the beaches and local attractions. First stop was Marina Beach. Fifteen minutes from where we were staying. Long auto rickshaw ride around the city, stopped at a few souvenir shops and checked out papier mache kitties, stopped at the Besant Nagar beach, more waves, sat on horses, drank juice by the roadside stall, feet sore from hot sand and too much sea water, wet clothes from the big waves, sun tan....windblown hair. Wow. Nandri Chennai!!!!!

Watching the waves take the fishermen and their boats away.

Mhaseve lending a hand as the Fishermen pushed their boats out to the sea.

Girls on the rocks?

We saw these beautifully handcrafted gramophones by the roadside on our ride about the city.  Too bad we couldn't get one. Excess baggage already.

Day 3 in Chennai we went and met the lovely team at Indieearth and got ourselves interviewed and played a set for them too. Roy and Co, give us a shout soon. The tea was amazing!!!

Next up was the Li and Yoga session at Studio 136.1 at Alwarpet. We performed an hour set for the lovely people at the Yoga Studio. Yoga with a twist indeed.

Our exciting stay in Chennai soon came to an end as we moved on to Bangalore for a few more appearances but we did promise to come back and explore more soon. The food, the beaches, the lovely people we met and well, the wonderful experience we had in Chennai continue to stay strong with us. Thanks to our friends at Kalakshetra Foundation, Yoga Studio 136.1 and Anushka & Iswar & Co. And hey, we'll definitely be back for the Uramili experience soon.
Content copyright © Tetseo Sisters 2011- 2013. All rights reserved. Do not use any images/content without  permission. All photographs by Tetseos except where indicated.

Continuing March

Right after our South Indian sojourn, we head back to Delhi for a series of private performances including a performance at India International Center by INTACH, New Delhi.

Later this month, we will be heading to Mumbai for a performance at the blueFROG as part of the British Council's Folk Nations- Showcase for Celtic Connections 2014 on March 22 2013.
The line up includes :
Akhu 4pm - 4.45pm
Saurav Moni 5pm - 5:45pm
Tetseo Sisters 6pm - 6:45pm
Tajdar Junaid 7pm - 7.45pm
Suhail Yusuf Khan & Akshay Rajeja 8pm -8.45pm
Papon & East India Company 9pm - 9.45pm
Raghu Dixit project 10pm - 11pm

Pretty excited! Whooping excited! Super excited!

We have to mention here that our South India foray was extremely rewarding and a memorable experience. We will dedicate an entire post to each city :)

Hiyohey!


Content copyright © Tetseo Sisters 2011- 2013. All rights reserved. Do not use any images/content without  permission. All photographs by Tetseos except where indicated.

All about Hiyohey!!!

Hiyohey!

For the mildly curious. Seriously interested. Immensely amused. Faintly irritated. Totally confused. Dangerously piqued.

What is Hiyohey?

Hiyohey is the equivalent for "Hello" "Hi" "Cheers" "Bye" or even "Take care" in Li lingo.

Now you will wonder, what is Li?
Li is simply the "Chokri" word for "Folksong".
And Chokri is one of the dialects spoken by the Chakhesangs of Nagaland, and our mother tongue.

Over the years, people keep asking us how we say "Hello" in Naga.
Well, Naga being pretty abstract and a collective whole of so many different things, it was hard to come to a word that stands for "Hello".
And then it occurred to us that in Li, there is a specific salutation and a greeting word, specific to each type of song and manner and we realised that 'Hiyohey' is simply the perfect word for greeting.

It is a salutation at the beginning of a song, calling attention politely, humbly and fervently.
To pay attention to the song and the humble request to be heard out or given a listen, not to the vocals but the message. So it makes perfect sense to use it as an original Naga Greeting.
By that, we don't mean that this form of greeting is a representative word of all Naga tribes, but in the spirit of Li and sharing the beauty of Naga music and our natural cheerfulness as a people, it just fits the bill.

So here we go....Hiyohey! Hiyohey! Hiyohey!
And in song....Do she mo ri, do kü da te le....
(We make a humble try......learners and imperfect though we are still! and hope to become better as we practice and work hard at it...)

Someone asked if we put "Hi" + "Yo" + "Hey" together to come up with the new and cool word.
Not quite. But God only knows how our forefathers came up with that one :D

Content copyright © Tetseo Sisters 2011- 2013. All rights reserved. Do not use any images/content without  permission. All photographs by Tetseos except where indicated.