Friends from other Lands
by John Wolf
Max is no stranger to the Fox&Quill. He has brought us wonderful poems and clever articles in past issues. This time he has allowed me to bring you a bit of Buddha's wisdom from and article he wrote for an Indian online publication called Sarjana, which means 'creation' in Sanskrit. Here's how we got to know each other.
The Society for Promotion of Indian Culture and Music Amongst Youth is a successful organization in India that started some 30 years ago by a Dr. Kiran Seth, who came to India, attended a superb Indian classical music concert, and felt he had to promote Indian music and culture. There are more than 100 chapters in India that share cultures from around the world.
This organization played a pivotal role bringing classic Rock, country, folk, and mostly Jazz and Blues to Max. I met him through a blog I maintained focused on saxophone music. I have enjoyed his Internet chats and friendship ever since. I hope you enjoy his story.
Max Babi
Contact Max at maxbabi@gmail.com |
About Max...
Max Babi was born in Cambay, or Khambhat, a city in central Gujarat, into an ex-royal family of Junagarh and Radhanpur. He grew up mainly at Baroda (now Vadodara) under the loving care of missionary Jesuits at Rosary High School. His mother tongue is Urdu, but by age twelve he had mastered English, being completely self-taught. Seven years of NCC-Air Wing, marching, camps, and a court marshall could not remove his slouch, nor his Gandhian values. He learnt flying but gave it up, since he found aero-engines more fascinating. He qualified as a metallurgist but slipped into plasma technology, and so has been riding both careers for 37 years now. He has been writing in five languages since his schooldays, and has been heavily published on the internet and in trade magazines. At present he is dabbling in journalism as well as writing fiction and poetry. His particular writing focus is on the transcription of Urdu and Gujarati poems. A book is half ready, and several of his stories have been accepted by the Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul series. He also writes regularly for Pune Mirror, a part of the Times of India.
