Indian Instruments

On Eric's last trip to India (and hopefully his last ever), Bianca asked for a sitar. She's musical and thought it would be fun to have such a strange instrument to try out. Then Portia asked for an instrument. While he was at it, I told him he might as well pick up something for Bianca's piano teacher who collects rare instruments from around the world so that her Christmas present for next year will be done.

He was only gone for a couple days and when he came back, he had one full bag filled with Indian musical instruments. Here are the treasures he brought home:

First, Bianca's Sitar:



Next, Portia's instrument. It's called a Dori Dholak and it's played on its side so you can hit both sides with each hand:



A woman who worked at the office sent gifts for each of the girls too. Here's an Ektara, which means single-stringed instrument in Hindi. It's pretty cool. It's actually made out of a gourd and a bamboo stick.



We brought home a tabla for Bianca's piano teacher. A tabla is a two-part drum but I didn't take a photo because it's shrink wrapped and I want to give it as a Christmas present new.

They're very exotic and are quite cool. Now we need to learn how to use them.