navindra's 2025 spotlight

navindra

It's a new year, so Happy New Year! 🎈

It's also time for retrospection and reinforcing those future resolutions...

PianoTell.com survived 2025 with the support of this wonderful community. It's the little piano site that could, running on Linux Docker containers with constant cloud backups, a lot of open source, all for less than the cost of a Matcha Latte every month. That helps us be self-sustaining!

I've been slowly working in the background to remove tech debt and address anything that might impact the resilience of this site. I've also made good progress on migrating to Flarum 2 although that tracking thread doesn't have the latest progress.

Some time in 2025, PianoTell started ranking for searches such as "piano discussions" and "piano forums" on Google, which is nice to see and another testament to this community!

Personally, I did OK piano-wise, with 4 recital pieces recorded and performed live: Over The Rainbow, Amazing Grace, At Last, and the Cheers Theme — Where Everybody Knows Your Name.

Sadly, my piano videos suffered noticeably due to the need to meet quarterly recital schedules and I fully expect that this will continue to be a challenge this year. Nonetheless, every recording involves significant planning and effort on my part, including tuning the piano, recording, mixing, and creating the final video. This year I even soldered and assembled a new microphone that I used for the Cheers recording.

My live performance quality also continues to suffer due to my bad case of stage fright which severely impairs my normal functioning when in the spotlight.

On the other hand, it has helped that I'm recording videos first then performing live instead of vice-versa like I used to do. So while my recording quality has suffered, my live performance has improved slightly — my live Cheers performance probably went as well as I could have hoped for, especially with others singing along!

Having the forcing function of quarterly piano recitals is quite a useful tool in that regard.

I had one particular highlight in 2025, an impromptu collaboration with my sister when we recorded Chandava Priya Kara in Mauritius. It was a humbling experience for me, but I'm very happy with how it turned out! ❤️

Last year, I also solidified my investments in my new hobby of bicycling.

In 2025, I biked a total of 1034 miles / 1664 km with a total elevation of 42000 ft / 12.8 km. I'm a slow rider compared to many others, especially all those amazing 70 year olds who somehow always overtake me on the trail, but that's not bad!

My loose commitment in 2025 was to bike to work an average of once a month, rain or shine. This is a 20 mile round trip and total of 2 hours+ of riding. There are hills both ways, with the worse one being Brickyard Road on the way home, which even Google Maps qualifies as a steep hill. So while this commitment is quite achievable, it's also very costly time-wise and quite the effort for me.

An easier commitment was to bike to my weekend piano lessons, rain or shine. My piano lessons involve 2 round trips for me and the kids, and so I'm adding 8.5 miles of cycling like clockwork every week to my tally. It's also a nice way to have one hobby feed into the other!

Otherwise, we biked for random errands like going to the library or store, and we biked for fun on the trails.

At this point, I'm feeling like piano and cycling are pretty solid as far as hobbies go.

On the music side, I have a lot to improve and a lot I want to do, but I'll just be happy if my 2026 is as productive as 2025 was.

Happy New Year! 🎈

ShiroKuro

navindra my piano videos suffered noticeably

No they didn’t! Your videos are always awesome!

You are much too hard on yourself. You work full time, you’re a parent, you have two hobbies, and you run a website! My goodness that’s a lot!!

I get that if you had more time, you might want to do more with the recording or videos, but what you’re doing is awesome! And, as I believe you know, in the long run you’ll be better off having done more (more pieces, more videos) at a simpler or reduced level than having done less but at a more elaborate or polished level.

So congratulations on an incredibly successful 2025! I look forward to what you’ll have to share with us in 2026!!
🎉🎶🎉🎶🎉

keff

navindra Happy new year and thank you for everything you do to keep PianoTell running.

KevinM

Thanks again for everything you do Navindra

Your video with your sister was lovely and you are truly a multi talented person.

I also love that you now have a cycling hobby as well. I was doing a lot of cycling for many years. Now it is just a cycle to the shops to grab a few things or a a ride to the coast so I can go for a walk below the cliffs.

But there is just something lovely about cycling.

Well done on all your efforts.

navindra

KevinM Thanks so much! I feel like a missed a bit on cycling since I started so late in life, but the infrastructure to support it locally here is something of a marvel... I do envy folks who just ride as matter of fact as part of their day to day!

ShiroKuro Thanks so much! Part of my misgivings is that previously I would carefully pick a piece and work on it over months then record, but in 2025 most of my pieces were from the Alfred book, whether I liked them or not. But now that you put it that way, it's certainly true that this is not my full time job, and I've also been thinking there's some benefit to slowing down and doing more of these simpler pieces on a regular schedule. 🙂

Peyton Thanks so much, Peyton! You're most definitely an inspiration!

twocats Thank you! And good luck with the competition(s)! Rooting for you. 🙂

keff Thanks and Happy New Year!

Peyton

Thanks for all you do Navindra. BTW...The Chandava Priya Kara in Mauritius is still one of my all time favorites from the recitals.

twocats

Happy New Year! Love seeing your year and thanks again for creating and putting so much work into this lovely little corner of the Internet! 🙂

ShiroKuro

navindra previously I would carefully pick a piece and work on it over months then record, but in 2025 most of my pieces were from the Alfred book, whether I liked them or not. But now that you put it that way, it's certainly true that this is not my full time job, and I've also been thinking there's some benefit to slowing down and doing more of these simpler pieces on a regular schedule.

I think both approaches have benefits. And probably, over the years, you'll do one approach, and then the other... and back and forth. I think what matters is that we see the value in both approaches.

I started piano in 1999 (omg). I was working full time, about to get married, life was pretty settled. In 2008, we moved back to the US so I could enter graduate school (I started an MA program and then completed a PhD). While I was in grad school, and then on the job market for my first job in academia, and then on the tenure track in academia.... my life did not feel settled at all! In fact, for the first several months in grad school, I didn't even have any piano in my home. When I finally bought a digital piano, my goal was just to keep playing, just to keep piano part of my life. And somehow, I succeeded! Well, not "somehow," but by always being ok with doing as much, or as little, piano as I could, but just making sure to "do piano" no matter what.

Right now, I'm doing a lot more than I ever could have while in grad school. At the same time, sometimes I'm insanely busy and end up doing a lot less. So my piano approach is constantly changing, and that's ok.

Well, now it sounds like I'm getting dangerously close to giving unsolicited advice, so I better stop! 😅 I think whatever you do, whether it's a months-long process up to your highest standards or "simpler pieces on a regular schedule," will be perfect!

Ornstein

You sound lovely, lots of moments of advanced touch and dynamics and respect for tackling the fear of live performance head on. Knowing you were able to record something I think is critical.

And the physical health and health of mind are very much linked and I think key for being in the right headspace to play/learn.

navindra

Ornstein Thank you so much for this, I appreciate the kind words! 🙂