Musical melee in Mumbai

A unique music festival recently took place at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in the city, where music lovers got to experience music from the ancient to the contemporary era. Saaz-e-Bahar, the festival of Indian instrumental music, saw musicians coming together presenting Hindustani and Carnatic music with instruments such as flute (ancient), sarangi (post-medieval), sitar and tabla (modern) and mohan vina (contemporary).

DNA caught up with two musicians, whose music was a confluence of the North and the South. Shashank Subramanyam, a flute prodigy since the age of 12, believes that both forms of classical music from the North and the South are unique but cannot be compared. “Strangely in our country, South Indian music doesn’t get featured in the North. However, the vice-versa is quite true. Since the festival is a celebration of Indian classical music as a whole, I think it will provide a good understanding of the two distinct but highly evolved forms of music,” he says.

Another musician Nayan Ghosh, son of tabla maestro Nikhil Ghosh and nephew of Pannalal Ghosh, believes that classical music is food for the soul. “It is the music of a higher order. If you can appreciate it, then you can respect true music in any form,” he says.

However, Ghosh is not satisfied with the fact that the youngsters in our country today are not exposed to this inherent treasure of classical music. “I just wish music could be part of the education curriculum in India. There are children in other countries who are familiar with their own classical music because of this very fact. If it happens, our children will definitely develop a liking for the same,” he says.