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| Edited By: Yogesh Pawar |Source: DNA |Updated: Feb 18, 2018, 08:27 AM IST
I found out about the Padma Bhushan only after the announcement. Unknown to me, my students had done all the legwork needed and gathered recommendations from the 'who's who'. Some of these greats wrote wonderful things about me. The award has brought a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment, that my contribution has been recognised. But had the award not been conferred, it's not like life would come to a standstill. God has been very kind to me. I've been able to do well both in the world of music and business. I've also been blessed with good health. What more can one ask for?
My father was a businessman and my mother a famous artist. She painted really well. My grandfather was an educational inspector in the Baroda princely state We were a middle class family. My mother came from one of the richest families of Ahmedabad. Her family had a tradition of cultural pursuits, which my mother brought to our family. I inherited both these streams. I did well in both.
I think the idea is to organise and plan one's life. Discipline makes it easy. For several years, since I had only done B.A (Economics) I'd practise in earlier day's sitar lessons from my guru, and then rush to college at 7.30 am to pursue my B.Com degree from Davar's College. After college I'd go to office at 10 am. Despite not knowing much about import-export, my father had bought a freight forwarding company in 1945. In 1948, I joined it on his insistence. Eventually, I went on to become the only Asian President of the global body with over 35,000 members. Later, I brought these organisational capabilities and business acumen to the world of music.
After my stint as the vice president of the International Music Council (founded by UNESCO) during 1994-97 (I am currently coordinator for the Indian sub-continent); I also became the president of the Indian Musicological Society and chairman of the Western India Chapter of ITC-Sangeet Research Academy. Around then I thought of a forum where all segments of the music world could meet and discuss issues of common interests. The music forums now have Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi chapters. The All India Musicians' Group (AIMG) has Zakir Hussain, Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pt Shivkumar Sharma, Ravi Kiran, Rajan and Sajan Mishra on it. The association wants to create greater support in government, industry and media for Indian classical music.
In Ahmedabad, where I was born and raised, my biggest source of learning music was the radio. I dabbled in the dilruba, violin, mandolin, jaltarang and flute before finally settling for the sitar. I'd hear greats like Raj Ahmed Qureshi, Ustad Mohammed Sharif Poonchwale of Lahore, Waliullah Khan from Dhaka and so many wonderful sitar exponents (many disciples of Inayat Khan saab) from Kolkata. When I heard Pt Ravi Shankar play, it was unlike anything I'd heard before. And yet it was only after I heard Vilayat Khan, that I knew I'd found my guru. It was a matter of destiny, because it's unlikely I had either the understanding or maturity at 17 to appreciate one guru over another. When I met Vilayat Khan in Bombay, I was quite taken aback. Here was a stylish man wearing shades, cigarette in mouth, wearing an elegant churidar pyjama and a blue kurta. I couldn't believe this was the same man who played the sitar so magically. I even asked someone if this was indeed Vilayat Khan (Laughs). Khan saab was very kind and helped me get admission in Elphinstone College, where he was studying. I was a scholarship student, so it was easy getting the admission. I was also fortunate to have family in Bombay where I could stay and that's how my musical taalim begun.
My guru was only a few years older and very friendly. I also became his secretary, looking after his concert bookings, schedules, correspondence, etc. He'd always insist and take me to movies and outings. I've inherited from him a vision of music. What clarity of thought and vision he had! I've come to believe God sends special people to pursue special things. Vilayat Khan was sent to only pursue the sitar. To achieve such immense understanding and calibre in a lifetime, is unthinkable. I feel it has to be a carry over of good karma from past births. So though Vilayat Khan was barely 20 (1948), he was already respected as a maestro. Khandani musicians like Vilayat Khan don't explain things analytically. He'd tell me to do something and only later when I analysed it I found the benefits it brought. The technique, method and approach to music I give my students is all his training.
We live in a different time. The wave of globalisation can't be stopped. We can only make the best of the situation. Today we see young artistes tempted by the excitement of quick returns. While corporate patronage has benefitted, it has also prejudiced organisers and even audiences. Many corporates just want you to play to the gallery, even if it means diluting your art. So a firm giving you `5-10 lakh expects you to care for his largely non-musician audience. Some musicians fall in that trap. This is not to say all companies are like this. Recently, one of my students told me he barely finds a pure Hindustani classical concert to play at, in a quarter of a year. On the other hand, there are more than 3-4 offers to play light fusion stuff. The returns too are better, for the latter.
Hardly. In fact there is an immense pool of talent among young musicians. Supply of good musicians is far in excess of demand. But the hope that government will intervene is misplaced. The onus is on us to do something as a society interested in preserving and cherishing our musical heritage.
I have over 45 students and I'm happy to spend time with them, I keep telling them, "You must have ambition, but you shouldn't be ambitious." Ultimately, irrespective of how they turn out as musicians, I hope my training makes them better human beings. While music is important, it can't be more important than good values in life and a compassionate way of looking at others.
Unlike the world of politics, the music world has never been polarised on religious lines. Whether Rashid Khan or Zakir Hussain, look at the response they evoke in audiences? As far as music lovers are concerned, it always boils down to the artiste's calibre. Musicians, at least the more evolved ones, are beyond politics. When they touch a note that touches you intellectually, you say wah, when it touches you emotionally you say Ah! But the goal of the true artist is taseer – a point where all they evoke is deep reflection and silence.
Let me tell you something amusing. Late ethnomusicologist Ashok Ranade and me once organised a programme called 'Sangeet Aapki Pasand'. We played recordings of old maestros without giving names and asked audiences to respond. When we played a sitar recording, a senior musician called it amateur. Only this was no amateur, but one of the tallest sitar legends of his time Ustad Barkatullah Khan of the Jaipur Senia gharana. So tastes are dynamic. The environment, audience receptivity and mood can change everything. In the olden days they mightn't have been intellectuals analysing every aspect of music, but they concentrated on polishing their craft with years of riyaz. Perfection was a life goal then. Mohammed Sharif Poonchwale, Waliullah Khan are all examples of this.
And then you have the next wave with Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Vilayat Khan, Ravi Shankar and Bismillah Khan saab, who tried to push the envelope. The third level is where you have Rashid Khan, Ajoy Chakraborty, Ulhas Kashalkar and you can see how they've created their own niche. Now gurus of the fourth level are coming to fore. While I don't want to belittle anyone, we have to accept levels of artistry and musicianship has eroded. Now some senior artistes too are performing at far too many concerts without giving themselves a break to reconnect with themselves and their craft.
That is complete nonsense. Classical music is meant for classes. Trying to force it down in people's throats and making it a mass thing is just not going to work. It will end up doing damage to the classical tradition. And even when that is done, the syllabus design suggests zero application of mind. In Baroda University there are three sitar players who come from different gharanas. Each has his own style and grammar, right down to how he holds the sitar. Imagine the plight of the students having to adjust themselves to all these styles at once. People who come from such courses may have a diploma certificate, but they are not musicians — and definitely not performers.
'Gaana uttam, bajana madham aur naach kanisht' (singing is the best, instrumental music is medium and dance is the lowest) has been a belief among people for long. That is because the body was seen as a gaatra veena. Other instruments will always be seen as removed from the body. Yet there has been an era of instrumental players who have ruled the roost. Remember when Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Ali Akbar Khan and others held sway over audiences. In fact, instrumental music appeals to the uninitiated, more than the vocal. I know vocal is preferred in Maharashtra, but overall even overseas, instrumental is given more if not equal importance.
