A tune for Ganesha

The city is all set for Ganesh Chaturthi, promoting the spirit of an eco-friendly celebration for all. Taal Pranam is a special tribute to Ganesha, a tune composed by  Taufiq Qureshi. Along with his band Mumbai Stamp, Taufiq has composed a single  using recycled cans, drums and other local instruments to recreate the high-octane beats of the Nashik Dhol and Pune Dhol. This special track will be played on 9XM from today till Ganesh visarjan on September 29.

Taufiq’s band, Mumbai Stamp is an innovative band, where trash material is put to use creatively to explore new rhythmic horizons.

For this particular piece, seven young drummers played on all sorts of waste materials like bins, cans, tin boxes, buckets  creating rhythm patterns that explore a new level of energy. This musical rendition has dhol sounds merged with Ganesha chants like the Pakhavaj — a  traditional composition that describes Ganesha — as well as other known chants.

“Lord Ganesha is the father of rhythm  and he has given us our percussion instruments including the pakhavaj from which the tabla has originated. The patterns are very close to our heart, as it’s a combination of traditional Indian rhythms. We’ve created a song that has a bit of the raste ka sound, and also has a classic feel,” Taufiq says.    varsha.naik@dnaindia.net