“His musical journey has had the most unlikely beginnings and yet today he is the greatest living flute player in the world. He insists he may create heavenly music blowing into a piece of bamboo, but he remains jealous of Lord Krishna, who in spite of not having any recording of his music is known all over the world for his flute, while he has worked and worked and done this tapasya for so many many years, and yet he doesn’t have even one percent of the recognition that Krishna does! Then he says with his usual humor and a twinkle in his eyes, “Well Krishna is the creator of this world and I am just a humble lover of his flute.”
Each time you meet flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia, you are transported into a world of mischief, music and magic, on and off the stage. His innocent smile hides a sharp mind and ready wit. In spite of having achieved so much, the maestro is still giving back to the world through his own music and by nurturing outstanding talent in his school Brindavan which is based on the gurukul system.”
I wrote these lines a few years ago and they still seem true as the flute legend Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia came to Atlanta after a gap of few years, thanks to the efforts of Sachin Patkar, the man who heads RangoTsav, an organization that prides itself on promoting the best in Indian art and culture.
The flute is a traditional wind instrument made from a bamboo reed with a few holes in it. Lord Krishna immortalized it and Hariprasad Chaurasia, a true messenger of Krishna’s music has filled our lives, with the same divine melody.
His journey is even more impressive because he was the son of a very strict wrestler, who wanted him to follow the family tradition. Instead Hari ji studied music in secret and followed his dream.
Today he runs Brindavan, a school based on the gurukul system, where he selects a number of students, takes care of their day-to-day expenses and needs. They live with him and study music.
Not only that, Hariprasad Chaurasia has inspired and changed the way many young people in India and this country view classical music. His simplicity and easy demeanor carry into his music. He makes the most impossible, the toughest notes seem so effortless, so simple. Just listening to him, transports you to a different world full of melodic enchantment.
Jamming with the maestro was another legend Pt. Bhawani Shankar Kathak, who not only has a mastery over the Tabla but has single-handedly given Pakhawaj the respect it deserves, on the world stage. Coming from the Jaipur gharana, Bhawani Shankar’s father introduced him to tabla and Pakhawaj at a very young age and he gave his first performance on stage at the tender age of eight with Kathak diva Sitara Devi and Tabla legend Pandit Kishan Maharaj.
The Pakhawaj is a barrel shaped percussion instrument similar to the south Indian mridangam. While in the olden days it had a great pride of place among leading instruments in India, with its rich and mellow tonal quality, the tabla became extremely popular and the preferred instrument for all performances leaving the Pakhawaj far behind. It is to Bhawani Shankar’s credit that he innovated and gave a second birth to Pakhwaj. Not only has the maestro performed with the crème de la crème of the arts and entertainment world, Bhawani Shankar has had great success giving music in films. His special love for Pakhawaj is obvious in the way he talks about its tremendous potential in the right hands. “It is said that every one from Lord Shiva, to Ganesha, to Hanuman, some of our mythological Gods and Goddesses and the great warrior Arjuna, all played the Pakhawaj. When it is played at its most explosive, it is matchless as an instrument whether it accompanies Indian classical music or a genre like jazz.” Rakesh Chaurasia is Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia’s nephew, and he has been a worthy successor to his uncle, carrying the Chaurasia torch forward. His power and precision and ability to be in sync with any kind of music, has resulted in invitations from all over the world, making him a very in demand musician. He is also very popular in Bollywood. Be it the Indian legends of classical music, or renowned musicians like Spanish guitarist Marco Salaun, Indian jazz pianist Louis Bank, or Talvin Singh, Rakesh enhances every performance with his brilliance as a musician and his hassle free demeanor as a person.
Rupak Kulkarni too has grown into a fine flautist under the tutelage of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and he breathes melody into the bamboo flute with each note that he touches with his lips and fingers. He has mastered Dhrupad, Khayal and Tantrakari and had traveled all over the world, performing before a diverse audience. He is also a shining young star, who is often seen showcasing his work before an appreciative audience in major festivals in India.
Rupak’s collaboration with many renowned musicians from the West to create scintillating music has been greatly appreciated, as has his band Sonakshi. “Monsoon Magic” and “Unwind” are Rupak’s bold and successful endeavors with fusion music.
Completing this exciting group of outstanding musicians was the stellar Tabla maestro Subhankar Banerjee who has been to Atlanta last year and wowed an audience of over three thousand at the Fox Theater accompanying Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan. The maestro who is an accomplished vocalist as well remembers the amazing applause he received on his solo segments during the recital and it left an indelible imprint on his mind.
Trained under Shri Swapan Siva, Subhankar has wowed audiences’ world over, including at a concert during the Noble Prize ceremonies in 1999 when he accompanied Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma. He has performed with the stalwarts of Indian classical music as well as legendary artists from the west.
The unique thing about tabla is the way in which it is taught says Subhankar Banerjee. “Many instrumentalists were tabla players originally, ” he points out, “Similarly Tabla players must also be well versed in vocal music to really excel at their craft.”
Subhankar says he sees a deep love and appreciation for tabla globally, and it commands its own unique place among musical instruments today. “Tabla has had a tremendous effect on the listeners’ mind and its popularity is booming and growing.” Acompanying the artists on tanpura was the effervescent lawyer and music patron Shyamala Rajendran who has overseen Hari ji’s concert tours for years to make sure everything works smoothly at every venue.
30th October was a Thursday night. One wondered how many people would come on a week day after returning late from work, caught in traffic, and with kids headed to school next day. Sachin does not live in Atlanta and had been commuting from Charlotte NC, to oversee the concert. He said he didn’t care about the number but he knew that whoever showed up would do so out of love for the musicians and their extraordinary talent.
And a considerable number of people turned up to enjoy what turned out to be a night of extraordinary music, enhanced even further by the outstanding sound system at the Rialto (it sounded better than Fox) and the courtesy extended by the Rialto staff backstage.
Hari ji began the evening with a prayerful raga, the ever powerful Durga and asked Bhawani Shankar to accompany him. It is not said in vain that Pakhawaj is the king of percussion instruments. In Bhawani Shankar’s hands it takes on a majestic and an unparalleled sound. The precision of Hari ji’s rendition and the beautiful way his disciples accompanied him with Bhawani Shankar’s Pakhawaj resonating with its unique melody, made you feel like you were transported to the temple where the Goddess Durga was present in all her glory accepting the melodic homage from these musicians. The flute maestro’s alaap was precise, crystal clear, the notes being showered like flower petals on those seated in that audience that night. It’s amazing to see the power in his renditions that belie his 70 years.
The raga was followed by raga Bageshwari, with alaap, jor and a composition set to Rupak taal (7 beats) then two more compositions in Chandrakauns before time ran out and Hari ji concluded the concert with a composition in the ever popular raga – Pahadi.
It was fascinating to see how Rakesh and Rupak bring their own unique qualities and personality in to their play, in spite of learning from the same source. Subhankar was outstanding in his accompaniment, blending effortlessly with each musician and his melody and also showcased his own talent through several rhythmic cycles as he played along and then did solo segments as well. He also joined Bhawani Shankar to collaborate with the flutists, playing beat for beat, what was given by them in some segments.
Another positive experience was watching the respect and warmth with which the artists treated each other, and how appreciative they were of what the other brought to music that night.
The audience refused to let the musicians take a break and many stayed back pretty late to greet the artists, take pictures with them, as they packed up and were about to leave the venue.
Praise poured in through emails and phone calls from several people after the show.
The Chief Guest Shiv Aggarwal who came in spite of having arrived just a little while ago from out of town said that his wife Anushi and he felt all their fatigue melting away as the soothing melodies wafted through the air.
Mahesh Patel, a musician and entrepreneur said, “The concert was amazing! Very professional and very well organized and the sound engineering was superb.” And the praise has been endless.
For Sachin Patkar, the organizer of this concert the RangoTsav series is a labor of love. An architect by profession, Sachin has been a lover of music through his passion for Marathi natya sangeet which is based on classical music and is a special attraction for anyone growing up in Mumbai.
He came to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2000 as a student and realized that while there was a good Indian crowd, not too many cultural events of high quality were happening. “Amjad Ali Khan sahib and Zakir Bhai (Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain) would come there occasionally but that was about it.”
Sachin was part of the student organization and decided to try and showcase a concert featuring Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. His friends chipped in to help and the show sold out. The entire organization and presentation was of such stellar quality that HariPrasad Chaurasia loved it enough to buy land in Albuquerque! It was followed by a vocal recital by maestro Rashid Khan. Then there was another eye catching event featuring the music group Indian Ocean, and that too outdoors. Sachin collaborated with a local film media group that created a theme and ran a video in the backdrop as the artists performed outdoors under the stars, before a screaming audience.
Even though Sachin moved out of New Mexico, to Atlanta first and then to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he currently lives, he still went back to New Mexico and did another exciting dance and live vocal performance, Cosmic Nad. His organization RangoTsav is a benchmark in outstanding artistic presentation, and even while he no longer lives in New Mexico, the die hard supporters show up each time he brings an event there.
Recapping the efforts Sachin said that while Atlanta concert was obviously a challenge because he had to commute back and forth, his faith and Hariprasad Chaurasia’s music and its eternal appeal and his belief that when the intentions are honest and noble, the Universe comes together to make things happen, kept him going.
He started meeting people who stepped forward to help him, from Usha Balakrishnan a music lover and musician herself, who hosted three of the musicians at her house, to Salim Jetha whose hotel hosted the musicians later, to Mustafa Ajmeri who coordinated several things for Sachin. Anita Gupta of IconEvents – an event management company that collaborates with Kavita Media that publishes KavitaChhibber.com – joined hands to help promote the event, as did many volunteers like Jasjit Khan, Gauri Melkote, Shachi Bhardwaj, Rita Kapahi and Ajit Acharya. Shiv Aggarwal extended Global mall’s premises to sell tickets at no charge for the table. “When people heard of the concert, they were excited and I came to know wonderful people who I would have never got a chance to know-and the concert happened. The artists were happy and so was the audience. Again this was possible because of true efforts by volunteers and well wishers of RangoTsav. And because of this concert, now Atlanta knows about RangoTsav,” adds Sachin.
For Sachin it was interesting how Hari’ji’s 70th birthday is a special milestone and as luck would have it the special occasion was marked at centers with a lot of history attached to them, Rialto being an example.
Sachin was also very impressed by the mixed audience who were knowledgeable and deeply appreciative. “ I know that the artists loved playing for them as much as they enjoyed listening to the artists. Sometimes a smaller audience of a few hundred is more exciting than that of 50,000 people because of the closer interaction that takes place. Hari ji had given the audience the option to take a break though he said he was having such a wonderful time, he wanted to keep on playing and the audience too wanted him to continue. I truly believe Hariji and other artists were enjoying playing and that is because they got a perfect audience.”
For Sachin, memories of growing up surrounded by rich art and culture in the city of Mumbai, is what drives him to promote events like these. “ It’s not a money making goal for me. I have my profession as an architect for that. It’s the passion of presenting good concerts and artists that drives my intentions.”
It was truly a night to remember for everyone, and for those who missed it… it will remain an unfulfilled dream.