Photo: Supplied.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH SOUTH ASIA TIMES
Sitar player Jyoti Thakar and tabla player Arvind Paranjape return to perform in Australia, with an extended tour of New Zealand. Their tour begins with concerts in Melbourne from 22nd to 24th April, followed by performances in Sydney on 29th and 30th April, Canberra on 1st May, Brisbane 7th May, Darwin 8th May and Auckland on 14th May. The dates are subject to scheduling changes and final confirmation from the organizers.
In June 2013 Jyoti and Arvind performed in Australia with concerts in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin. This was perhaps the first ever instance of sitar and tabla artists performing across such a large geographical area.
After completing successful tours of Europe, America, South East Asia and Australia, sitar artist Jyoti Thakar and tabla player Arvind Paranjape return for an encore tour of Australia due to popular demand, with an extended tour of New Zealand.
Jyoti and Arvind are also prepared to run workshops for sitar and tabla. Organizations interested in arranging programs and workshops for their organisations may contact Arvind Paranjape by email at asparanj@gmail.com or phone Somnath (Melbourne mobile number 0433 182 531).
Jyoti Thakar- Sitar player
Born in the Ashtewale family of Ujjain, Jyoti Thakar is the scion of a long tradition of sitar players. From early childhood, the subtlety and grandeur of the sitar have been a part of Jyoti’s upbringing. With exposure to a wide range of talent, style and innovation of a vibrant music scene, Jyoti matured her art under first from her father Vasudevrao Ahstewale and then from Dr K.G.Gadgil and Dr N.G.Gadgil, themselves disciples of her great grandfather Bhaiyasaheb Ashtewale. . She has also studied with renowned vocalist Late Pandit Dinkar Kainkini, sarangi maestro Pt Ram Narayan and Talyogi Pt Suresh Talwalkar.
Jyoti’s performances feature a deep level of musical thought and development. She offers the astute listener a musical experience culled from a centuries-old family tradition and a lifetime of dedicated study. Jyoti seeks to evoke the full range and subtlety of the feeling of the classical ragas while offering the connoisseur a uniqueness of style and fine nuances of mood. She has taught sitar for more than twenty years.
In an interview with South Asia Times (SAT), Jyoti talks about her inspiration and the commitment and hard work that she had invested in her musical career.
SAT: Could you please describe your experience of growing up in a musical household. How did you learn the discipline of daily practise of the sitar as a child?
Jyoti: My father Vasudevrao Ashtewale was a sitar player. The musical tradition has a long history in our family. My father used to teach students who came to our house to learn sitar. As a result of this rich musical upbringing, I did not have to make any special efforts to learn sitar. I remember several great artists coming to our house. I started learning Sitar at the age of fifteen along with my brothers. As I grew older, I devoted more time to my sitar practice. It became a passion for me and an indispensable part of my life.
SAT: As a mother, how do you balance your household duties and family with your musical career?
Jyoti: Like all women, my first duty was to look after my family. Though there were no artists in my husband’s family, I received encouragement and support to pursue Sitar playing from them after I finished my household duties. Without my husband’s wholehearted encouragement, it would not have been possible to reach this level in my musical career.
When my children were growing up, I decided to limit my sitar practise so that I could devote time to them. While my children were young, I did not travel outside my home town of Pune for concerts. Now since they are well settled with their own families I am able to devote as much time as I can to my sitar practise and concerts. I have performed in different cities in India and also abroad.
SAT: What has been your experience of performing around the world to different audiences?
Jyoti: I was fortunate to receive appreciation for my performances and a warm welcome wherever I performed both in India and overseas. As a result, my skill and confidence as a sitar player grew.
SAT: What suggestions do you have for someone wanting to take up a career in music?
Jyoti: As far as possible, children should be introduced to music as early as possible. If they display initial interest, they should be encouraged to continue playing. This is very important as playing the sitar requires both interest and commitment. I practise several hours a day, whether I am at home or on tour.
Once children develop a love for sitar, they will find themselves willing to devote time to practise and improve their skill.
It requires commitment and sacrifice to make a career as a sitar player. I sometimes have to manage personal demands on my time in order to make time for my sitar practice. You also have to be prepared for physical effort. When I practise for long periods, I often develop calluses on my fingers which can be quite painful. I work through the pain and continue to practise as I am fully committed to sitar and have a deep and abiding love of classical music.
SAT: Is there an ideal age to begin playing an instrument?
Jyoti: The earlier children begin to learn a musical instrument the better. Take the case of Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar’s daughter. She began training with her father at the age of seven. She started to accompany her father on the tanpura when she was just ten.
If you develop an interest at an early age, the love for music and commitment to developing your skill tends to stay with you as you grow older.
Arvind Paranjape is a tabla player born into a family of artists. He was attracted to music through his uncle and musician Pandit Kamikar Joshi. He started learning tabla from the late Pandit G L Samant and later from tabla maestro and Guru Talyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. Arvind has completed a Sangeet Alankar (equivalent to a Masters degree) from Gandharva Mahamandal. As a solo tabla player and accompanist, he has performed at concerts in India, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Australia.
He is passionate about spreading a love of Indian classical music and organizes and participates in various programs consisting of select vocal, instrumental and Kathak artists. Arvind also presents a unique program titled ‘Tab bhi bola’ which brings out the beauty and versatility of tabla as a solo and accompanying instrument. Arvind is a Chartered Secretary and Cost Management Accountant and works as a financial adviser in his own private consulting practise. He has authored a book on mutual funds and also writes for various newspapers.
Arvind gave an interview to South Asia Times (SAT) prior to his 2016 tour of Australia and New Zealand.
SAT: You mention that you began playing tabla as a child. What kind of discipline is required to learn to play the tabla from an early age?
Arvind: It’s a question of liking, and I was fortunate to have family members who were interested in various art forms. My father was a medical doctor and also deeply interested in theatre. My mother was very fond of singing and teaching bhajans, and my uncle was a classical singer. Though there was no compulsion for me to take up tabla, it came from within. My school days were more of fun and pleasure compared to today’s children. There were also no electronic gadgets around to divert my energy. Nowadays parents want their children to be champions in sports, learn a foreign language, study music, participate in the Olympiad and undertake a whole range of activities.
SAT: How should musical talent be encouraged from an early age in today’s world with so many demands on time?
Arvind: In the initial years, parents should allow their children to experiment and try whatever they would like to learn. After being given exposure to a variety of activities, children can then select their area of interest and that stream should be encouraged. Artists or sportspeople need to be groomed from childhood with focused attention. Parents should not expect their children to be all rounder and insisting their doing studies, sports, arts etc. Most of the great musicians like Ustad Zakir Hussain started learning from their Guru in their childhood. Tabla playing requires technique, learning and perfecting a certain method of playing from your guru. When you are young, your muscles are flexible so it is easy to master techniques. For an instrument player, (sitar or tabla) mastering the proper technique of playing is very important, as it is the medium of your expression.
There are four aspects of learning music. The first is Tantra or technique. The second is Shastra which are the rules, the third is Vidya which means the literature or compositions and the fourth is Kala which is art or aesthetics. The first three can be learnt from your guru and outsiders. Your guru will teach you the rules of music, ragas, and various compositions within a raga. But after mastering the first three, one has to learn Kala on his own, as it cannot be taught, like the first three skills.
SAT: You have travelled around the world giving performances. What kind of audience reactions have you received?
Arvind: Sitar and Tabla are now universally well known thanks to stalwarts like Ravi Shankar, Allarakhan, Zakir Hussain, Hari Prasad Chaurasiya and Shivkumar Sharma, who have made Indian classical music popular across the globe. This has made our task easier. The language of music is universal and all cultures can relate to it easily.
SAT: You have started a popular program called ‘Tab bhi bola’ (talking tabla) . Could you tell me about it.
Arvind: Tabla is one of the most versatile and developed percussion instruments in the world. It can accompany both Eastern and Western music. When I realized that there are innumerable admirers of Tabla, I conceptualized this program. There is an unconfirmed story about the inception of tabla. The story goes that two tabla players in the court of the Mughal Badshah had a competition. When one of the players lost, he was so angry that he broke his pakhavaj (or mridangam). It broke in two pieces but he could still play each piece separately. He said “neeche gira, toota, tab bhi bola wo tabla” (the mridangam fell down and broke but still its 2 pieces could produce sound). This is just a story but it demonstrates that music cannot be destroyed.
Tab bhi bola is sort of Edutainment program. i.e. lecture cum demonstration with live tabla played by me while narrating about tabla.
SAT: What are some of your more memorable experiences while performing and running workshops for tabla?
Arvind: Last year, I held a workshop for children in Southampton in UK. They were pre primary children with no exposure to Indian culture. It was a unique experience for me. I played tabla along with their nursery rhymes. For example, I’d get them to sing Twinkle, twinkle little star and how to play it and vary the speed with help of tabla.
Another memorable experience was at a performance during my last tour of Melbourne, at a concert arranged by Radhe Shyamji. After the concert, a lady came up to me and said ‘Apne Lucknow ki yaad dikadi.’ (you reminded me of Lucknow). Lucknow is famous for Tabla, Kathak dance and gazal. Classical music is popular in North India and there are many famous players from there.
Future plans
Jyoti and Arvind have a commitment to increasing public interest in Indian music and sitar wherever possible. To that end, the duo have been running workshops for many years. Geographic distance is not a problem with the use of Skype and other online forums.
They will continue to tour and share their love of sitar and tabla through performances and workshops.
‘The support of lovers of Indian classical music around the world has been invaluable in helping us arrange programs and workshops and we are grateful to our supporters everywhere,’ says Jyoti as we conclude the interview.
– SAT News Service
