Silent Starer to Chatterbox Sitarist

Have not written any post since August this year.  It is long time.  Many people have been asking me details about the process that went through to improve my daughter Pratibha.  When I started writing it, it is becoming longer and longer.  So first created an executive summary kind of post, and continued preparing the detailed note.  Let me publish this short post today, and in a week's time will have the longer post, for those who wanted to know the details on how we went about systematically transforming Pratibha from a Silent Starer to a Chatterbox Sitarist.

This short post is created from a PPT presentation.  

At the age of 10, when Pratibha was going to a special school in Chennai, she used to sit in the last row in the room facing the wall, as she didn't have confidence to look at people's face and communicate.

Will present the method of measurement and monitoring in the forthcoming detailed post.  

The above picture presents Pratibha's growth in last 2 years.  The PET Scan taken in August 2014 and November 2016 illustrates the increased activity levels in brain and that too with more spread.  Changes in IQ and FIM are self explanatory.

Currently Pratibha works at Arpan, a supported employment initiative by the NGO Yash Charitable Trust.  At Arpan, delicious home cooked meals are freshly prepared and delivered to customers.    

In a recent cooking competition the team of Pratibha and Aarti won 2nd prize.  The competition was judged by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor and Alyona Kapoor.   A short video here demonstrates Pratibha's interest and passion in cooking.

Recently in Trivandrum, Pratibha presented a close to one hour Sitar performance.  Pratibha could perform for an hour without any strain, and that too with minimum mistakes.  Later Pratibha repeated the performance at Alappuzha TD temple too.  Then a 6 minutes performance at CETAGalaxy Global Meet at Bolgatty Palace Kochi, and a 12 minute performance at "Kochi International Book Fair".   Here's the video of the performance at CETAGalaxy Global Meet.

This post is a sneak preview of Pratibha's journey from a 'Silent Starer' to a 'Chatterbox Sitarist'.  I intent to publish the next post with details on what we did and how we did.

Request to add your feedback and comments as comments to this post, so that the post and your comments will stay together..

Raag-Rang - A Blissful Experience..

14th and 15th August this year were two blissful days in my life.. Got an opportunity to attend a music festival Raag-Rang, organised under the banner of Shudh Kalyan at Kochi. I have attended quite a few concerts and music fests in Mumbai.  But the Raag-Rang was very special and different; organised in a city where Carnatic music rules in the classical variety; concerts in late morning through the noon to early afternoon; all artists are young and not big names; organised by my good friend Shri Uday Shenoy, who is an ardent hindustani music lover.  It was different and special in many ways.  

Invite Flier 

The Facebook posts that Uday was posting, built up the interest towards the concerts.  He even published the Samay-Chakra of raags and asked potential attendees on what raags they would like to hear.  Hindustani music being fairly strict in following the Samay-Chakra, I thought this is an opportunity for me to listen live some of my favourite raags such as Bhimplasi, Saarangs [Shudh, Gaud and Brindavani], Bhairavi, Alahiya Bilawal, and some of the lesser heard raags such as Ramkali, Multani and Jaunpuri.  Foremost, wanted to be part of the Shudh-Kalyan initiative, and enjoy the music.  I was sure that Uday must have done his homework well in selection of artists, selection of venue [for the right ambience] and overall organisation of the fest.  

The fest opened with young Dr. Shashank Maktedar, disciple of Pt Ulhas Khashalkar.  I have heard couple of concerts by Pt Ulhasji live.  Panditji's influence was visible in Shashank's rendering, but with his own individuality.  Shashank presented raags Ramkali, Hindol Bahar, Alhaiya Bilawal and Basant Mukhari.  Raag Ramkali always reminds me the compositions performed in Sikh Gurudwaras, majority of them being in raag Ramkali.  Thoroughly enjoyed everything that Shahank presented.  To me what stood out was rendition of Hindol Bahar.  It was awesome.  Dr. Ravindra Katoti's harmonium accompaniment was subtle but exceptional.  Well controlled tabla support by Dr. Udayraj Karpur created the right vibrations.  I had experiences of listening to excellent vocal artists, where accompanying artist's eagerness to overpower the main artist spoils the 'music' of the concert.   Here in Raag-Rang, both the accompanying artists were mature, controlled and accompanied the main artists, focussing on sense of 'music'.  Overall, the right musical vibrations were set by the first concert.

Dr. Shashank Maktedar, Dr. Ravindra Katoti on Harmonium and Dr. Udayrak Karpur on Tabla

It was close to noon when the concert was over.  Yummy bonda, pazham-pori (banana fry) made in typical kerala-konkani style, and tea with right sweetness, filled the stomach right, so that we are set for another musical treat.  

The next performance was by Smt Anuradha Kuber, disciple of Pt TD Janorikar and Dr. Arvind Thatte.  She is an exponent in Bhendi Bazar Gharana.  Listening to female voice after a concert by male artist provided a contrast, that made the concert sweeter.  It was the Saarang time.  Saarang means 'spotted deer', one of the most beautiful animals in nature.  Saarangs are very close to my heart as I lived in IIT Madras campus for 15 years; the campus is full of Saarang deers. Anuradha Kuber presented both Shudh Saarang and Gaud Saarang, that took me to the zig-zag movements and jumping of spotted deers, that we use to enjoy every day.  Usage of both (Shudh and Tivr) Madhyams is one of the aspect that make the raag very melodious.  Both were superbly presented.   A short & sweet composition in Multani did create a 'restless' feeling.  The swar-jati she rendered stands out.  The composition on 'holi' she sang in Hori, painted the picture of Krishna playing rang-holi with gopikas.  The climax was superb with a tarana in Bhairavi.  I have heard Bhairavi in evening concerts many times.  But listening Bhairavi in the right prahar, does make a difference.  Again, the matching accompaniments by Drs Katoti and Karpur were exceptional. 

Smt. Anuradha Kuber, Dr. Ravindra Katoti on Harmonium and Dr. Udayrak Karpur on Tabla

True to the Indian hospitality tradition, all attendees were served with a delicious lunch, which was a surprise to all of us.  Uday was mentioning it as simple lunch.  Uday, it is not the number of items that matter, but the thought behind it.  

The second day started with a vocal recital by Shri Mukul Kulkarni, disciple of Pt Arun Khashalkar and Pt Sharad Sathe.  Mukul sings in Agra-Gwalior Gharana style.   I could feel the influence of Pt Arun Khashalkar's style of rendering in Mukul's presentation.  Mukul chose to start the performance with Miya ki Todi, with a traditional bandish.  Though Miya ki Todi is considered to be a raaga that sets a pensive mournful mood, but Mukul's rendering set a positive vibrant mood that characterises festivity.  I was generally considering Agra gharana singing to be a bit dry; but Mukul's rendition is forcing me to make amends to my original considerations.  Mukul followed bibhas with a composition in raag Pancham.  I think, this is the first time I was hearing raag Pancham.  A Tukaram abhang that Mukul presented was awesome.  Was very happy to see a maestro in the making.  

Mukul Kulkarni, Dr. Ravindra Katoti on Harmonium, Dr. Udayraj Karpur on Tabla and Swetha Bhakta on Tanpura

As with the previous concerts, Dr. Ravindra Katoti's harmonium and Dr. Udayraj Karpur's tabla gave the right support to Mukul's vocal rendering.  Hot tea with udad and dal vadas set a cheerful mood for all attendees. 

The finale was violin concert by Shri Kailas Patra, disciple of Pt SR Kulkarni, Pt LK Pandit and Pt DK Datar.  It was a very different kind of performance.  Previously I have heard violin hindustani recitals of Dr. TN Rajam and Shri MS Gopalakrishnan, during Madras Music Festivals. Shri Patra's performance was of a very different genre.  His control over the instrument was impeccable.  Shri Patra presented Gaud Saarang and Barwa. The zig-zag melodic movements of Gaud Saarang were beautifully brought out by Patraji.   His singing the lyrics of the compositions helped the audience to enjoy the rendition better.  The high-vibrancy performance of Patraji was fitting finale for Raag-Rang.  Unable to pin-point a highlight in the performance, as from beginning to the end, all stood out.   It was very thoughtful by Uday to keep this violin performance at the end, as not only it gave a sense of climax for the fest, but other concerts would have got subdued.  It was heartening to see Patraji praising Dr Udayraj Karpur for excellent tabla accompaniment.  This doesn't happen often. 

Shri Kailas Patra on Violin, Dr. Udayraj Karpur on Tabla and Swetha Bhakta on Tanpura

As on previous day, after a simple but delicious lunch, we all went back with lovely memories of exceptional quality hindustani music.  The independence day was well spent, fully getting submerged in our cultural heritage, that too in a right ambience of Kerala Kathakali Centre at Fort Kochi.  

No words to express the joy and delight that I went through in these two days, while listening to the concerts.  Felt very happy that the future of Indian Classical Music is very bright, after seeing the performances by younger generation.  

Finally a BIG Thank You to Uday, who single handedly went ahead with organising Raag-Rang, and made it a big success.  Also "Thank you" to all those who have worked hard with Uday to make Raag-Rang a reality and success.   The success of a classical music performance is not based on the size of the audience, but the quality of the audience.  

Did I miss anything? Yes, I missed raag Bhimplasi, a raag in the right prahars of the concerts in Raag-Rang.  I did expect to hear Bhimplasi.  Have not heard this raag so far in a live music concert.. 

Yes, those 2 days were blissful days..  Fully immersed in music..  Never thought I will be part of such a musical treat in Kochi..   The first ever hindustani music concert I happened to attend was in Kochi, which was by Smt. Lakshmi Shankar, way back in late 1960s.  I don't want to make the circle complete now.  Want to be part of many more Raag-Rangs in Kochi.  

Will cherish the memories of the two blissful days... 

Remembering my राम मामु...

We celebrate लागची परब [Sayana Dwadasi, the next day of famous Ashada Ekadasi] as a festival.  This year, it is celebrated today.  For me, the day starts with remembering one person, who left this world, this day, 14 years back.   He is none other than my uncle राम मामु [Ramachandra Prabhu], who influenced me a lot and has made me what I am today. 

When the situation at home became so difficult that my paternal grand father and my maternal grand mother felt that me continuing at home might lead to, me never seeing a college in my life.  Based on their request मामु has taken me to Trivandrum in the middle of school year of my 9th standard.  Not just taking me to his home, but the way he pushed me to do most of things myself, made all the difference.  Though he was a bit short tempered, and most of us [his children, nephews and nieces] very well knew that his love towards us was unconditional.  

मामु was a karmayogi.  He lived following the path of karmaoga.  He refused promotion, as he felt what he gets is sufficient to make a 'comfortable' living.  He used to spend hours and hours everyday teaching commerce stream students, in addition to his job at LIC.  Only quite late, I realized that, the money that he gets from the tuition goes into a trust, that is supposed to create funds for GSB temples that might starve for funds in future.  In fact, if any student doesn't pay tuition fee, he used to put money [whatever that student is supposed to pay] from his pocket to the trust.  That was his dedication to the trust, that he formed along with his brothers.  

I can continue writing pages and pages about him, and the way he lived as a role model for many.  Role model with a difference.  I am not writing more here.   Just remembering him on this day, who made me what I am today.

Here are a few pics...

    A group Photo 

    He loved his mamu and maayi [we use to call them Bengal aabu & aayi] very much... 

    With my son Prashant... 

    With my daughter Pratibha...  

    The wedding ceremony of his elder daughter... :) 

    With his kids... 

    With Gopi maamu and my father...  

    Along with both his brothers, giving poornahuthi during Sapthaha Yagna at Purakkad temple...

Music of Souls...

Today, 2nd April is World Autism Awareness Day.  As per Wikipedia definition, Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal commuication, and restricted and repetitive behaviour.  Whatever be the reasons for Autism, those who are affected by autism and other neuro-developmental disorders are individuals who are not able to live a "normal" life like many of us.   Temple Grandin said "We have got to work on keeping these children engaged with the world".   

I have chosen music as a platform to make life of few autistic and other challenged children more meaningful, in whatever small way I can.  In September 2015, we formed a band "Arpan" with four "special individuals" and started using music as a platform to help them engage with the world.  "Arpan" is part of "Yash Charitable Trust" which works on different aspects of developing "special individuals".  I took the responsibility of driving the music band for Arpan, along with my good friend Prashant Apte.

Currently our team has four special individuals - Aarti sings; Pratibha plays Sitar; Anand plays Tabla and Chetan plays Bongos / Manjira.  

We all thoroughly enjoy our weekly music sessions. The team do rhythm exercises together; listen to music together; focus on a song and try to perform it as best as possible.  The first song we chose is a bhajan 'लंबोदर गिरिजा नंदना' in raag Yaman.  First tried with Aarti to sing the bhajan.   I was quite surprised to see the speed at which she grasped the song with 'perfect' Sur (Shruti) and Lay (Rhythm).  I had to create a short aalap in the beginning, and couple of filler patterns in between the stanzas.  Created these and taught Pratibha to play them on Sitar.  With few practice sessions she got a hang of it. Anand was already learning Tabla.  Getting the right rhythm and playing tabla in sync with the singing was a challenging task.  My friend Prashant Apte is helping Anand to make his playing in sync with the rhythm of Aarti's singing.  Chetan is a high enthu member of the team, who loves dancing.  With a few sessions of rhythm exercises Chetan started getting hang of playing simple beats on bongos and manjira.  Short attention span is an issue with them.  Finally the team is able to perform the bhajan song in a fairly coordinated manner.  

Today, on World Autism Awareness day, the team has performed the bhajan song on a stage in "Special Kids Carnival" organised by Neurogen Hospital in Navi Mumbai.  All of them were thrilled to perform on the stage.  They thoroughly enjoyed.

Arpan band in action.. From Left to Right:  Chetan, Anand, Aarti, Pratibha and myself

For me, this was a day of immense satisfaction.  There are no words to explain the emotion when I see how these "special individuals" enjoy our musical afternoons every week.   My sincere thanks to Ms Sushma Nagarkar, Trustee of Yash Charitable Trust that runs Arpan, for the opportunity I got for driving the band and the music with these innocent specials...   Also thanking Neurogen Brain & Spine Institute for giving us the opportunity to perform today.

Today my daughter Pratibha also performed Sitar for which I accompanied her on Tabla.  She presented raag Yaman in hindustani classical music style, that included a short aalap, a medium tempo composition with taans, and Jhaala.  My first time on such a stage, on tabla leading to a father-daughter jugalbandi..  

Pratibha on Sitar, and myself accompanying her on Tabla

In both these performances, what I felt was the music that comes from the souls of these innocent creations of god, is divine.  Music of Souls.. 

Arts as a Lifestyle - My experience at Naada Bindu Festival

This year's Naada Bindu Festival (NBF) was from 12th to 14th February (Friday to Sunday).  It's objective is to make people experience Arts as a Lifestyle.   It is a residential arts retreat.  Attendees stay at the Chinmaya Vibhooti [a sprawling 65 acre campus], which is the vision centre of Chinmaya Mission.  Chinmaya Naada Bindu (CNB) is a Gurukul for Performing Arts.  Less than couple of years back, I got to know about CNB and have attended three, week-long Bansuri workshops there, that has influenced me a lot in my musical journey.  Music is something one has to practice every day.  Somehow I am unable to get the calmness in mind to do focussed practice.  Naada Bindu Festival makes one soak in music all day during the fest, and I believe, that is going to inspire me as a booster in my musical journey.

I had been to last year's Naada Bindu Festival.  So I had an idea of what it is going to be.  Unfortunately, I had to go alone this time; could not take any near and dear ones, because of their preoccupations and committments.  It was one of the most rewarding experience, musically and spiritually.  Kind of detox.

The festival had music of all sorts, but predominantly hindustani and carnatic classical varieties.  Till 18 years back, when I was in Chennai, I could roam around different sabhas during December-January season and attend music concerts all day.  Then last 10+ years I was going for the concerts at Sangit Mahabharati, Juhu.  But the Naada Bindu Festival with theme "Arts as Lifestyle" is very different. and unique.   It's a complete musical and spiritual experience; staying in the Ashram campus, having simple sattvic food, meeting people from different parts of the world with interest in music and spirituality etc. etc... 

Day One.. 

The festival started at 4 in the evening with a tabla presentation, by 10 students from local village school, who are being taught music as part of Chinmaya Social Responsibility (CSR).  Could see pride in each one of those boys, when they were playing tabla, with dignitaries on the dias.   Hats off to CNB for taking music to the rural India and nurturing the aspirations of under-privileged.   A festival souvenir was released in the inaugural session that contains details of programme, about participating artists and quite a few classic articles on different aspects of art and spirituality.   An album "Antarnaad" created by my Bansuri guru and Director of Chinmaya Naada Bindu Shri Himanshu Nanda was also released in the function.  

The first formal session of the fest was a discourse by Swami Tejomayananda, global head of Chinmaya Mission.  I was fortunate enough to have experienced three 'Geeta Jnana Yanjnaas' of Swami Chinmayananda, about 40+years back in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam.  Understanding the essence of Geeta and Upanishads from Swami Chinmayananda has immensely influenced me and my belief and value systems.  Always loved listening to Vendantic interpretations of our epics, which guides us to live a life of contentment and happiness.  Swami Tejomayananda's interpretation of 'Raama Hare Stotram' touched many aspects of life.

This was followed by an action packed dance drama “Sundara Kaandam”, by Anita Guha's troupe from Chennai.  It was a ballet presentation of Sundarakaandam chapter of Ramayana.  Exceptional choreography with attention to details such as costumes, lighting and characterisation made it very touching.  I had opportunities to see many dance dramas in different genres of Indian dance such as Bharatnatyam, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi etc.  This was very different, innovative and had a contemporary style of presentation.   Difficult to identify a highlight, as each and every second can be highlighted, as it was precise and perfect.  

Post dinner was an awesome Hindustani classical concert by renowned maestros Pundits Rajan Mishra and Sajan Mishra from Benaras.  I was hearing them live for 3rd time.  Each time felt better.   It is two voices and one soul.  The main raag they performed was Bhupaali (Mohanam in carnatic style); that followed with a composition in raag Durga and then in Bhairavi.  All these 3 raags are my favourites.  The Benaras style of presentation characterises refreshing breeze from the Himachal mountains and the soft waves of the Ganga river in Benaras converge to an enchanting spell of spirituality that spreads aroma for all to enjoy.   Able accompaniments - Dr. Arwind Thatte on harmonium and Avinash Patil on tabla - made the whole prayerful musical encounter a very memorable one.

Raag bhairavi was ringing in ears all the way my walk back to the room, and felt calmness in mind.   The day was fulfilling and refreshing. 

Day Two...

My day 2 started with a walk up the hill at 6 in the morning to the "Pranav Ganesh Mandir" in the campus and spend about half hour meditating in that calm ambience..   

The programme of the day 2 started at 7 am with continuation of previous day's discourse by Swami Tejomayananda.  What a positive start for the day.

Post breakfast [Poha], it was a session on world music by renowned violin maestro Smt Kala Ramnath.  It was a magical performance with her 'Singing Violin' with matching accompaniments from Abhijit Banerjee on tabla, Somnath Roy on Ghatam and Goutam Shome on keyboard.  Somnath Roy played quite a few percussion instruments.  The performance was named Yashila, that brought Mexican, European, West-Asian music flavours in addition to both south and north Indian classical music.  Overall a very different kind of musical performance, with inter-spreading percussion Jugalbandis, left a deep feel of world music for the audience.  

Can music be used to enhance our inherent creativity and productivity? Can music help us manage our stress levels? Can music help us enhance our emotional quotient and inter-personal skills? The answer is "Yes", and we got a sneak preview of how this can be done in an interactive session that followed Kala Ramnath's performance.  This interactive session MQ2HQ [Musical Quotient To Happiness Quotient] was conceptualized by my Bansuri guru Shri Himanshu nanda.  Some of the learnings from the session are: Enhance focus and power of concentration through music meditation; Tricks to enhance listening skills etc.  Now I am desperately looking forward to attend a full day MQ2HQ workshop. Not sure when I will be able to.  At the end of the session, I took a resolution to have a "Music bath" every day in addition to the usual water bath.

Had a sumptuous ashram meal and a bit of rest till 3 pm.  Most people were roaming around in the 65 acre campus; and many visited the Chinmaya Jeevan Darshan, an outstanding tribute and monument that showcases the teachings, life, vision and work of Swami Chinmayananda, through an exquisite amalgamation of paintings, sculptures, photographs, quotations and multi-media.   As I have visited it couple of times, I chose to spend the afternoon practicing my Bansuri lessons in room.  The high energy ambience of Chinmaya Vibhooti provides the right environment for practicing music.  Couple of pics of the campus shown below.

The evening started with an electrifying traditional carnatic music concert by Priya Sisters [Haripriya & Shanmukhapriya] from Hyderabad.  I am hearing them live after long 17 years.  Did’t know how the one and half hours flew.  The best start I always look forward to in a carnatic music concert is "Vathapiganapathim".  I think, they knew my mind, and they started exactly with this kirtan in Hamsadhwani raagam.  The next best I could have asked is one of my favourite raaga as the main raaga of the concert.  Yes, that too was in my favour.  It was "Thodi" raagam.  My day was made with these two choices by the two Hyderabad sisters.  These days I get very less opportunities to attend live carnatic music concerts by top artists.  Thank you CNB for the right choice of artists for the festival.  Yes, worthy sisters after the legendary Radha-Jayalakshmi and Saroja-Lalitha.  At the end of the concert, Swami Advaitananda said "It was karnapirya (feast to the ears) and they could do it as they are 'Eswarapriya' (loved by god)". 

After the powerful carnatic music concert, it was a thematic solo Bharatnatyam by a girl who was born and brought up in the US, but decided to move to India to pursue her passion in Bharatnatyam.  Liked how people are finding their purpose in life and enjoying their life.  Mythili Prakash took the audience to a very different level with her traditional classical Bharatnatyam, on theme 'Saranagathi' meaning 'surrender'.  Powerful vocal support by her brother Aditya enhanced the overall experience for the audience.  It was awesome to watch the brother-sister performance, brother giving vocal support to sister's classic dance.  35 minutes long Varnam in raaga 'Naattakkurinchi' was a feast to the body, mind and intellect. Me, as a person who lived in a classical dance environment right from my childhood, I could enjoy each bit of the performance.  The Marathi bhajan 'Rusli Radha Rusla Madhav' and the powerful Sufi piece 'Allahu' stood out.  The live accompaniments were so good that, the audience got into a frenzy for the last item, which saw an unbelievable rendition by Mahesh Swamy, of the Allahu song. 

It was dinner time after the dance performance, which was followed by garba night.. Most attendees came in colourful traditional cloths and danced out, in dandiya / garba style. Being in ta place surrounded by sahyadri hills all around, it was quite cold, but the garba dance generated so much heat that we didn’t feel the cold. 

Day Three..

The third day started with visits to the two temples within the campus at 7.  Quiet ambience.  The Ganesh Mandir has a meditation room, and I spent some time there meditating in that high-energy ambience.  People from different walks of life were present, and I could see quite a few of them meditating there.

Being Valentines day, the first performance started with a powerful vocal concert on theme “Prema Geetham - Facets of Love” by Smt Pramodini Rao, one of the directors of Chinmaya Naada Bindu.  The theme was on love -  love towards children, love towards lover, love towards parents, love towards guru and love towards the Lord.   She unravelled the facets of love through ghazals, bhajans, bhava geethams,  thumries etc.  Also in many diff languages from kannada to hindi to marathi and Punjabi.  I personally know Pramodiniji and did not have opportunity to hear her full performance.   Vijay Shivane's support on Harmonium, Nilesh Ranadive's on Tabla and Abhijeet Bhosale's support on percussion made the performance a stunning one.  The audience were left spellbound.  My respect towards Pramodiniji went up by many notches after experiencing this concert.  It was not traditional classical music concert, but very different kind.  Everyone enjoyed.

The next was another stellar art talk by Ramaa Bharadvaj, Director of Dance at Chinmaya Naada Bindu.  The topic being “Finger Tales - Story Telling in Dance”.  As a person lived in indian classical dance environment in my childhood and attending many many classical dance performances, this 90 minute session was a special treat to my mind.  Ramaaji’s confident and powerful lecture-demonstration on how hands and fingers are used to narrate stories was awesome with lots of new learning for me. She presented a Bharatnatyam piece choreographed on one of all time great Ludwig Van Beethoven's composition.  She narrated a part of Ramayana on it.  The fusion was magical.  The other highlight was presentation of the famous composition "Krishna Ni Begane Baro" from three different perspectives, viz. that of mother, that of lover and that of devotee.  For each repetition of the lyric, the dancer changes to a different role for the same lyric.  It was awesome. 

As I had to reach home early, I missed the last session, Sitar performance by Ustaad Shahid Parvez. Being a sitar student and sitar teacher to my daughter, I wanted to have a live experience of Ustaad Shahid Parvez's performance.  Felt very sad that I missed it.  

One of the interesting aspect of the festival was creating paintings live when concerts are on, based on the inspiration and mood that the painter gets based on the music performance.  My dear friend Prof Sireesh Kathale creates aesthetically superior paintings for each performance and the paintings are autographed by the artists at the end of the performance.  The paintings are auctioned at the end of the festival.  Last year Sireeshji has donated all the money received from auction to the Chinmaya Social Responsibility (CSR) activities of CNB.

Being at “Chinmaya Vibhuti” itself is an “Anubhuti” for me.  Staying there for 3 days and that too for such an intensive musical and spiritual retreat is heavenly.  Met quite a few people with similar interests.  During one of the lunch / dinner time, a couple (65+ years) were sitting on the same table. The lady started talking to me in Malayalam (as I was wearing mundu), though she did’t look Malayali.  She said, she is from Alapuzha, but a Gujju, and surname is Thakkar.   Aha! My daughter in law is also a Gujju Thakkar.  Met an anaesthetist from Australia with family, who came to attend the fest.  Had long conversation with him on topics of mutual interest.  Like this many more..

So, three days of spiritual and musical retreat has really helped me to get better clarity of my purpose in life.   It's music, that's what I enjoy doing most.  Listening to good music and playing the instruments that I have.  Also, shaping up my daughter through music.  Music has immensely worked as a therapy for her in her quest to come out of the intellectual disability she was born with.  I think, music works as therapy for all of us.  So far I had only a very limited understanding of that.  At the MQ2HQ workshop at the festival, I could get a glimpse of what all ways music can help each one of us to lead happier lives.  

Finally what matters is happiness... 

Credits for photos:  Most of the pictures were taken by the official CNB team and reproduced here with permission. 

  

What a journey that was…

During last month (October), my daughter Pratibha gave four sitar performances in Kerala, each for around 40 minutes.  Yes, they were not “perfect”, but had sense of music in them.  Comments from people who know / perform hindustani music were heartening. I am sure, Pratibha enjoyed performing, and quite a few people in the audience enjoyed her performances. That was quite satisfying.  

We started this ‘saga’ about 10 months back.  The goal was to prepare Pratibha to perform Sitar on stage, in front of people who understand and appreciate music.  In last year September, Pratibha underwent a stem cell procedure at Neurogen Hospital, Navi Mumbai.  At the end of the stay at the hospital, we had set goals in order to ascertain the effectiveness of the procedure done.  One of the goal was to see Pratibha perform sitar with improved sense of rhythm, for about 10 to 15 minutes on a stage in one year time.  

We started the journey with a '15 minutes performance' goal.  We had no idea on what she will do, whether she will be able to grasp the complexities of classical music, whether she can remember and play for good amount of time etc.. Pratibha’s academics is almost zero, and she can’t even remember spellings of a 5 letter word, even after repeating it many times for months. Indian classical music has strong mathematical basis, manifested as rhythm / ‘Taala’, and well-defined ‘prescribed’ movements through the swaraas / ‘notes’ that produce melodious music.  Pratibha has gone through basics of Sitar for about an year and a half, more than 5 years back.  With a gap of almost 5 years, I was not sure how much time it will take her to get back to a level of comfortably handling the instrument. 

For me, I was touching Sitar after a gap of almost 5 years.  Initially, I tried to recall what all I learned, and started practising.  I knew playing very basics of 4 - 5 raags, that’s all.  It took her couple of months to get back to practice the basic alankaars (practice patterns), and introduced her to playing a very small bhajan in raag Yaman, all in plain notes.  I introduced couple of small ‘meends’ [pulling string to create gradual variation of sound from one note to other].  In couple of days itself, Pratibha did the meends quite well, and that prompted me to try a bit of ‘aalaap’.  As Pratibha was responding quite well, in trying out aalaap in raag Yaman, my interest also increased.  Teaching her aalaap was a challenge as well as an awesome experience.  Making her pull string, listen to how the note change and then stop when it reaches the right note.  It’s not that easy.  She did that with fair amount of comfort.  That has made me to increase the bar and set a higher goal.  The goal of making her performing for 15 minutes changed to 30 minutes.  

Whatever “yaman” raag I knew was just for 20 minutes and I had to learn more and then teach that to Pratibha.  I started listening to lots of yaman raag on sitar by many performers and started making notes.  Started creating my own taans (manodharma swaraas), that go well with the composition that Pratibha plays.  Also, I made some changes to the main composition, so that the taans I made go well with.  I introduced few variations and a set of taans in the beginning of the compositions itself.  I did’t know whether it is ok to do it or not; whether that violates any rules of the gharaana or not.  No one was there to help me out on this.  So just went ahead. First I practiced the variations and taans on Sitar with ‘iTabla’ on iPad, to make sure that the taal (rhythm) is right, and goes well with the composition and Pratibha can perform it.  

Now I decided on what all components will go into the 30 minutes presentation of raag Yaman.  The overall plan was to have aalaap, jor, vilambit lay (slow speed) composition, madhya lay (medium speed) composition, and jhaala.  The slow speed composition was the same what I learnt at Sangit Mahabharati, but made some changes based on some performances I heard on the net.  Within the slow speed composition, I planned sthaayi (pallavi) with few variations followed by an anthara (charanam). This was different from what I have learnt in Sangit Mahabharati.  Each part of the presentation was again sub-divided into smaller parts for Pratibha to comprehend and play.  That strategy worked.  She could remember sequences, though initially she struggled.  

Each sub-part was taught to her and she started practicing and reaching a good level before moving to the next sub-part/part.  As her speed of playing improved, I thought of introducing dugun [playing in double speed] in the slow speed composition.  Pratibha took quite a bit of time to get comfort in switching between single to double speed and return.  Once she started doing that fairly well, I made her play tihaai [a rhythmic pattern  played thrice and ends in the first beat of taala] while switching from double to single speed.  The practice focussed on each part, playing 20 to 30 times, so that she gets a hold on the patterns.  Once each part is done, the focus of practice moved to playing the parts in sequence.  Initially it was difficult for Pratibha to remember the sequences.  But over a period of couple of months she could remember the sequences most of the time.  During this time, Pratibha was practicing about 2 hours everyday and 4 hours on Sundays.   

To make the performance a concert, Pratibha need to play a different raag after the main raag, for a shorter duration.  I thought Bihag may be a good choice, as both Yaman and bihag are evening raags.  A short aalaap that I have learnt from Sangit mahabharati was tried first.  I was bit apprehensive, because to get the essence of bihag, she has to play upto 4 notes on a single fret, by pulling and stopping the string at the right notes on the same fret.  Surprisingly Pratibha easily did that.  I also tried making Pratibha use 2nd string to reach shadj note of mandra sapthak (lower octave), which she did with some difficulties initially.  But ultimately felt ease in doing that.  It took quite a bit of time for Pratibha to get the hang of sequences of bihag taans right.  Once she conquered that too, I was tempted to raise the bar again.  I have learnt a very short and sweet composition in raag ‘Shudh Bilaval’ at Sangit Mahabharati.  The plain composition is a very short one, and Pratibha learnt that fast, but getting rhythm right was the real problem.  It took her quite some time to get the rhythm right to some extent.  Still I was not comfortable her playing that on stage.  I thought Pratibha can conclude the performance by playing the famous hindi song “Hum Honge Kaamayaab..”.  She quickly picked up playing the song on sitar, but rhythm was not steady.  She needed more practice to get the rhythm right.  

With this, Pratibha was getting ready for her first major performance.  Getting an opportunity to perform at Chinmay Naada Bindu (CNB), Pune, during the Gurupurnima celebration there, was a real blessing.  Big thanks to my bansuri guru Himanshuji for the opportunity.  Pratibha felt very comfortable playing at CNB, with most in the audience being masters in Hindustani music.  She played a cut-down version of Yaman for 15 minutes.  She was struggling to manage with the cut-down version, as she had to make changes to the sequence pattern, that she had already learnt.  Many “Wah Wahs” that came up during the performance was a big boost for her.  Yes, Pratibha fumbled there couple of times.  But she played fairly ok.  Then we got another opportunity to perform at a community get-together.  Though the crowd was around 150, few people did make it a point to listen to her.  Both these opportunities helped Pratibha to get adjusted with live tabla.  

Daily practicing all the pieces together for couple of weeks before the first performance, helped Pratibha to fine tune many finer aspects.  Still there were few rough edges;  they need lot more time to get smoothened.  As the day of first major performance was coming closer, Pratibha had speed synchronisation problems for couple of taans (manodharma swaraas); also she was not able to get her fingers reach the note in time for a complex pattern.  Still I thought of keeping those patterns, assuming that with more and more practice she will be able to close the gap and perform better.  The gaps were identified and her practice was focussed on those areas, along with practising whatever planned for the whole performance.  I wanted our Sitar teacher Smt Jyoti Ghosh to listen to Pratibha playing sitar, and get suggestions for improvement, that did not materialise.  

Many of my engineering class mates planned to come to Edappally Changampuzha park to encourage Pratibha.  I have not met many of them after we left college 37 years back.  I went to the venue in the morning of the performance day and saw a huge flex board there, listing all the performances for 9 days of Navratri, that included Pratibha’s name.  I was originally thinking that, Pratibha’s was just a non-publicised item, just before the main dance performance of the day, which was directed by my sister.  But everywhere, the organisers gave equal publicity to Pratibha’s performance too.  That has created a bit of fear in me.  But whatever done can’t be changed.  

When we sat on the stage for the performance, I could feel bit of nervousness in Pratibha.  That was evident when she was repeating few patterns; and I have to intervene and prompt her the next pattern to be played.  What relieved me was, she did’t stop in between, but repeated the patterns following the ‘laya’, while she was trying to recall the next one.  After completing yaman raag (which took 32 minutes), she was about to perform Bihag.  She asked me whether she can skip the aalaap. But I asked her to play the aalaap, as it was very short and seweet.  I did’t realise that she was struggling to get out of raag yaman.  She tried and couldn’t proceed with bihag aalaap, and I asked her to discontinue aalaap and directly go ahead with the composition, which she did quite well.  I thought, I should have agreed to her request for skipping the bihag aalaap, as she might have felt within herself.   The audience did clap her, and my friends who came over from different places such as Trivandrum, Thrissur, Kochi, Mumbai etc. felicitated her, which was a surprise for me.  When we returned to the green room after the performance, one person, who introduced himself as a professional sitar player shook my hands and told me “it was unbelievable, considering her intellectual limitations’”  Also, well known flute player in carnatic style Vivek Shenoy also told me that “she played very well”.  Both these comments made my day, as they came from seasoned musicians. 

Pratibha was improving day by day, which was seen in the subsequent performances.  The 2nd performance was in Mattancherry, which was organised by my good friend Shri Uday Shenoy, who is an ardent lover of hindustani music.  She felt more relaxed here compared to the previous performance.

The 3rd performance was in a temple in Udyogmandal, Eloor, a temple where we used to go regularly in late 70s / early 80s.   Her confidence grew and she made less stumbling and slippages.

The fourth performance was in the Mahanavami get together and puja of our community in Trivandrum.  Around 150 people were there and most of them patiently listened to her performance.  What has touched my heart was a comment from Dr Nirmala Bai (my wife’s aunt), who was observing Pratibha’s growth right from the day she was born.   Here she performed Yaman, Bihag, the Shudh Bilawal composition and the song 'Honge Kaamayaab'.

In all the four performances, Dipin, a young talented tabalist from Elamakkara, Kochi accompanied Pratibha brilliantly.  Dipin’s controlled and adjusted playing of tabla has immensely helped raising the stature of the performance.  In the last two performances Pratibha played the composition in raag Shudh Bilawal followed by the famous song ‘Hum Honge Kaamayaab’.  We thank all those who have helped us with giving opportunities for these performances.

On our way back in train, the TTR was curious about sitar and he gave us a full berth to keep the sitar.  He also requested Pratibha to show him playing a bit of sitar, which Pratibha obliged.   He brought few of his friends (other TTRs) and few others in the compartment joined as audience.  Pratibha was struggling to hold the sitar in moving train, but it was fun.

It was an immense satisfaction for all of us in the family, to see Pratibha giving Sitar performances on stage.  What we started as a therapy, using music to help her improve, has taken a turn and gave Pratibha a direction for presenting herself confidently in front of music loving audience.  The way Pratibha performed and the kind of encouragement she received from many directly and in social media, is an inspiration for us to put more efforts on her and bring better out of her, so that she enjoys and make others enjoy her music.   

Here is a sneak preview video of Pratibha's first performance at Edappally Changampuzha Park on 16th October.  This is an edited 10 minutes version of 35 minutes performance.

Yes, these are the most joyful moments of our life… 

What a journey that was...