money on Shakespeare, they would have to spend more money on the police force’.
My second biggest influence was my Wife, who passed away in 2006. She was also a musician, a vocalist and originally a dancer. She is one person who nobody had anything against. She was known to‘ Forgive and Forget’. I did not completely adopt that sadly. She was also spiritually inclined.
The third influence was my business. The kind that we are in, we deal with a lot of corruption since we deal with customs, port etc. But my father was known for his honesty and integrity. We adopted a principle which was that we were neither a saint nor a thief but only a shopkeeper.
I also got a lot of lessons in my life through my students. There are so many different shades of students. We’ ve got housewives, professionals, khandani, music professionals and so on. To deal with each, I had to understand their requirements to help them, thus I learnt a lot from them.
What is your take on the future Hindustani Music scene?
We have been talking about this for quite some time. On one side, there is a strong feeling that our music is becoming entertainment oriented, thrill and excitement oriented. Young people are drawn towards that area of music and fusion is a part of it. On the other hand, great and talented musicians are coming up and that is why I am not in favour of focusing too much on teaching of Indian music, as there are many young musicians coming up, but they don’ t get opportunities or concerts and that is where the trouble lies. We are at crossroads! Here, I’ d like to mention the formation of a group called All India Musicians Group in which we have six top North Indian musicians and six South Indian musicians like Zakir Hussain, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ajoy Chakravorty, Rajan Sajon from North and Sudha Ragunathan, Ravi Kiran, Balamurali Krishna and T. M Krishna etc from South. This group could be a powerful instrument to ensure that the prejudicial trends are controlled.
The biggest support today, is Corporate Sector. An organiser can’ t get the money through ticket sales and are dependent on companies. Corporates want value for money as they are answerable to their shareholders and they in-turn expect musicians to be entertainers, though one can’ t blame them.
How did you feel on recently receiving the Padma Bhushan award?
I must give credit to my students. To start with, I did not know that they had started this project and I think they did a great job. They approached five icons like Zakir bhai, Shiv ji, Hari ji etc, for recommendation letters,( which I saw later on). I was deeply touched at what they wrote. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra also wrote a recommendation letter. After I got the Padma Bhushan, the Chief Minister wrote to me congratulating me and even mentioned that my getting this award was a pride for Maharashtra. There were also some ministers like Praful Patel, Dinesh Trivedi, who wrote recommendation letters.
I was very happy to receive the award. Everyone has an ego centric approach and mine was definitely satisfied. I also felt that my contribution so far has been recognized. However, had I not received the award, I would’ ve been happy at home( laughs). For a professional musician, this was definitely very valuable.
Do you think it is possible to bring back the disciplined pursuit of art?
In life, you can’ t be successful in any area without discipline. It is important to succeed in any walk of life. I do believe that an effective, organized effort is a result of discipline. I’ m a very organized person and extremely meticulous about timings. You can perform better and do much more work with discipline.
For a short stint, you were the Vice President of the International Music Council( UNESCO). What were your biggest learnings?
Dr. Narayan Menon was the Executive Director of NCPA. He was very deeply involved in the Council; headquartered in Paris. He told me to get involved. There was a meeting in Canada, I went for it. I felt that Indian music was not given the importance that it should have been given, unlike Indonesian and African music which were given a lot of importance. That is how I started. At the IMC, I had three advantages. My vision was broadened by interacting with various musicians, problems faced in their countries, government support, not getting concerts etc. There were lot of east European countries, with different structures. It gave me a good vision of the world music.
What is your advice to the young generation perusing music?
Firstly, I’ d start by saying I have great sympathy for the young generation as I know they are struggling. One word of advice to them, is not to depend only on earnings through music. In today’ s world it is not possible to fully depend on music for livelihood. You need to have other source of income as well.
Secondly, in today’ s world, worthy gurus are no longer available.
What are the qualities of a guru whether it is Carnatic music or Hindustani music?
Gyan- Knowledge.
Vigyan- Analytical ability to scientifically analyse the knowledge.
Varchan- Must be articulate enough to explain.
Prayoksidhi- Should be able to demonstrate what you are doing.
Shishya Nishvadhan- Should have the ability to make a student.
Lastly, I would say take your time to select a guru! But once selected, one must be his devoted student at least for five years.
The Score Magazine
14 highonscore. com