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
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