Rant 65: The musical spectrum

One of my most life-changing experiences till date has been a month-long internship at RAVE magazine's Delhi office in the summer of 2008. Most of the "change-ings" were work related, not least as this was my first fully legitimate Photojournalistic experience. Now RAVE is (or was) a music magazine, however, the Delhi office was quite far removed from its Bangalore counterpart in terms of the coverage, genre-wise. While Bangalore is obviously more inclined towards whatever the flavour of the month is, or plain old stuff like rock and roll / metal / lounge, Delhi focuses on the more traditional Indian music forms. Now, I would be the first to admit that classical type music is not my cup of tea, but I was able to glean much musically and explore myself photographically as well. From spiritual renditions on a sitar by someone who has a permanent spot on National radio to wild-clapping and high pitched qawallis by a group from Pakistan to probably the most down-to-earth percussionist you can hope to find.
So, to start off, Sudha Mathur,
and as you can probably guess from the pic, she is as much a rock and roll enthusiast as I am of spinach curry. The woman has more than 25 years of playing this instrument under her belt and (as mentioned earlier) a permanent spot on All India Radio. However, she admits she enjoys passing on the fruits of her knowledge more than giving shows. Regardless, judging by the reaction of the audience at the India Habitat Centre - with more than the occasional "waah waah" flying around as well as song suggestions - it's obvious which would pay her better.
Of course, I could hardly understand most of what she sang, but I was well entertained by her lovely accompaniment on the second Sitar...

On to some energetic fare...
Music being one of the few things these days that transcends borders, it's more than worth your time and money if you can catch an authentic Qawalli act. And this particular troupe comes from none other than Pakistan. A performance that is sure to leave you gasping for more each and every time..

Throwing caution to the winds and everyone has a role...some sing, some keep the beat

Now, for many, music is pretty much an inborn talent, you either have it or you don't. For others, it can come as a result of a good background or just plain old healthy patronage.
Meet Prateek Chaudhari,

born with virtually a Silver Sitar in his hands, into a very musically inclined family - his Father being an accomplished musician himself.

The guy is skilled, there's no doubt and has a look on his face that tells you he knows exactly what he wants out of his music. He gave us stories of his performances abroad in Europe and the US. Funnily, according to him, it seems more foreigners come to classical music concerts than do our own desi brethren.
He seemed quite experienced in the whole art of "posing" as well, giving us pointers on how we could enhance his image...guess humility was not part of the Sitar School curriculum.


Next we have Debojyoti Bose on the Sarod. Now this was truly a mesmerising performance - even for someone like me -

After all that spiritual looking strumming, the first thing the man searches for in the green room (prior to our interview session) is a cigarette...ahh Irony, thy name is Gold Flake.

And finally, the down-to-earth percussionist...
Shailendra Mishra, a tabla player and having been a tabla student myself in my teenage years, I guess his was the instrument I was most attracted to among all the musicians I met.
I reached his home at around 11 am, just as one of his students was finishing his lesson. Shailendra then proceeded to give me a near-virtuoso solo performance and I was torn between reaching for my camera and sitting there staring like a dork (read: in amazement).









I think about this guy and then I recall this other tabla player I saw recently at a concert called Fireflies in Bangalore - who refused to play the first two songs of his band's set due to a sound problem, which amazingly only he was able discern...not the myriad of sound techies standing around, not to mention his own bandmates.

Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, Delhi does have quite an active rock and roll scene but my work-related sessions prevented me from attending many such shows. Nevertheless, here are two pics from a certain fest called "Yamonatsav" again at the Indian Habitat centre, conducted on the 5th of June (Environment Day), in tribute to New Delhi's endless quest to "finally" clean up the Yamuna river.











Raghu Dixit, played despite an injured right hand

Dunno the guy on the left...guy on right is bassist from Indian Ocean

HAPPY LISTENING!