Pt. Arvind Parikh knows how to handle notes! Somebody, who straddles music and the corporate world with equal felicity, Parikh has gained the same reverence and love from the two spheres, which contradict and complement each other at the same time.
The senior most and devoted disciple of Ustad Vilayat Khan, the distinguished sitar player is a gifted composer, a dedicated guru, an erudite musicologist and an efficient organiser. He has been the vice-president of the International Music Council (UNESCO), President of Indian Musicological Society, chairman of the Western India Chapter of the ITC-Sangeet Research Akademi (SRA). He established the Music Forum where issues related to music could be discussed.
Alongside, he is a pioneer in the freight forwarding industry. He has been the chairman of the Indian Transportation Organisation and the first-ever Asian to head the FIATA, the world body of International representatives of 35,000 freight forwards, apart from his family-owned group company for printing accessories.
He currently spearheads the All India Musicians Group (AIMG), an association of 12 icons of classical music, drawn from both the Carnatic and Hindustani streams to generate greater support for Indian classical music from the Government, the industry/corporate sector and the media. After spending the day at office, Parikh spends the evenings teaching his numerous disciples from India and abroad from 9 p.m. till midnight.
As the Sangeet Natak Akademi bestows him with its prestigious Fellowship, we take Parikh down memory lane.
Excerpts from a conversation:
How did you acquire expertise in both the fields and how do you balance them?
I was born into a Gujarati business family based in Ahmedabad. My father Natwarlal Parikh was a businessman and my mother, Chandrakala Ben, a painter. I have inherited the business acumen of my father and the artistry of my mother.
How did you get interested in music?
The music teacher in my school Makrand Badshah was a vocalist of Agra Gharana. At home, Gopal Rao Joshi, then Principal of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Ahmedabad, used to come and teach me dilruba. I played all sorts of instruments — dilruba, violin, mandolin, jaltarang and flute. I was an avid radio listener too. In a way radio was my first guru. I listened to the stalwarts of those times such as Waliullah Khan from Dhaka, Shiraz Ahmed Qureshi and Mohammad Sharif Poonchwale from Lahore, Haidar Hussain Chughtai from Delhi and Iliyas Khan from Lucknow. I had notated 80 orchestral pieces played on the AIR by the age of 15. When I listened to Ustad Vilayat Khan, I knew that this was my instrument and I would learn it from him only. At the age of 17, I moved to Mumbai and got admitted in Elphinstone College. I was a good student and had topped in Economic Honours. I was fortunate to become the ‘ganda-bandh shagird’ of Ustad Vilayat Khan. Our long association lasted for more than six decades, till his death.
You are a prolific composer. You have recorded 450 compositions in different ragas for your students. Did your Guru ever object to it?
Ustad was a kind, compassionate and encouraging Guru. He allowed me to develop my individuality. He believed that ‘gat’ is not deliberately composed, it happens automatically. For instance, when I was recording/documenting the ragas for my students, there would have been just a masitkhani gat available, so I would have had to compose the drut gat or vice-versa. Sometimes compositions are created out of compulsion too.
Your experience as a guru
I love teaching. On the occasion of Guru Purnima, we all gather to pay tribute to Ustad Vilayat Khan in different cities. Throughout the two-day festival, I sit down and take elaborate notes to guide my students individually later. Every month I organise a baithak and present one of my students in front of an invited audience, which is followed by a renowned artiste presenting a lec-dem or discussion on music. These baithaks are available on YouTube.
You have received many awards and now the SNA Fellowship.
No doubt these are valuable awards but frankly I do not pine for them. It feels nice if one gets. Even if I didn’t, I would be living a comfortable life. The amount of respect and love I get from both the worlds and the support of my affectionate family are truly blessings.
What is the Imdadkhani Baaj?
If we talk of the stylistic evolution of sitar, initially it was very right-hand oriented style, full of virtuosity but the left hand did not equal or parallel to the right hand. Gradually, it captured the quality of voice in the times of Ustad Enayat Khan. Now the left hand attained the capability or beauty of the voice. Thus the Imdadkhani Baaj was the stylistic evolution of both the hands. Initially right hand was the dominant force and the left hand played minimal role. During Enayat Khan’s time both the hands played parallel role. In the times of Vilayat Khan, left hand became more important than the right hand. Thus the Imdadkhani Baaj was a process of evolution that ultimately became the signature of Gayaki Ang, the vocalised idiom.
