It was about as far from Carnegie Hall as you could get: a modest home in the heat and dust of Agra, where a young girl learnt the first taals of Hindustani music. This month, many years later, Ila Paliwal sang some Hindustani raags in no less a space than New York’s Carnegie Hall with the noted Salome Chamber Orchestra, a wonderful East-West collaboration, before a packed, sold-out audience.
The concert marked the launch of Paliwal’s debut album, Navaratna , which is executive produced by A.R. Rahman, whom she considers her mentor. He was there to receive the first copy of the album, which showcases the singer’s clear, joyous voice in classical raags and highlights nine Indian festivals.
At the launch, Rahman said, “It's an album of celebration and an ambassador of Indian music. It’s a soundtrack for all the festivals and sublimely gives you Indian raags.” Rahman, who rarely gets involved as a producer, strongly believed in the project from the beginning.
Says Ila Paliwal, “He was there every step of the way. He is such a genius. He has just to listen once and, like a surgeon, knows what to adjust and everything changes.” The process involved musicians from the East and the West, many folk performers and also some unknown talent. Finally after two years of intensive labour, the verdict came from the maestro - “It's rocking!”
For Ila, ‘Navaratna’ is the result of a lifetime of riyaz (practice) and a world view developed over many years of life as an immigrant living on four continents.
Ila is a classically trained Hindustani vocalist, the daughter of the late poet and Hindi scholar, Dr. Padam Singh Sharma Kamlesh, and Dr. Sushila Sharma Kamlesh, who is an English and Sanskrit scholar. Her parents were immersed in the arts and it was natural for them to name her Ila, which is another name for Saraswati, the Goddess of Music and the arts.
Being literary people, they were always surrounded by artists, poets and writers in their home, and Ila learned everything from the sitar to Kathak. At 12, she started her vocal training with Pandit Sitaram Vyavhare of the Gwailor gharana and was totally hooked. She recalls, “All I wanted to do was sing.”
Ila lost her father when she was 10, and was brought up by her mother. She recalls, “She was quite revolutionary, the first woman in Agra who drove to college - she was a single woman in a conservative small town, so it was not easy.”
Her mother made it possible for Ila to pursue her love of music and travelling to sammelans in different towns. She received her Master’s degree in Music (Sangeet Praveen) from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, with distinction. Over the years, she learned classical music from the noted names of Jaipur Gharana such as Padma Talwalkar, Aarti Anklikar and Pandit Rahunandan Panshikar.
Marriage to Dinesh Paliwal, an engineer and an MBA working for an American company, took her to different countries from Singapore to Australia (Melbourne) and finally to Ohio, the U.S. Life changed but music was always central to her life. She continued to perform, practising and hosting Indian musicians in Columbus, Ohio. In 1994, the Paliwals with their two children, moved to China. Music took a backseat but even there, she sang at the U.N.’s International Women’s Conference, which was attended by the likes of Hillary Clinton and Jane Fonda.
Yet, every year, Ila returned to Ohio to perform with the talented Indian musicians of Swaranjali. “We’d meet in the evenings and jam into the night,” she recalls.
The Holi song in the album has been made into a joyful video by Bharat Bala with people of diverse faiths playing gulal. “If you throw colour, you will smile,” says Paliwal. “If you hit all the right notes with people, they will connect with it. I want to spread the message of happiness and joy.”
Music has always been Ila's shadow and the music room in her home in Greenwich, CT, is her refuge. “I go there and hours go by as I sing. I find a sense of peace and comfort that no money can buy – it’s like being so close to the Divine, “ she says.
Many things have changed in the world yet one thing remains constant. Be it in Agra or New York, Ila Paliwal’s day begins with an alaap in the morning. And then, all else falls into place!
The power of nine:
“We are all the same, we cry for the same thing and we laugh for the same things. Then why is there so much pain in the world?” - Ila Paliwal.
Her album symbolises the Sanskrit phrase, ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam’, meaning the whole world is one single family. The nine tracks highlight the nine Indian festivals which show India's unity in diversity: -- Pongal, Holi, Baisakhi, Eid, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja, Diwali and Christmas.
The concept and vocals are by Paliwal, and the music has been arranged and produced by Ranjit Barot. A.R. Rahman’s guidance has been there throughout the making of the Navaratna. It is available on iTunes and Amazon worldwide.
(The writer is a New York-based journalist and blogs at >Lassi with Lavina . Twitter >@lavinamelwani )
