T his is music to die for – Pandit Nikhil Banerjee’s music would have surely elicited such a response from everyone who listened to his soulful music. Can human fingers plumb the depths of the soul like this? -- Who wouldn’t have wondered this when Ustad Vilayat Khan made his sitar explore music that seemed to unearth the mysteries of the universe? Even as our vulnerable selves feel so grateful for all this music showered on us, have we, ever wondered, how does this unfeeling piece of wood sing at all? At a seminar organised by Indian Musicological Society in collaboration with NCPA Mumbai, those behind the curtains and far from applause were brought to centre stage. Put together by eminent sitarist and musicologist, Pandit Arvind Parikh, the day-long event brought “Sitar Makers” from various parts of the country.
Sitar makers from Delhi, Miraj and Bengal interestingly traced their personal histories as well as the history of the instrument and its strong relationship with the art, artistry, sociology and ethos of those times. “Instrument making was never just about craftsmanship. Without being able to understand the ‘ dil ki baat’ of the artiste you cannot make the instrument that he wants,” said Sanjay Sharma of the famous Rikhi Ram musical store in Delhi. In a way, Sanjay summed up the close relationships that musicians have had not just with instrument makers, but also their instruments. Suman Karmakar of Kolkata, a third generation instrument maker said that unless the makers know music closely an instrument can never be made. During the last century, Miraj and its surrounding areas was filled with vocal musicians and therefore the longest of time, Miraj produced only tanpuras and unparalleled ones. “Sitar was a later inclusion in our repertoire, only after musicians started moving for better opportunities,” explained Shahid from Miraj. “Our family, that is fathers and grandfathers were never qualified to tell us if we made a good quality instrument, only the musician could tell. The verdict always rested with the musician.”
Rikhi Ramji, Sanjay’s grandfather was originally from Lahore. Through dedication he perfected the art and received unending support from musicians like Abdul Harim Poonchwale and Ramzan Khan. During Partition he moved to Delhi and re-established his shop and leading musicians like Ustad Fayyaz Khan Saheb, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb and Pt. Omkarnath Thakur became an integral part of his community. “My father Bishan Dass Sharma was constantly interacting with musicians and trying to resolve the problems they faced. He was called Newton, since he seemed to have an answer to every problem.”
Sanjay, inherited this passion and has developed the art further and today, Rikhi Ram is a sought after name in the musical world. “There was no formal training, ever. During school vacation I would just hang around and would get random chores to do – taar kaato etc. I never got to know when learning happened.” It certainly is not a choice they made by default, but it depended a lot on their capability and interest. “Our ancestors called it itefaaq , but our generation had the benefit of education which has made it possible for us to articulate these processes with greater clarity. It is definitely a blend of physics and feeling,” said an evocative Shahid. “Makers have to be literate, music is changing and the demands that musicians make of the instrument have to be met,” added Sanjay emphatically.
“Legends like Deodhar saab, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Vinayak Partwardhan left their homes in search of gurus. But they did not disband ties with the instrument makers of Miraj,” observed Naseer Mullah, saying how musicians believed that these instrument makers had a huge role to play in their music. Hiren Roy of Kolkata was an often remembered name – musicians recalled their association with this extraordinary man who could bring his deep knowledge of music into instrument making. He would spend several months on crafting each instrument and the great sitarists of this country would settle for nothing less than Hiren Roy’s sitar. In fact, they were prepared to wait. Though many Indian instruments are still hand-crafted, some amount of machinisation has set in. But most instrument makers themselves were against in the intrusion of machines – “There is a demand, and machine may bring down the costs. But every instrument is designed to the requirement of an individual musician,” explained Sanjay. Taking it further, Shahid summing up the nature of Indian music, “there is such a great deal of hand and eye co-ordination, and moreover the nature of Indian music is such that it cannot be mass produced. If we have to make a good instrument, we need to understand the musician too.” There was a detailed discussion on the various processes involved before the instrument actually gets made, and most of them felt that it would help them in a big way if the government extended support. Usman Khan saab made the final comment, “we must get the government to extend support. But if we have to preserve our music, these instrument makers have to keep corruption out of their mind. We owe much of our music to their dedication.”
(This was followed by a seminar on Gharanas of Sitar which will be reported next week)
