For young sarangi maestro Murad Ali, who just received the Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for his excellence in his chosen instrument, it seems to be business as usual. Tied up with rehearsals, recordings, performances, tours, he remains low-key, affable — not carrying his accomplishments on his sleeve, as it were. It's a bright enough sleeve, though, and as Murad walks into the suitably sober Kaffa cafe in Hans Hotel not too far from Mandi House, his bright blue kurta makes a pleasing contrast with the white walls on which orange lilies are aesthetically placed.
“We don't always wear such bright colours, only for stage and formal occasions,” notes Murad smiling mildly, pointing to this teatime meeting as an important occasion. At this 24-hour cafe Murad is pleased to find how quiet it is. Indeed, Kaffa offers a surprisingly pleasant oasis before the chaos that is Connaught Place these days.
It may be a coffee house, but the little maestro opts for green tea. “Yes, I am trying to look after my health these days,” he smiles. Murad is referring to the occupational hazards of a successful concert musician. Frequent flying, erratic mealtimes, physical stress without the exercise required for complete physical fitness can tell on even a young body, and Murad is taking steps in the right direction.
With an album of sarangi blended with poetry soon to be released by Times Music, as well as a concert coming up from the Ahmedabad wing of the Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan, plus a performance with Vijayalakshmi, daughter of violin legend Lalgudi Jayaraman for the maestro's 80th birthday felicitation on the cards, Murad has plenty of food for the soul. He waters the spirit with sumptuous ragas, but for the body it is green tea.
Green tea is just the beginning of his health project, something he has started drinking in earnest only about a month ago. He is trying to reign in his meal times too.
“We live in a joint family, by the grace of God,” he recounts. “We always feel that although during the day everyone may be out on separate business, we should all eat together at night. That's how dinner time gets later and later waiting for everyone to come home!”
It got so that they were having dinner at 2.30 a.m. During Ramzan season, he notes, when the family rises again at about 4, dinner was melting into breakfast. “Now we have managed to restrict it to 11 p.m.,” says Murad.
What about the children? “Yes the kids too want to keep up with our timings,” says the father of a play-schooler who, he admits, wanted him to inform his teacher to let the child have an extra nap in class!
Do school authorities look askance at this ‘gharana' lifestyle so foreign to the Delhi educational scenario? Murad, whose father is celebrated sarangi exponent Ustad Sabir Khan saheb and whose twin brother Fateh Ali plays the sitar, among a long lineage of classical musicians , laughs. “Not just the school, other folks also are shocked at our ways.”
Though he is happy to savour the green tea alone, Kaffa provides a delicious snack of paneer along with some extra long french fries.
Murad's list of favourite foods is eclectic — and rich, starting with irresistible biryani. “In Mughlai food I like shaami kabab, seekh kabab, nihari and paya, and in vegetarian food I love shahi paneer and dal makhani, as well as yellow dal”.
He also enjoys Turkish and French food and likes Chinese food as well. Indian or authentic Chinese? Murad smiles, “Indian I suppose, I don't know why though I have eaten it there, I am not able to develop a taste for the real thing! It's like when I had pizza in Italy, I preferred what I had in India!”
Remembering the health project, he adds ruefully, “That list is mostly out of bounds, now”.
Still, he is game to experiment and when he goes abroad on tours likes to try out the cuisine of the countryhe is visiting. “It is not always possible, since sometimes I am with colleagues who are particular about only eating what they are used to. When I go with Akram Bhai (Akram Khan, tabla player), he prefers if we get a chance to cook for ourselves. He is a great cook”.
As for Murad, he can cook a qorma and a few other dishes, and sometimes does when it is his turn at the stove.
