: Legendary flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia is commencing online music classes on an inaugural date to be announced soon. “Vrindaban Gurukul will be an evangelist for Indian classical music and strive to stay relevant in a changing digital environment. The need to move beyond brick and mortar and offer online classes in Hindustani vocal, bansuri and tabla is a part of this story,” says Panditji’s son Rajeev Chaurasia, who is steering the web-enabled gurukul and creating an app to aid online teaching in response to the need for it expressed by a new generation of students across continents. “Vrindaban Dharohar (inheritance of a legacy) is the name under which we will flag off the online teaching initiatives of the Vrindaban Gurukul [the maestro’s two traditional gurukuls in Mumbai and Bhubaneswar]. It will help by being a parallel source for enhanced digital learning."
The Chaurasias are working on instructional video and audio recordings, and a curriculum that follows the same pedagogical style as the Vrindaban Gurukul, albeit in the digital format, which will be available as a web-based application for the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels of the syllabus. “The platform or media in which we become available will be decided by the funding we receive,” Rajeev Chaurasia added.
Offline compliments online“It may be a free or subscription-based model. We are inclined to offer our services for free but complemented with a paid offline component, where we will help find teachers who physically interact with students periodically to validate, check and guide their digital progression," adds Rajeev.
The online model will work in tandem with offline classes. Panditji endorses the view that, “While one must adapt to the digital times, pedagogy should not get diluted. So, online must be strongly complemented with offline classes. The student gets a better handle on the practice through the online tutorials.”
Senior disciples of the Vrindaban Gurukuls, who are a part of the guru shishya tradition with Pandit Chaurasia for over 50 years, could become a part of the teaching faculty. They will be the extended eyes and ears of the online classes. They will, at some point, mentor students through physical interactions or real-time video conferencing. Mrs. Anuradha Chaurasia will mentor the vocal wing while Panditji will be present special classes in bansuri.
Seeking fundsTo tide over the funds crisis, Rajeev Chaurasia is currently overseeing an online fundraiser on ‘Learn Music from Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia’, which has collected Rs. 5 lakhs as of now. He said, “This is a small experiment to demonstrate proof of the concept to investors. After this, we hope technology experts will come forward to partner with us and create a versatile app for mobile phones and tablets. What we collect now, through this fundraiser, is only a small fraction of the vision. Web based applications need funds not just for creation but also marketing. My estimated budget is Rs. 20 lakhs totally.”
Hariprasad Chaurasia mastered his stylised playing under Annapurna Devi, daughter of Allaudin Khan, and became renowned for his innovative blowing. His gayaki (singing) style adapted to an instrument mastered with deft finger movements that define his global identity. He was also a part of the Beatles single ‘The Inner Light’.
