Fasting and Medication
Pandit ji’s alap has such a soul stirring effect on me, that it literally brings me to tears almost every time. An Internationally renowned exponent of the bansuri or bamboo flute, Pandit ji surprisingly does not come from a long lineage of flautists. His father was a famous wrestler who had aspirations of his son following in his footsteps.
The younger Chaurasia had an early love of music, however, and by the age of 15 was taking his first steps toward a lifetime as a performer by studying classical vocal with Pandit Raja Ram of Benares.
Soon after, he heard a flute recital by Pandit Bholanath and was so impressed he changed his focus to studying the flute. When he was just 19, he got a job playing for All India Radio, Cuttack, Orissa, and within five years he was transferred to their headquarters in Bombay. There he got the additional exposure of performing in one of India’s cultural centers and also studied with Shrimati Annapurna Devi, daughter of Ustaad Allauddin Khan of the Maihar School of Music.
There he established the creative peak of his career, developing a style that was respectful of tradition, yet full of innovation. Over a lifetime of performances, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia has become one of India’s most-respected classical musicians, earning several awards, including the National Award of the Sangeet Natak Academy, which he won in 1984. Some excerpts are courtesy of www.hariprasadchaurasia.com
I recall one time I had gone to Pandit ji’s concert with a friend and I had taken my bansuri with me with the hopes of a slim chance that he would sign it for me. I waited for him several feet away as a group of people had surrounded him and were engaged in praise and discussion. He then looked over and saw me standing there with bansuri in hand. He left the group and came to me!
As he came face to face he said, “I’m sorry, I left one of my flutes on stage didn’t I?”, and he took the bansuri from me! I didn’t say anything as this all happened as I was thinking to myself, “hey, if Pandit ji wants my bansuri, I’ll give it to him!”. My friend then spoke up and told him that it was actually my flute and that I would like for him to sign it He laughed and apologized and then told me something quite remarkable. He said, he didn’t feel right taking a pen to the bansuri as the instrument was “an Ocean”, and deserved the utmost respect. At that point, he kissed it several times, and agreed to mark the flute with a simple ‘R’ – for Ronu.
After that he asked me to play Sa Re Ga Ma so he could hear me. I became so nervous! I felt embarrassed, and shy to even be holding this instrument in his presence let alone play it! Fortunately for me, he was called away and I was spared!
Just like his legendary uncle, Rakesh possesses the right balance of strength and serenity, very critical factors for an exceptional flautist. His dextrous blowing technique coupled with his training of ‘swar’ and ‘tala’ exudes adeptly in his emotions through the hollow piece of bamboo. Rakesh has already globe trotted many times over, enthralling audiences at classical and semi-classical concerts in Japan, Australia, Europe, South Africa and USA. He is also an accomplished musician having recorded with most of the leading stalwarts of the Indian film industry. He was invited to conclude the twenty-four hour live music broadcast to a worldwide audience on the BBC radio celebrating Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.
Despite his experimental work, Rakesh has never deviated from his main goal of becoming a full-fledged classical musician. He has regularly appeared in prominent festivals like WOMAD festival in Athens, ‘Festivals of India’ in Russia, Japan, USA and Europe. His growing maturity and status has brought him invitations to perform solo at major events within India and abroad such as the Festival of Saint-Denis in Paris, Leicester International Music Festival in England, “Anubhuti” in Mumbai where history was made when, for the first time ever, Rakesh, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and his son, Rahul, all performed together on stage accompanied by the legendary Ustad Zakir Hussain.
Modest Rakesh is the first to admit that he has a lot to learn, not just from his legendary uncle and maestro, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia but his peers too. He is indeed, destined to carve a niche for himself in the realm of Indian Classical Music with the simple yet extremely difficult to play bamboo flute, the Bansuri.
Some excerpts are courtesy of www.rakeshchaurasia.com
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