Moving On

True to my vagabond spirit, I am now all set for the move to Cairo - and I admit I am all excited about my 2nd innings in North Africa - this time with Nielsen.  My first stint (with TNS) was memorable to me and my family - we love the people in that region - they are warm and hospitable, and seem to have a very balanced approach to life.

I am hoping that this 2 nd stint will be as fulfilling and satisfying as the 1st stint.  What gave me the biggest source of reward during my previous stint was of course the blossoming of quite a few Egyptians, Tunisians and Moroccans into extremely good professionals in a short period of time.  They are all now in very good positions - either still on the agency side or on the client side - and I am really proud of what they have achieved for themselves.

From what I hear, the Nielsen Egypt and Morocco offices are flooded with young talent - and I can hardly wait to get to know them.

Nandan at the Nielsen India Consumer 360 event

I understand that Nandan Nilekani was the chief guest at the Nielsen Consumer 360 event held recently in New Delhi, India. Nandan happens to be a hero of mine (read why he is my hero in the blog post Quitting At The Top posted a few months ago.)

I am really happy that Nielsen India managed to get a person of Nandan's stature to be the chief guest.  Nielsen India aimed big - and no wonder the event was stated to be a spectacular success

A Musical Morning - Preethi Kamath

Preethi Kamath gave an impromptu performance to a private audience in Dubai last weekend.  She effortlessly alternated between singing in the Hindustani and the Carnatic styles - a difficult task for even the trained vocalist.

I greatly enjoyed accompanying Preethi on the Harmonium.  Initially I was a bit queasy as this was an impromptu event without any rehearsals - and accompanying Carnatic music on the Harmonium is always a huge challenge particularly if it has to be done spontaneously, and with no prior knowledge of the Raag.  So I was indeed thrilled when the accompaniment went off smoothly.

The high-point was of course the sight of my mother (and guru) Meera Rao accompanying on the Tabla. Videos of the event have been uploaded on YouTube.  My personal favourite - embedded above - was Preethi's rendition of the song Sarasee.   The other notable one was the rendition of Raag Malkoums in both the Hindustani and the Carnatic (Hindolam) style.

The Tabla Player

The Tabla (Indian Drums) normally sets the rhythm and the tempo in music.  It makes a lot of sound - and brings "life" to the music.  And it often breaks out into a rhythm of its own - and sometimes hijacks the audience attention before the vocalist again reasserts control over the proceedings.  

The Tabla player wants attention and recognition - and normally when he does his job well, it is recognised, and draws an applause from the audience.  

In organisations, the Tabla players would be the people who bring in the Revenue - normally people in Marketing or Sales.  They very often fancy themselves as future Leaders – and therefore often challenge the leadership.

The different styles of playing harmonium

The harmonium as a musical instrument is designed to support the vocalist.  The problem is that some players of harmonium play it as if it is the hero of the music event.  They therefore try to over-shadow the vocalist either by second-guessing the vocalist (and therefore constraining him), or by playing it in such a loud and dominating manner that the vocalist's voice gets drowned in the process.

Then there is a difference in the way one can project the sound by controlling the way the air escapes through the reeds.  Some harmonists prefer to play using a single reed as you get a very sweet sound - this is ideal when the musician is an accomplisted vocalist, and only needs support from the harmonist to "fill in" the gaps.  However, most people prefer to play using either double or triple reed as the sound is stronger, and it tends to lend better support to the amateur vocalist.

Although normally I play using both reeds, recently I had to play on a single reed as the singer had a very soft voice - and even at low volume the harmonium would have drowned her beautiful voice.  You can listen to the recording of that performance of Geethaji singing "Aaj Mujhe Aayike" here - Geethaji sang this as usual very beautifully - though I wish I had played the harmonium better.

What Musical Instrument defines you?

There is much to learn from music.


All of us tend to get drawn to a specific type of musical instrument. In Indian (Hindustani) music, it could be the vocal chords (singing), or the Harmonium, the Tabla (percussion) or the Taal (cymbals).


While we may like everything, there will normally be one instrument that a person will be especially drawn towards.  And when I say "drawn towards", it does not necessarily mean that he/she actually plays it - it could also mean that he/she pays special emphasis to this instrument while listening to a piece of music.


I believe that the type of instrument that you are drawn towards reveals your personality.  And happiest are those who are in careers/positions that match their musical talent.


Do you know what is your musical instrument?  If you don't know, then it is likely that you are not sure about your own strengths in your work place - probaly you are yet to discover yourself.  And if you are not in a role suiting your musical instrument, then probably you are not very satisfied in your current role.  

The Vocalist

People drawn towards Vocals (singing) are normally leaders - they tend to bring all the other musical instruments together to make a composite whole.  


In Indian music, the singers take centre stage - and the concert revolves around him - and the vocalist therefore grabs most of the attention.  It is the role of the Vocalist to draw out the best talent from all his team players - whether it be the tabla player, the harmonium player or the cymbal player.


He normally sets the theme for the concert and provides the overall direction.


In organisations, Vocalists would be the senior managers/leaders e.g the CEO

The Harmonium Player

The Harmonium is a supporting instrument that sets the tone, and closely supports the Vocalist.  It ensures that the Vocalist is always on track - correcting and guiding him when he strays off-course.  

The harmonium "fills-in" when the Vocalist pauses for breath, and brings in melody and harmony into the music.  

The Harmonium players are relatively low-profile, and they get their greatest kick when the entire music program goes off smoothly.

In organisations, harmonium players are conscience-keepers and normally display a strong mentoring trait.  They work very closely with the leader - and are usually either in supporting roles such as HR or Training - or in a monitoring role such as Finance. 

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Other popular posts relating to Harmonium : 
Fingering Techniques for Playing Harmonium
Custom-made Triple-Reed harmonium 
Palitana Reeds for my harmonium

Why Every Harmonium sounds different - C Sharp Tuning
My "Big Moment" finally happened

The Cymbal or Drone Player

Finally we come to the Taal (cymbal) player. Sometimes, in Hindustani music the Taal player is missing, and instead you would find a couple of drone players i.e. the people sitting behind the vocalist maintaining the base tone.  The Taal - or the Drone player - is the least noticed and acknowledged - though he is the crucial person who maintains the basic beat/tonality.  

Without the Taal or the Drone, there would be a large vacuum in the music.  

In organisations, the Taal players are the people in operations, logistics and systems - they are the people who run the machines, and who ensure things get finally implemented.  They are normally the least acknowledged - but who work the hardest.

Eknath Thakurdas

While listening to some old live recordings of Bhimsen Joshi (Sidhi series), I came across Eknath Thakurdas - one of the greatest harmonium players ever.  He is sheer genius.  He was probably the only accompanying artiste who could challenge Bhimsen.  I could not find any of his performances after the mid seventies - so I presume he passed away sometime in the early seventies.

Listening to Eknath play the harmonium gives me goose bumps. While there is an entirely new generation of harmonium players now, they cannot be compared to this genius.

I tried to find more about this great person - but alas there is nothing about him on the net.  Finally after a lot of search I managed to get a video grab of how he looked like.  The picture is a bit grainy - but the face shows a lot of character.

Here is a short clip of Eknath Thakurdas at his best - he is accompanying Bhimsen performing Raag Durga sometime during the mix-sixties.  The clip is just 2 minutes long - but it shows the genius.

You will also notice the very different and distinct timbre (tonal quality) made by his harmonium.  I wonder what happened to his harmonium after he passed away.  Which lucky person got this instrument that has been blessed by this maestro?  I don't think any of the current crop of harmonium players got it.  I have listened now to Eknath Thakurdas so much that I would recognise his harmonium anytime anywhere due to its very distinct sound.

How I wish that I had the luck to have seen him perform.

Life's Trade-offs

While interviewing candidates from the Indian sub-continent, I am always amused when the discussion at some point veers around to the usual “I want to take up a job in the Middle East because of the better lifestyle that I can afford there – but I want the job to be exciting too”.

Don’t we all? The issue is that in life (and in our careers) we normally end up trading off one thing against something else.

In my own case, what I like about working in the Gulf (apart from the money of course) is the quality of life that one can lead here - and all the accompanying advantages such as opportunity to see new places, understand new cultures, and understanding our own country from the outside.

All said and done, life back in India can be a bit stressful – due to a combination of the more complex and super-charged careers in India, the commuting time, and the various other factors such as lack of infrastructure, and very little personal space/time to pursue things that one is really passionate about.

Having said that, life in the Gulf can become a bit boring after some time (especially to certain peripatetic individuals). And the Gulf does tend to “soften” individuals if they hang around for too long – rendering such individuals pretty much mis-fits - and disconnected - when (and if) they eventually return to their home country.

For me the solution has been to alternate regularly between India and the Middle East – with the hope that by doing so I find the balance – and so that I could enjoy the best of both worlds (though at different points of time). I believe this tends to keep me and my family firmly grounded and rooted (pun unintended), and highly adaptable.

As my wife is fond of pointing out, I am yet to sportingly accept the bundle of “good” and “not so good” that life throws at us in any particular place – whether in India or abroad. I am sure eventually I will – that is the only practical way to face life.