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.

Attachment

A small bird landed on our kitchen window sill. It was drenched from the down-pour, and was shivering. On closer inspection we found it was a hatchling – its wings were not fully developed, and it seemed weak. It kept pecking at the glass door of the window, peering inside with a piteous look – and begging to be taken inside.

The mother in Vandana took over, and soon the small bird was ensconced on our balcony and fed.

We tried to identify what kind of a bird it could be – could it be the young one of a pigeon? Or a young hawk possibly? Or a sea gull? We did not know. And we were still puzzled as to how it landed on our 9th floor window sill when it clearly had not yet developed the wings to fly.

As it happens the bird was christened Tillu, and given a small card-board box in which to sleep. A small hole was made in the cardboard box so that Tillu could poke its head out, and peck at the food.

After a couple of days we let Tillu out of the box. We hoped that as it had become stronger it would fly away. But its wings were still poorly undeveloped, and the bird seemed unwilling to fly away.

A week passed and it still showed no interest in flying away – though now it looked quite hale and hearty, looked plump with all the food, and had started creating a nuisance on our balcony.

We had no intention of keeping a pet – but this bird seemed to have latched on to us – and stubbornly refused to go.

We briefly contemplated chucking Tillu over the balcony – so that it would be forced – like Jonathan Livingstone Seagull – to spread its wings, and fly. But given its stubbon attitude, we did not want to risk it.

Finally I and my son took Tillu in a cardboard box to the nearby corniche overlooking the Sharjah bay. There is a mini-forest in the corniche with neat manicured lawns and trees – and we released the bird there. As soon as it was released from its box, it ambled out and started scratching the lawn and looking for worms.

It seemed totally domesticated, and when we tried to frighten it to take to flight, it merely looked at us with disdain and went back to its pecking in a leisurely and unruffled manner.

We left it there. The last sight we had when we left the corniche was that of Tillu intently pecking away at the lawn.

We had a couple of hypothesis on the bird. We believe this bird was actually a chicken – or a young turkey, which was supposed to have ended in a cooking pot of our up-stairs neighbours. It must have made a dramatic escape from the upstairs balcony, jumped off it, and landed on to our window sill. The fact that it is a chicken or perhaps a young turkey perhaps explains its totally domesticated behavior and its inability to fly.

This is a hypothesis. Our vanity would want us to believe that it is the young one of a magnificent bird like a hawk, geese or a sea gull.  We would like to believe that it was part of a magnificient flock of geese that was migrating from the North Pole.

A couple of days later I revisited the corniche to check whether the bird was still around. It was of course not around – it had completely vanished from the scene. There were a few pigeons and sparrows that flew away as soon as I approached them – but no sign of Tillu.

I hoped it had flown away and joined its mates somewhere. I did not want to think of any other possibility.

A Legend passes away - Appasaheb Jalgaonkar

Because I was pre-occupied with my move to Sharjah, I had been out of touch with the classical musical world in India.  Hence it was only last week that I came to know that one of the greatest Harmonium players of India - Pandit Appasaheb Jalgaonkar - passed away a couple of months back.

Appasaheb was one of the last 3 great accompanying harmonists that accompanied legends like Bhimsen Joshi, Jitendra Abhisheki and other stalwarts of Hindustani music.  The other 2 great harmonists - Pandit Tulsidas Borkar and Purushottam Walawalker - are fortunately still in good health despite being in their late seventies.

Appasaheb trained to be a vocalist - but due to a twist of fate started playing the harmonium.  In appearance he looked more like a boxer than like a musician - but once he started playing the harmonium his fingers  would cast a magical spell both on the harmonium and on the audience.  For the last few years of his life, Appasaheb was unfortunately struck with paralysis - so he had to give up playing the harmonium.

It is a pity I never got to meet him in person - but thanks to YouTube I can enjoy several of his live performances.  You can see here one of his best performances at the Sawai Gandharva music festival at Pune when he accompanied Rajan and Sajan Mishra a few years ago.

May his great soul rest in peace.

P.G.Wodehouse vs Dick Francis

P.G.Wodehouse was my only favourite author for a long long time. I picked up my vocabulary and expressions from him - and he cheered me up with his humour whenever I felt low.

Dick Francis walked into my life much later while I was lying on a hospital bed. Someone gave me a couple of his books, and from that moment onwards I was hooked on to Dick Francis. I must have now read as many Dick Francis books (about 60) as I have of PG Wodehouse - though of course not as frequently.

Sometimes I wonder why I like these 2 authors - when they have such a contrasting approach to writing. While PG Wodehouse novels can be described as sunny bachelor romances, Dick Francis novels are cold crime thrillers woven around horse racing.

The characters in PG novels are boisterous, over-expressive and slightly hare-brained eternal optimists. The characters in Dick Francis stories are under-stated, brooding, low profile (to the point of being self-effacing), and always start off as under-dogs.

Sometimes I think that Dick Francis was a market researcher in his previous life. The characters he portrays in his novels are very similar to my perception of the average market researcher viz low-profile, under-stated and introspective. I identified with the PG characters in my youth, but nowadays while I still enjoy reading PG, my identification is greater with the characters in a Dick Francis novel.

Curiously despite their dramatically contrasting styles, both authors leave you with a good feeling when the last page is turned. There is justice at the end of the day - is what the authors seem to be saying - but they say it in their own unique styles.

Finally Mobile

My UAE licence lapsed in 1998 soon after I left Dubai for India. When I returned to the UAE in 2009 I assumed that my old UAE licence could be renewed and that I need not appear again for the notoriously difficult road tests in the UAE.

Much to my horror I was told that since my licence had lapsed more than 10 years ago I would need to appear for a fresh road test. The road test was scheduled to take place at the RTA office located on the campus of the Emirates Driving Institute.

Not wanting to take any chances, I enrolled for 8 classes at the EDI – reckoning that my chances of clearing the road test at EDI would be higher if I took some driving lessons at the EDI.

Despite this, I flunked – or was flunked. The examiner indicated that I need to take another 8 classes at the EDI before I could appear for a re-test.

Fortunately in the re-test carried out a week later I cleared the re-test – and now am a proud holder of a UAE driving licence.

I cannot describe the relief that I felt on clearing the road test. At one point after flunking the 1st test (and I consider myself a pretty experienced driver having driven in different parts of the world), I had lost all semblance of self-confidence.

When a person believes that he is very good at something, and then somebody tells him that he is not good at it, then it does result in a crisis situation.   This is true in life - whether in one's career or in simpler aspects such as driving.

All I can say is that I am a lot more humble now after this experience.  Humble is good.

Starting All Over Again

I believe some of us are destined to keep starting and restarting our lives constantly.

It has its pleasures and pains - but sometimes the pain overshadows and you wish that you had your old comfort zone back, with everything set and neatly organised.

There was the initial stress regarding school admissions - that fortunately was amicably resolved.

Currently I am struggling to get my driving licence in the UAE.  Cannot drive around, and need to depend on Taxis - not a situation I relish.  Ultimately I know this too will pass.

I knew that restarting our life peridically has its share of pain and trauma - but I wonder what is that makes guys like me forget the pain involved while taking the decision to move on.

Perhaps if people only remember the pain associated with a move to a new situation/location, then not many people would venture out - that seems to be the only explanation I have right now.

At the moment though I am quite envious of those guys who are quite content and happy being where they are!

Elasticity

It was about time for the train to leave the Railway station. People who had come to see off their guests were clustered around on the platform near the train - engaged in last minute chatter before the train left the platform.

The station bell sounded – and the train started to move slowly. Some people continued to walk along with the slowly moving train bidding their final good byes to the passengers.

A person standing on the platform in the shadows suddenly darted forward and started running towards one of the compartments with his arm stretched out. It seemed as if he had forgotten to hand-over some stuff to his friend on the train.

His hand went straight at the neck of the plump lady sitting near the window. She was wearing a heavy looking necklace – and it was obvious what the person was trying to grab.

His hand went around it and he pulled, all the time running alongside the train that was rapidly gaining in speed.

The lady screamed, and tried to ward off the chain snatcher – but he had got a firm grip, and started pulling with all his strength.

The tug-of-war continued for a full 30 seconds with the chain snatcher now running at terrific speed beside the train - huffing and puffing – but still refusing to let go of his prized catch. The lady continued to hold on tightly. The other passengers were too shocked to react.

Suddenly the chain snatcher realized he had lost the battle – he could not run any faster or any longer with the train – and the necklace for some strange reason was not yielding despite all his repeated and forceful tugs at it.

He let go, and ran off into the bushes at the edge of the platform.

The bra strap of the lady recoiled back with a loud sound. His hand had missed the necklace and had instead got hold of the lady’s bra strap.

The lady sat back – happy that she had not lost her necklace – but embarrassed at the way the events unfolded.

The shell-shocked passengers too sat back – relieved, but with an amused expression on their faces.

Little is known about the feelings of the chain-snatcher. There is honour even among chain-snatchers – and it is likely that he retired from his profession not being able to bear the taunts of his fellow professionals.