Terri Dunbar-Curran
“I DON’T like teaching,” says Indian flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, as his students practise in the background. “I like ‘sharing’ rather. I still find myself a student in Indian music.”
The legendary musician, renowned for his mastery of the bansuri (North Indian bamboo flute) has been performing for more than 50 years and will give audiences a taste of Indian classical music at Raga Fantasy at the CTICC on June 14 at 7.30pm.
Instead of teaching, Chaurasia says that he prefers to encourage his students to “discuss, compose, write and talk about music. I stay with them from early morning to late at night. That’s how I stay young,” he chuckles, adding that he prefers to see them more as friends than students. “They should not waste their time. They should read about, listen to and think about music, and what the shape of music should be.”
Having previously performed in South Africa, Chaurasia already knows that audiences here love Indian classical music and Indian culture in general.
“The music has a different charm to it. I’m working hard to make different kinds of sounds within Indian classical music – especially on the flute. It’s the oldest instrument from India, and you have to work hard to make it more beautiful.”
Evidence of that lies in his innovative adaptation of the traditional alap and jod for the flute. Alap is a form of melodic improvisation that comes at the beginning of a raga, followed by jod where the rhythms start to develop.
“It’s a very difficult part of Indian music. To make this kind of music and rhythm you need to use your blowing and tongue.” He says that people love what he has done using the flute, and the different sound he has produced and the mood he evokes. “I’m still working hard to make it even more beautiful.” One of the reasons Chaurasia loves Indian classical music so much is that it’s so “melodious and structured”.
“There are so many different kinds of sounds and styles in India, and I’ve been fortunate to learn some of them,” he says, adding that his interest in music stretches even beyond his home country. “All the music from all over the world – I love it and I try to learn from it. Classical, jazz, pop and rock too.”
In addition to collaborating with other musicians, he has also composed music for a variety of films. In 1967 he released Call of the Valley, one of the best selling Indian classical albums to date, together with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. He also released albums combining the traditional with Western music, and Making Music, which he collaborated on with John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek and Zakir Hussain, is just one example of his innovative take on marrying styles.
However, Raga Fantasy in June will focus solely on sharing his passion for Indian classical music with Cape Town. He’ll be joined by Subhankar Banerjee on tabla and Bhawani Shankar on pakhawaj (two-headed drum). But the show will also include an exciting first for South Africa – a solo performance by professional female tabla player Rimpa Siva.
“It’s wonderful playing with her,” says Chaurasia. “She’s stronger than many of the other tabla players. In the olden days it was supposed to be only men, but she’s doing a wonderful job.”
Siva, who has challenged the norm and has already taken India by storm, was the subject of the 1999 French documentary Rimpa Siva: Princess of Tabla.
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