New Delhi   

Treading a path of his own

Lakshmi B. Ghosh

Salil Bhatt has carved a niche for himself by making the Satvik Veena, a hybrid of the Hawaian Guitar and Veena

Salil Bhatt with his Satvik Veena

NEW DELHI: Doing it the routine way never really appealed to Salil Bhatt. Born into a family with a 500-year-old musical legacy behind it, he may have always known classical music was his calling, but nearly two decades after he first set out, Salil is treading a path of his own.

From being known as the son of Grammy Award winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, who created the much talked about Mohan Veena, to carving a niche for himself by making the Satvik Veena, a hybrid of the Hawaian Guitar and Veena, Salil believes he has finally managed to come out of his father's shadows.

"I loved playing the Mohan Veena, but then I realised that no matter how good you are, it sounded the best when my father, who created it, played it. It was almost as if she would respond to him the most. So I decided to create my own version that represented me. It took me years of working to get it right and I am very happy about it," says Salil.

Named after his son Satvik, who at the age of seven already holds the Limca Book record for his knowledge of all the ragas, the 19-string Satvik Veena includes three main melodies, five drone and 12 sympathetic strings. Made of a 100-year-old oak wood block, its top was made of pinewood to let the sound filter and resonate.

Having recently returned from a tour of Canada, Salil says the response to the instrument has been overwhelming.

"The instrument has gone beyond my imagination. No matter where I have been with it -- right from Iceland to Italy and Canada to Austria -- people have been surprised by the continuity of sound and the execution of vocals that the instrument allows."

And while it has been over two years since he started playing the new instrument, Salil will have his first performance in the Capital this weekend. He will be playing at the ICCR-organised monsoon raga festival "Malhar 4".

To be held this coming Monday at the Kamani Auditorium, Salil will first present a solo rendition on the Satvik Veena before being joined for a special jugalbandi with Abhijeet Pohankar on contemporary Santoor and Anant Krishnan on the Carnatic Violin.

A firm believer in the strength of traditional music, Salil feels classical musicians need to market their art well. "I think the most important thing for an artiste is to be available on the shelf of a music shop. You have to make your music accessible to people so they get to hear it to appreciate it. And we are surging ahead in the direction with more and more artistes making their videos and cutting an album," feels Salil.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Treading a path of his own
Spotlight on corruption in Govt. departments
Two nabbed for duping businessmen of lakhs
`Black Day' today in protest against increase in power tariff
`MNCs should obey laws'
The Hindu launches NIE in Delhi
Glittering jewellery all the way
Chief Justice given warm send-off
Petition dismissed in Ilyasi murder case
Power woes continue
Celebrating Teej
Briefly
When faith pursuance becomes nuisance

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu