Same old path, some new steps
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Accompanist seldom gets the accolades. In the series on accompanying artistes, ANJANA RAJAN speaks to Ahsan Ali Khan, a man often in the shadows of the illustrious.
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Ahsan Ali Khan.
THE EARRING that glints from his left ear, the shy smile on a boyish face, the bell-bottom jeans, all give an impression that Ahsan Ali Khan is one of the many aspiring tele-soap stars to be seen on the streets of Mandi House and other happening areas of New Delhi's art scene. But look carefully at his fingers and you know he works at more than facial expression. Ahsan, son and disciple of well-known sarangi player of the Capital, Asif Ali Khan Saheb, is continuing a long tradition of sarangi playing handed down over the generations.
The vocation has not been automatically adopted though. "I was more interested in the Western guitar. I also played the tabla and harmonium, in fact tried the taste of all different instruments. But then, because Papa's field is the sarangi, I decided I should take it up too," relates Ahsan as mirth ripples across the room, reminding him that his "decision" wasn't as smooth as it sounds. Who can blame a 21st Century youth, since, like other classical instruments, its reach is relatively limited in an age dominated by easy music and metallic rhythms. Not that Ahsan is complaining.
Sarangi players are certainly in demand among dancers, especially Kathak exponents. Ahsan is currently employed at the Bharatiya Kala Kendra as an accompanist in the Kathak department. He also plays with dancers of the TYAAG - The Yoga And Art Group.
But he keeps up with his guitar, in which he was trained by Ratan Prasanna, as well as for a short time through the course at the Delhi School of Music. Ahsan, who is versed in staff notation, also accompanies concerts of ghazals and light music and has played in the orchestra of Shubha Mudgal and Hariharan.
Two techniques
It is not easy to keep up practice of two dissimilar stringed instruments - the sarangi being a bowed instrument, one of the most difficult to play, in which the cuticles of the left hand have a pivotal and painful role, and the guitar with its strumming and plectrum playing. "People do wonder how I manage. It's okay, because I have been playing both from childhood, but actually the two are as far apart as can be. Zameen aasmaan ka faraq hai."
Ahsan says he enjoys playing for dance, since it requires "brainwork". Maintaining the naghma or lehra - the musical line on which the dancer and percussionist improvise rhythms - is a big responsibility. Besides, it is not just a question of playing it straight but of "decorating" the line to add colour. Accompanying vocal music is another challenge, mentions Ahsan, reminding us how the sarangi is known as the "sau rangi" or instrument of 100 colours.
"Papa is an all-rounder," says Ahsan, with true filial admiration. "And I want to be like him."
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