Bamboo musings
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Continuing the series on accompanying artistes, ANJANA RAJAN speaks to flautist Dhiraj Pandey.
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Dhiraj Pandey.
ONE DOES once in a while, come across a case where the much maligned government agencies do come up with constructive schemes to further the arts. Take the case of Dhiraj Pandey, well-known Hindustani flautist who has been accompanying dancers of the Capital for over a decade now.
"My hometown is Haldwani, and I am from a business family," relates Dhiraj. "I used to play the flute just as a hobby. My father wanted me either to join the family business or study engineering." For Dheeraj, however, the draw of the flute was too compelling, and after completing his graduate degree, he joined the Bhatkhande School of Music, Haldwani, where he came under the tutelage of Guru Harish Pant.
It was when he won the first prize in a competition organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi of Uttar Pradesh (to which State Haldwani then belonged) for musicians up to 21 years of age, that he was encouraged to carve a profession from his chosen instrument.
Taking the plunge in Delhi was not easy. He initially supported himself by working in a travel agency, relates Dheeraj, who has also trained under Ustad Sabri Khan and is currently under the guidance of Kailash Sharma. As an accompanist it is easier for musicians to earn than as a soloist, realises Dheeraj, who has accompanies senior Odissi dancers like Kiran Segal and Ranjana Gauhar, as well as Kavita Dwibedi and others. He also plays for recordings of light music.
Lobby system
"It's quite a lobby system, actually," muses Dhirajon the slippery slopes of success in the performing arts. "But mainly I try to work with good people, who inspire you too. The trend among artistes is quite wrong. If you have bureaucratic links, you are recognised as an artiste. But until you are recognised as by (qualified people like) artistes, it's no use calling yourself an artiste."
If classical dancers tend to surge ahead in terms of economic success or popularity as compared to musicians, it might be because musicians are often from poor families and less educated, whereas dancers are usually from more educated families and know how to network, suggests Dheeraj, who is of the opinion that if you consider the dancers at the `top' level, from the art point of view they are not all worthy of the epithet great.
Also, it has become a trend to have dance programmes as part of conferences to lighten up the atmosphere and entertain the delegates, says Dheeraj. These opportunities are less available to classical musicians, he points out.
"For musicians, even if your father is a great musician, you may not be a success automatically. And if you are from outside the field, it is even harder."
But that has not deterred him from deriving creative pleasure and sustenance from his vocation, including his fusion experiments with violinist Sharad Shrivastava (of Mrigya fame), Fateh on the sitar and Gyan on the tabla.
Not fazed by the hoopla over tampering with tradition, he points out, "If you inadvertently change the raga while improvising, you might be said to be tampering with the purity of the music, but not if you play fusion with understanding. Anyway, classical has its own challenges, as fusion has its challenges. And unless you have a good base in classical music, you can't manage fusion."
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