Strokes of delight
ANJANA RAJAN
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Meet Nasir Khan, sarangi exponent in the series on dance accompanists.
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A HUNDRED-WATT SMILE Nasir Khan and his sarangi are happy partners. Photo: Ashwani Chopra
Enthusiastic is his middle name. Nasir Khan, who inherited the art of sarangi playing from his forefathers and traces his lineage back to Tansen, is ever ready to put his instrument that derives its name from `sau rang' or hundred colours to all its versatile uses. Nasir learnt the sarangi from his grandfather Ustad Siddique Ahmed Khan. He also trained under Ustad Ghulam Sabir Khan. Later he came under the tutelage of Ustad Sabri Khan.
Having joined the Kathak Kendra 15 years ago, Nasir has accompanied renowned Kathak dancers like Birju Maharaja, Uma Sharma, Shovana Narayan, Rajendra Gangani, the late Durga Lal and others in performances across the world.
As an accompanist, he loves vocal music concerts. "The singing voice and the sarangi are like brother and sister." He has accompanied singers like Shanti Hiranand, Sumitra Guha, Jagjit Singh and others.
Yet Kathak has its own challenges. "Providing the nagma as the dancer and tabla bring out percussive patterns is daunting. While maintaining the pace, you also have to be sensitive to the dancer's requirements of raising the tempo. Once Birju Maharaj announced that the nagma was like the airfield the dancer depended upon to land safely after taking flights of fancy. It was a wonderful compliment from such a genius."
For the past four years, says Nasir, he has been associated with Kathak guru Gitanjali Lal. "I have learnt so much from her. She is a very kind, encouraging person," he says.
Besides being a soloist, Nasir is also a member of the Laya Shakti quartet founded by tabla exponent Rashid Mustafa. The other members are Fateh Singh Gangani (pakhawaj) and A. Prem Kumar (mridangam). Always game for an experiment, he once teamed up with a South Korean harp player. "She heard my concert and invited me to partner her. I asked her to play freely so I could get a feel of Korean music. I found her strings were tuned to raga Kiravani, and I too tuned to those notes. We played four concerts that went down very well with the audiences there. I also conducted workshops for students playing a Korean bowed instrument. I found their basic raga was the five note Bhupali, and played accordingly."
Nasir is about to travel to Iran where he will accompany Sufi singers. Wherever he may go, though, Nasir makes it a point to tell people about the greatness of New Delhi's Kathak Kendra.
"It is the number one institute for Kathak, and I am very proud to be associated with the Kathak Kendra," Nasir glows.
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