Charming the world
PARESH C. PALICHA
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Vishwa Mohan Bhatt speaks on the Mohan Veena, music-based shows and fusion music.
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MERGING EAST AND WEST: Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
The `charmer of the world,' that is what his name means. And, he is true to his name; he mesmerises and enthrals listeners with his music. That is Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt for you. The inventor of the Mohan Veena, (a modified version of a Hawaiian guitar made to suit the rigours of Indian classical music), Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, left listeners in Kochi spellbound with his music. The magical spontaneity of his instrumental music interspersed with his singing mesmerised the listeners.
The concert was held in aid of Raksha, an institute looking after children with special needs. Panditji (unperturbed by the raucous excitement all around him) sang for the children and also listened and appreciated the talent of a few singers ion the institute.
Fascination for the guitar
The musician and his instrument have become synonymous over the years, but the beginning of his attraction and fascination for the western instrument is not commonly known. Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt started his tutelage under his musician father on the sitar. The guitar came into his life when a German woman became his father's student. The household had all kinds of traditional instruments, so they decided to buy the guitar that the German woman was carrying. Vishwa Mohan was fascinated by the guitar and started playing the instrument by keeping it on his lap. The modifications came later. "I thought of doing something new, and the Mohan Veena was born," says the creator. The Mohan Veena has 20 strings in the place of the six strings in an ordinary guitar.
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt has, time and again, dabbled with fusion music, which has also brought him international recognition in the form of a Grammy Award in 1994 for his album `A Meeting by the River' in collaboration with Ry Cooder. He feels that fusion music is just the utilisation of your music in a different dimension.
"Some orthodox people are against it because they feel it is a dilution of purity of our traditional music. It is a comparatively new concept and will take some time to be accepted. I am against the dilution of purity when somebody is practising pure classical music," he adds. The subject of fusion music brings into focus the recent trend of music-based reality shows on television. The maestro feels that the trend should be appreciated for it brings music into focus.
Identity of a singer
"Music is the individual identity of a singer, just as your face is your identity, so judging who is better between two given singers is not good," he says and adds that he used to like `Sa Re Ga Ma' (telecast on Zee TV) for it projected the talents of individual singers. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt has also lent his talent to the film industry. He has played for A.R. Rahman in films like `Iruvar,' `Thiruda Thiruda,' `Sathiya,' `Lagaan' and a few others. His independent composition for Jug Mohan Mundra's film `Bavandar' got rave reviews. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is optimistic about the future of his invention.
"I have been playing this instrument for the last 38 years and in my own humble way contributed towards music. Now my students from the world over, including my son Salil, will carry it forward.
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