Soul of the rudra veena
LIZA GEORGE
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Ustad Asad Ali Khan traces his journey into the world of the rudra veena and his hopes of preserving it for future generations.
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Photo: S. Thanthoni
String maestro: Ustad Asad Ali Khan.
Ustad Asad Ali Khan may seem petite but with the Rudra Veena in hand he transforms into a musical giant. And as his fingers glide across the strings, one is transported into a world where melody rules supreme. A recipient of the Padma Bushan, Ustad A
sad Ali Khan is the top exponent of rudra veena of Khandarbani style – one of the four traditional schools (banis) of Dhrupad.
Trained in the rudra veena at the age of seven by his father, Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan, Ustad Asad Ali Khan comes from a family of rudra veena players from Jaipur Gharana. “My ancestors were the court musicians of Alwar. My father moved to the courts of Rampur,” says Ustad, who is into his seventies. The maestro’s first performance was for All India Radio. It was for a broadcast in 1953. The first public performance was in 1960 for the Tansen Music Festival in Gwalior.
The rudra veena
The specialty of the rudra veena, according to the Ustad, is that it can execute all the subtleties of the human voice. “Unlike the sitar, it does not have tarap or resonance strings. Its absence allows the musicians to play shrutis or microtones.”
An instrument of the Dhrupad genre and the gayaki ang, one has to train as a vocalist first before learning the rudra veena. Next, one has to train in playing the sitar. “This is so that one masters the fingering technique.”
It is only after mastering the sitar, that the student is trained to play the rudra veena. “The student is also trained to sit in Vajrasana (a posture in yoga) from day one as he has to play the instrument in that posture. Unless he sits in that position and places the veena on the shoulder and uses his breath as a modulator for notes, he cannot have the desired impact on the instrument. The nuances of the notes will be lost if he changes his posture,” says the Ustad as he goes on to explain that the instrument is believed to have been created by Lord Shiva who was inspired by the beauty of Goddess Parvati.
While many musicians would try to keep their instruments alive through fusion music, the Ustad is totally opposed to the genre. “Each instrument has its own identity – just like any individual; its own soul. I have never felt the need to blend or infuse the rudra veena with any other instrument and don’t intend to do so. How will the youth of today know how pure the rudra veena sounds like by itself if I did so?”
As a guru
The Ustad is also against studio doors to get his music recorded. Only a handful of companies such as Nimbus Records and Music Today have managed to get his melodies on tape. His rendering of raag Min Ki Todi is available in the Indo-American archive. The Ustad trains a handful of students in the rudra veena including foreigners.
“I’m pinning my hopes on my son, Ali Zaki Haidar, who is also a student to carry on the parampara. And yes, I am as strict a teacher to him as my father was to me. Like him, I’m keen on my son mastering the instrument before he goes on stage. After all, the first impression is always the best. He should be making his debut shortly,” says the Ustad who is busy penning down his knowledge about the veena.
“There is no complete book on the genesis of the veena and its branches. I also want to share the techniques, secrets and knowledge I have of it, through my book along with a documentary which is under preparation. Hopefully it should be out soon.”
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