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Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

Strumming wizard Jaywant with his modified Hawaiian guitar

Juggling with profession on one hand and music on the other is a difficult task. But for this Hyderabadi it is a cakewalk. Meet Jaywant Naidu, a chartered accountant who is at home both with the realms of taxation, accountancy and auditing and with the Hawaiian guitar on which he plays Hindustani ragas with his dexterous fingers. He was here recently to conduct an annual audit for a public sector bank. In the sidelight the musician shared a few moments to talk about his passion and profession.

He was baptised into the world of music at the age of eight by S.N. Mukherjee and later honed his skills under the tutelage of Pandit Dinesh Kumar Sampat. Since his childhood he was attracted towards Hindustani classical music and the sound of guitar appealed to him. He completed his Sangeet Visharad from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Miraj, and his music has been broadcast on Radio Netherlands Music 52-15 channel. He is the first musician to perform Hindustani classical music on Hawaiian Guitar at Penang -YTL Arts Festival, Kuala Lumpur and at the Asthana Mandapam of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. He has also created a music album ‘Sugandh - Fragrance of Life’.

So obsessed was he with the Hindustani style that he modified the instrument to suit his style and requirement. With the help of Mohd. Arif, a guitar maker from Kolkata, he created what is today called as the ‘Jaywant guitar’.

The guitar has 21 strings divided into three chikari strings, 12 taraf strings and three pairs of main melody strings.

“Sound has always attracted me. Since my childhood I was drawn towards concerts and was specially impressed by the jugalbandhi sessions of exponents like Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan or Ustad Vilayat Khan. The sound effects of those concerts sowed the seed for modifications. With my modified guitar I can produce the sounds of veena, sarod, sur bahar, sitar and guitar. It all depends on the placement of the strings on the fret board and my guitar has 21 strings compared to the six in a normal guitar,” says the musician.

It took him two years to develop the instrument and now it is one of its kinds in the world. He has even applied for patent rights. So effective is his instrument that he can create a jam session individually. “I can individually conduct a jugalbandhi session, as I can produce the sound of more than two instruments simultaneously,” says Jaywant.

Though Hindustani classical music is his base he also likes to fuse with the western classical music and has got a band by name ‘Shoonya’. “Though my professional practice is now based in Hyderabad, I was brought up in places like Mumbai and Nagpur. And that’s where I picked up my friendship with fellow musicians. The band comprises of friends who play jazz, tabla and saxophone. And we play fusion music or the genre that is referred to as ‘east meets west’. Whatever you play the sounds should touch your heart,” says he.

In tune with the times Jaywant has also participated in fusion ventures – with Celtic Guitarist Francois Auger and pianist Serguei on two different occasions.

He has been skilfully balancing his profession and his passion for music. “But on most occasions the passion takes over the profession. That happened even during my schooling and college days. Sometimes the passion is so strong that I practice for hours at length. Once you enter the realms of ragas you are lost. When passion takes over, profession takes the backseat,” says Jaywant.

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