Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

Learning from the best

Photo: S. Mahinsha

Rhythmic beats It was after many travails that Satish Babu was accepted by Ustad Alla Rakha as his shishya

Tabla player Satish Babu makes no effort to hide his belief that the best thing that could have happened to him was his training under tabla maestro Alla Rakha Khan.

“My grandfather, Bhaskaran, was a Carnatic musician. At a bhajanamandapam on Chirakulam Road, musicians from Swati Tirunal Music College used to gather on Sundays and give performances. As a little boy, I would go there and try my hand at the mridangam kept there. That must have stoked my interest in percussion instruments,” feels Satish.

However, his fascination was for the tabla. “The urge to play the tabla was very much in me. My father’s friend Karamana Mani, a tabla artiste in All India Radio, introduced me to Manohar Keskar. From 1988 to 1994, I studied under him.”

After a few glitches trying to find a guru, Hindustani vocalist Ramesh Narayan and Ramesh’s brother Ramdas introduced Satish to Pandit Vijay Khate of Farukhabad gharana, a disciple of Pandit Suresh Talwar.

“Initially Pandit Vijay Khate was reluctant to take me on as a shishya at his school in Shaniwarpet, but eventually he capitulated when I agreed to practise seven hours every day in front of him,” recalls 37-year-old Satish.

Eventually, through Vijay Senan, a disciple of Ramesh Narayan, Satish met Ustad Alla Rakha Khan, the legendary tabla maestro.

“Ustad was staying in a flat at Malabar Hill in Mumbai. When I was introduced to him, I prostrated before him. For a long while he did not say a word. Then he placed his palm on my head and blessed me. It was electrifying. Then he asked me to attend his classes. The classes were held twice a week in the evenings at Dadar.

“I still remember the first time Abhaji (Alla Rakha) asked me to accompany a lahara (playing solo on the tabla with an instrument like the harmonium, sitar or sarangi providing taal bol). After five minutes he asked me to stop. That was the beginning of my classes under him. Abhaji would look directly into our eyes and would always insist that we play without fear. He would say: “relax karke bhajavo, otherwise you’ll never learn the tabla.”

It was a hard time for Satish. He was broke and sleeping on a pavement in Lonavala but he never failed to attend the classes.

“Upon hearing my plight he asked me to practise in his house. I was allotted Zakir bhai’s (Zakir Hussain’s) room. It had a big mirror in front of which Zakir bhai used to practise. This was done to observe the movements of his hands, fingers, swaying of the head and facial expression. That was a great inspiration for me.

“Whenever Abhaji was in a good mood, he would ask me play. He would then explain many things and I used to jot them down. He would admonish me saying that I should try to play instead of imitating Zakir bhai. Whatever Abhaji said Zakir bhai would reproduce using his nimble fingers. It was just amazing!” recounts Satish.

Satish says that even after Zakir Hussain migrated to the United States in 1972, he used to conduct workshops in Mumbai, where he would explain even minute details such as the right posture for tabla artistes.

“Abhaji and Zakir bhai differed in some respects. Abhaji was 24 hours mind and body into tabla. Zakir bhai, only when he touched the tabla. Once I told him that my fingers were quite light. To which, he asked me to place five elephants on my fingers. Just before departing after a concert he called me and advised me to practice some bols,” he adds.

Satish’s debut was in 1990 at the Tansen Sur Sangh. Satish’s classes with the Ustad continued till the maestro’s death in 2000.

He has accompanied several leading artistes like Jasraj, Vinaak Torvi, Vikas Kashalkar, Gaurav Mazumdar, Alokdas Gupta, Ramesh Narayan and so on. However, Satish says his most memorable concert was the one in Thrissur where he played with Pandit Jasraj. That was in 2007 in Thrissur in connection with an award function of Swaralaya.

“At 2 p.m., Jasrajji asked me to play. He did not say a word after that. In the evening I got a call from Rameshji saying that I would accompany Panditji at the concert. I was thrilled. In between in the concert, Panditji asked me to play a piece. But I could not. After the concert, he said: ‘You’ve missed your chance. You were frightened. Remember, you should have respect but not fear. In music all are equal. Be it Pandit Jasraj or anyone else. Continue with your riyaz.’ Now, I have got rid of that kind of stage fright and fear,” says Satish who hopes to make waves as a table artiste.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail