'I still watch wrestling', Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia

Legendary flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia talks to City Times about his journey from wrestling, which he took up in order not to hurt his parents, to music

CLASSICAL MUSIC LOVERS in the Emirates can rejoice, as Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia will be live in Dubai tomorrow night at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel at 6pm. He is credited for his musicality as for his technical ability on the native instruments. From pure classical to Bollywood music to collaborating with artists from across the world, he has left his mark in all the areas with his soulful compositions. He has been honoured with several awards of which the most prominent ones are the Padma Vibhushan, and the distinction of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) of France. He also serves as the Artistic Director of the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands. Pandit Hariprasad will also play a couple of famous Arabic numbers tomorrow night.
Are you excited about performing in Dubai?
Yes. It is always a pleasure to perform in Dubai. I have had many shows in the past here.
Your father was a wrestler. You took up wrestling as well initially, when did you realise that music is your real passion?
I realised I loved music when I was 9 or 8 months old. My mother used to sing the lullaby for me. Since then I knew that music is spiritual. I lost my mother at the age of 5, but I stayed devoted to music. My father was a wrestler and to fulfill his wish I did take up wrestling but deep in my heart I knew I wanted to pursue music. I never wanted to hurt my parents and I wanted to keep myself happy as well. I still watch wrestling on TV or I travel at times in India or abroad to see the wrestling show. Because of my Gurukul, I do not get a lot of time to devote to wrestling now.
Along with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, you have composed music for many Bollywood films like Darr, Lamhe, Chandni, Silsila? How was that experience?
It was wonderful and a good experience. It was also a good experience for the music lovers for Bollywood. They never got to know that we were classical musicians. In Bollywood, we were known as Shiv-Hari. It was different identification. We got to touch souls of many people. I wanted my music to reach out to music listeners who only heard Bollywood music. I wanted to touch their heart through my music. And we did.
Who has influenced you the most in your career?
Everybody. Earlier times were the golden times. I don't think today's generation will ever understand the passion of our times. O.P. Nayyar, S.D. Burman, Shankar had their own identity
With so many different genres of music, how do you think the youth of today relates to classical Indian music?
They love classical music. At present, the film music is not great. We all know the current state of today's Bollywood music. I notice that youngsters are coming back to classical music. They don't know the name of the raga, but they love the music. They come to concerts to enjoy the beauty of music.
What in your opinion is the future of classical Indian music with the advent of recording technology and its trends?
We cannot change the sun, moon, mountain, river or sky or earth. The same way we cannot change the sound of music. There will be some changes in the sound and in the creativity but whatever nature has created, that will always be there. We cannot change the breeze; the sweetness of water, the same way, the sound of music will always be beautiful.
Throughout your career do you feel that your musical style has had to change with the changing times?
When a child is born, his face is different. After a year, his face changes. Likewise, I have constantly changed with times and hopefully in a good way. I think I am still a student of music. There are so many classical different types of classical music, to learn them is an ongoing process.
You also run two Gurukul. Can you tell us more about that?
I have my Gurukul in Mumbai and Bhuvneshwar. It is a traditional school of music. Guru (teacher) and shishyas (student) live, eat and work together. There are no timings. From morning till night, we practice and make music.