Glocal Fusion

A shout-out to all my readers, especially those who are passionate about or pursuing music! Any kind of music! And if you are, I’m confident you know what fun it is to jam with fellow musicians or music lovers. Just a simple sing-along session with our friends and family brings a smile to our faces and gets added to that list of lovely memories. Just imagine the level of elation when two or more people, having the same passion in life (music), get together and create something awe-inspiring. My younger cousin, who hails from Mangalore, has been studying in Mumbai since two years. Well now, don’t let your imagination get boring. He isn’t here to do his MBA or B.Com. or any of the IT stuff. He is studying to be a DJ! First of all, I’m glad the kid had the gumption to choose an off-beat profession and then to convince his parents to let him pursue his passion and turn it into a career. It definitely may not be easy for him to make his mark here in this City of Dreams, but if at the age of 19 he knows exactly what he wants to do in life, he has just set the right tone for his future.

So coming back to the joy of music, my cousin is also into music production. And with genres like Trap, Dubstep and House being his favourites, you’d say we have nothing in common — considering I eat, sleep, breathe and live Hindustani Classical Music (you would too, if you were born into a family like mine, where before calling my mother, Maa, I learnt to say Sa, Re, Ga, Ma!). So thus, defying all odds we bond over music and learn a lot from each other.

The other day while I was browsing through my laptop, I came across an old video. Shot back in 2011, it was a snippet of the Bandish Fusion Night by the band Karma. I assume the name of the event clarifies the kind of music that was being performed. In Indian Classical Music (ICM), a ‘Bandish’ means a composition/song. This particular performance had renowned musician Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt performing along with internationally-acclaimed tabla maestro Subhen Chatterjee, among others. Every musician is unique and deserves all the appreciation, but I would like to enlighten you about Padma Shri Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt’s art and craft. He plays the Mohan Veena as well as a modified version of the Hawaiian Guitar that he created himself. Those of you who play the guitar would understand the term ‘slide guitar’, played by resting it on the lap, where instead of pressing the strings against the frets to produce sound, an object called a ‘slide’ is used to glide along the strings creating smooth transitions. Pt. Bhatt uses this technique to play his modified ‘Indianized’ guitar.

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