Indian Writing

I’m still without internet, but in homage to Ustad Bismillah Khan, here is a link to an interview with Shekhar Gupta. The questions aren’t the greatest, but listen to the Ustad:

Let me tell you I have very little to say, if it’s to talk nonsense. I don’t know anything but music; if you ask about that, I can say many things.

• You must practice for hours on end.

Oh endlessly. These temples of ours in Benaras—Balaji and Mangala Gauri—Balaji is a little lower, you have to go down the stairs, but Mangala Gauri is at a height. I don’t visit them nowadays; but the stones are the same, aren’t they? You bring gangajal, you go inside to offer it—but the stones outside are just the same. All you need to do is put your hand to them.

• And where you place your hand, music and the heart become one.

Yes, yes—just put your hand there and what joy you’ll feel. You can’t see it though, I’m afraid, it’s not something to be seen.

…

Is there no joy in music—is it all to be this foolishness? There is beauty in my voice—I could sing, and after a while there would be tears in your eyes.

…

• When India became independent, you performed at the Red Fort. Could you tell us about that?

How can I tell you about it? I can’t express those feelings. I performed at the Red Fort—I went inside, there was a stage set up and it was a thrilling experience. But what exactly happened, who was there, I can’t recall.

• You have seen so much of the world. You were born in 1914, when the First World War was on; you’ve also seen the Second World War, India’s Independence—the whole world has changed. But at this time, what’s happening in the world, violence, terrorism—what do you feel about it all?

Nothing. Tell me, how many people are there in Hindustan?

• More than a hundred crores.

Everyone has a mind, right? Everyone thinks differently. Each one of them can’t be good, there will have to be some who will do bad.

…

• What is your message now for the country?

I would say only this: all is still not lost. If you dedicate yourself to what you learn, if you practise it sincerely, you will lose all fear of what may befall you.

• You can forget all your troubles in music?

Things will happen around you, and you will stop minding them. It happens to me. I was waiting for you before the interview. That’s alright. But I will not play for any and everyone. It takes two hours for me to tune this, and then it plays the way I want it to. It won’t be that I’ll wish it to do one thing and it will do something else. No. I will tell it what to do and it will do just what I say.

Benares photo from Satyajit Ray’s Aparajito. Courtesy DVD Beaver.