SRIDHAR SPELLS OUT SPIRIT

In this global marketplace of cross-cultural, pan-geographic world music products, it is intriguing to come across a band which blends different types of music from the same half of the world. The four members of Arabandi include Taiseer Elias - an Isreali Druse, S. Amir - an Iranian Isreali, Zohar Fresco - an Isreali of Turkish origin, and an Indian sarod player by the name of K. Sridhar.

For Sridhar the concept of music is very simple. "I have an acronym for the word 'music,' M for mental, U for understanding, S for the spirit or soul, I for individual, and C for consciousness. So that makes mental understanding of the soul in individual consciousness. That is music."

All Indian music derives from two sources -- the northern (Hindustani) and southern (Carnatic) styles. They share the same basic systems but differ greatly in the instruments used, the ragas played, and in the concept of music expression. It is very rare for musicians to master both traditions. Sridhar is one of the few musicians to play both comfortably.

SRIDHAR actually had a good start to his musical life. When he was very young he was initiated into the Carnatic music tradition by his mother, herself a descendant of 14 generations of musicians. At the age of five Sridhar began studying with the master of the classical and devotional Dhrupad Dhamar style of northern India, Ustad Zia Mohiuddin.

At first he practiced playing the sarod for one hour a day and this gradually increased to anywhere between 10 and 18 hours a day. Sridhar describes an incredibly strict practice regime. "When I asked my spiritual guru how I could play 18 hours a day - I didn't have a watch - he placed two glasses next to me, one with rice and the other empty. He told me that when I managed to play a three octave scale in tune and in tempo he will put one grain of rice in the empty glass. But if my timing became much worse he would replace the rice with mustard seeds which are much smaller."

Getting to grips with both Hindustani and Carnatic styles of Indian music, especially on such a complex instrument as a sarod, is no mean feat. "Yes I studied over many years in the old style of learning," says Sridhar. "Today there are no pupils who learn this way in India."

While - Iranian, Arabic, and Indian music may appear to hail from entirely disparate cultural and geographical areas of the world, the "mix" is a more homogeneous affair than one might have thought.

"Clasical Hindustani music has its roots in Persia and Arabia," Sridhar explains. "What we Indians called 'raga' is called 'maqam' by Arabs. And the instruments also come from Persia -- the sitar comes from there and the sarod is a descendant of the (single stringed instrument) rabab and oud. If someone asks me why I play this kind of music I say 'You cannot differentiate the trees from the roots.' The trees may look different but the roots are the same," he laughs.

THIS all embracing view of music has led Sridhar to join forces with a wide range of musicians in recent years. "I've played with Peter Gabriel, flamenco and folk musicians, and kora (African lute) musicians," he says. "The names of the music may be different but the notes are the same. Even the spirit of each culture is the same. They just have different names, that's all."

Mind you, there are some areas of music which Sridhar feels do not combine comfortably. "If you try to play Hindustani music with jazz it's like trying to mix oil and water," he says. "There's no good music or bad music. There's only mind-stirring music, soul-stirring music, and body-stirring music. Jazz is more intellectual, more of the mind. Real music is when you strike a balance between the mind, feeling and technique. When you play with Arabic and Persian musicians you're playing with the same mood, the same spirit."

- Barry Davis, The Jerusalem Post, Israel, 2000

INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC HAS CHANGED

For him music is the mental understanding of the soul in individual consciousness. He believes that in the beginning of a performance there is a musician, audience, and the musical instrument. Towards the end they merge into the ocean of sound. Meet K. Sridhar, one of today's finest exponents of the Sarod. Any music lover who goes to his concert has to leave his ego and intellect out and enter with his emotions.

How and when did you venture into the field of Hindustani and Carnatic music?
Music has been there for fourteen generations in my family. At the age of five I started learning Carnatic music from my mother. Later, I became the pupil of Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar of the Dagar School, the foremost master of the rudra veena and specialist in the traditionally classical and devotional Dhrupad Dhamar style of the North.

A south Indian specializing in a north Indian instrument is rare, especially Sarod. What difficulties did you face when you decided to master the art of playing Sarod?
I had to practice for minimum five hours a day - in thought, word and deed. At that time there was a sort of prejudice associated with playing Sarod. But now things have changed. I didn't believe in playing in too many concerts. My main job was to transmit music.

How was it being a member of Pandit Ravi Shankar's orchestra at the age of 12? Did your experience with the great sitar maestro enrich you as a musician?
I absorbed every moment of my experience with him. I learned about the feelings behind the music. I tried to absorb him as an artist and a teacher.

While performing in the international scene, name is more important than the performance itself. Comment.
In the West when you perform name is not so important. But the discipline of the audience that one sees in the West is missing in India. For the Westerners, music is more meditative. Most musicians I have heard try to play mechanically rather than with heart. A real musician has to find a balance between melody, technique and feelings.

Do you believe that often the essence of classical music is lost behind the beats of modern instruments in Hindi films?
When there was no technology there were feelings. Now there are less of feelings and more of a technique. But then one can't always stick to tradition. Tradition is like a river - pure at some places, polluted at others. Nothing is permanent, except change.

Yoga through music is the latest craze amongst page three people. Are you making any efforts to popularize it among the masses?
I choose to teach only to those people who are truly interested. I don't teach commercially. It is a tradition that has to be passed from generations to generations. In life one needs: aim, principle and discipline to learn anything. Understanding logically, through direct perception of senses and understanding based on a testimony of those whom you trust is important. First the body has to be stabilized, then the mind will be automatically stabilized.

- by Preetu Nair, Navhind Times, Goa, India, 2003