Guru-Shishya Parampara
Eventmay interviewed Taalyogi Pt. Suresh Talwalkar on account of his gurupornima which is to be celebrated on 14th and 15th September. And who better to interview the great master other than his senior most disciple Pt. Ramdas Palsule!
Enjoy the conversation between Guru-Shishya on 'Guru-Shishya parampara'
Enjoy the conversation between Guru-Shishya on 'Guru-Shishya parampara'
Guru Poornima : Interviewing Pt. Suresh Talwalkar
Guru Poornima celebrations are being held across
various schools of music and dance all over the city. The events, with an
atmosphere of complete devotion to one's art and to one's guide are not merely
ritualistic. The guiding principle behind the tradition is just that,
tradition. But why exactly do we need this tradition?
Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, the eminent tabla
guru was kind enough to explain. The subject of the Guru-Shishya tradition is
vast and diverse. The performing artist of today cannot work today without the
backing of this tradition. The art cannot be displayed without the guru. The
student in the process of learning emulates the teacher’s work; he absorbs the
energy and the methods of the guru.
Indian classical music is taught in four ways,
shastra, tantra, vidya and kala. Shastra, he says, explains the rules of the
music, mostly about what not to do. For example, Purya, Marva and Sohoni are 3
ragas having the same notes but they have a very different personality. Deepchandri and adachautal both have 14
beats but again they are distinct. This obvious difference in the personality,
the form of music is what shastra dictates.
The knowledge the mind has understood has to be
repeated by the body, this is the Tantrakala. Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar said
when you learn an arrangement, a palta, 100 times, you will learn it, 300
times, you will never forget it but at the 1000th time it will get come
melodiously. Music had language and meaning, but you need tantra to understand
the abstract meaning.
Vidya means matter; the material that goes into making
music. One artist, panditji proclaims, cannot say with conviction that he knows
everything about the music in his gharana( the broad classification of styles
of hindustani classical music). The dictates of music are so many and so
varied, the freedoms and restrictions are arcane and it would take a few
lifetimes to learn all of it.
Kala explains the beauty and the aesthetics of it. The
joy, the energy, the inspiration which we involve into our music is Kala. The
passion, the mood of the music are all a part of its kala.
The four parts of the body; tantra is managed by the
body, vidya and shastra by the man's intelligence and kala by the mind. The
focus of the guru can vary from Shastra, Tantra, Vidya and Kala. The guru
understands the student and then decides how to teach that student.
Panditji explained the growth of person too. The
natural progression of a student is as follows, from being a student, a
disciple, an artist, a teacher, a guru and then the "aarcharya".
These are the main steps of the Guru Shishya parampara. No matter how much God
given you have, you need to be taught and so you need a guru.
Panditji explained wonderfully the way an artist is
supposed to grow, how he must absorb everything the guru teaches, everything
that tantra teachers but when he put forward his music, it should come as his
own form, his own work. He also explains the six traits of an ideal student; of
surrender, devotion, hardship, sincerity, punctuality and loyalty. The
tradition engenders self-discovery and thus, all the student's questions will
be answered by himself.
The ideal guru in his part should be intelligent and
knowledgeable but more importantly, he should know how to teach and he should
have the urge to teach.
Should there be changes in the tradition?
No, in fact
the old tradition should be revived, said Panditji. The Sangeet Research
Academy, Kolkatta is one such institute that has maintained and nourished the
tradition as it should be.
Panditji teaches western percussionists too. He says,
"I cannot teach them how to play their instruments, but I understand the
scope of the instrument, its grace notes, grace beats, long, and short beats.
Then I teach them the systems like the taal, speeds and the thought behind
these. They cannot pronounce the tabla beats too well too so we simplify the
method, we count. According to the tradition, we do not simply feed the student
knowledge, we perform the actions and the student learns.
The media today with its fast-lane fame, talent is
mainstreamed into folk and pop music. It is diverting the fresh talent away
from classical music. How can we stop this?
Panditji simply replies, we must
increase the power of our music, the people already in the field should
increase the strength of their music.
Spannning a wide subject with such fluency
and precision can only from great dedication to one’s art and an intensive
study of its minutiae. The ease with which Panditji explained these concept
from Indian philosophy was astonishing but at the same time, it was so simple. The
saying holds water, the mark of a great man, his ability to teach.
Glimpses of Pt.Suresh Talwalkar guru abhivadan sohla
Glimpses of Pt.Suresh Talwalkar guru abhivadan sohla
2 comments:
Kya Bat Hai Jarur Bagha
thank you so much @jaltarang. keep updated with eventmay.
regards
team eventmay
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