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it's a great honor Oh stud I'm generally
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can to have you with us today thank you
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so much for joining us thank you
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it's a great honor for me to be here in
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Wharton this is the first time I am here
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I mean perhaps I have visited most of
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the universities of USA right from 1963
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was my first tour abroad so straight
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from India to AMERICA AMERICA balls
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fibers in the group of musicians and
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dancers which included will do Maharaj
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the great Kathak dancer he used to play
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tabla with me and I used to play with
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his dance in 1963 that was my first
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foreign tour of my life for two months I
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traveled then most of my concert tour
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was for the universities and campus and
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I'm looking forward to perform someday
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important with my sense about it thank
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you very much well you have been
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performing under sorrowed I hear from
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the age of six onwards
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yes I was told because in the you know
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fortunately I was born in the family of
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musicians so my son's they are the
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seventh generation who are playing music
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from father to son so I mean I was not a
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child prodigy I was I had to work hard
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and struggle so it was the custom of
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musicians family that the child should
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be put on the stage to face the world to
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face the audience because in our in our
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life you know classical musicians I have
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nothing I do I don't think I have any
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message to give to the business world
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because my my life is not based on
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calculation and planning what is it
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based my life is based in my life 2+2 is
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not always 4
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and it could be zero it could be 100
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because in a literal sense in our family
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all my fault for others we surrender our
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self to God and guru we never knew what
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is going to happen tomorrow and so about
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tomorrow was always in the hands of God
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we didn't try to calculate between I
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didn't even plan my career what should I
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do
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because last ten years of my father who
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was my guru he was slowly deteriorating
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health-wise and he was 95 when he passed
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away in 1972 so I was looking after my
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father and going for performances and
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coming so by serving him I think my
00:03:20
career was planned by his blessings and
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the blessings of so this is I'm slightly
00:03:27
different than rest of the world
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especially people who are into business
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and because now everybody wants to play
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in their life and career how is the
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music business changed from the time
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when you first started performing and
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the way it is today what do you find are
00:03:48
the main differences you see earlier as
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you know that every creative man was
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patronized by the ruler and King and
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queens and sometime or most of the time
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it used to be a great punishment for the
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musicians to entertain somebody who
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doesn't understand any technicalities so
00:04:09
that was the time after the
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patronization and the music came in
00:04:15
public and there used to be music
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festivals in our country all over the
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Bengal was the very big Center
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maharashtra and south and when i was 12
00:04:31
years old people started inviting me and
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so i traveled the whole country in fact
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india
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I'm Janelle econ I had no management
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behind me I didn't have a manager so it
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was just out of love and reverence
00:04:53
people invite you and and then you won't
00:04:58
have to write what you want to as a fee
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what would you charge so I began my
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career from 150 rupees and gradually
00:05:09
somewhere I started asking for 300 and
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500 and 1,000 gradually and by the grace
00:05:18
of God today so the whole system of
00:05:24
economy has changed and after and today
00:05:29
I think the corporate world is playing a
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very important role and especially
00:05:36
corporate people who understand and
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realize the value of tradition culture
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and our heritage they sponsor classical
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concerts but there are very few music
00:05:51
festivals left now in India like we call
00:05:55
in Calcutta itself it used to be 30 40
00:05:58
music festivals but today the oldest
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festival is called Dover Lane Music
00:06:05
Festival which takes place every kind of
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end of judgment generally about for
00:06:13
whole night sessions they take and it's
00:06:16
all ticketed concerts so that is the
00:06:18
it's a very good sign that every music
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festival but I think the South India is
00:06:24
more organized because every
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organization they have lots of thousands
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of members and I feel that the
00:06:34
mathematics played a very important role
00:06:36
in South India and mathematics connect
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all of us to a discipline life I feel
00:06:44
the South Indians are more disciplined
00:06:46
compared to the rest of the country a
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realization of God realization of
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mathematics discipline I think I saw
00:06:56
this much
00:06:57
head I feel otherwise for northern deer
00:06:59
music Bengal and Maharashtra a very big
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center and so many great musicians in
00:07:06
our our family the meaning of Education
00:07:10
was only music what does music meant to
00:07:15
you you see in India it's a historical
00:07:20
saying that Soares for her that sound
00:07:25
connects you to God and if you analyze
00:07:29
that every religion through music only
00:07:34
they are conveying their thoughts they
00:07:36
call it version or shabad or carols
00:07:40
hymns all those things when my children
00:07:44
were small I composed song I made ask a
00:07:48
set of and how to entertain children
00:07:51
it's called Amjad Ali Khan's wrote sings
00:07:54
with the children produced by HMV at
00:07:57
that time now sorry Gama it's it's
00:08:00
available now also that album I composed
00:08:04
a song for my children Japan they were
00:08:07
about four or five years old
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amaan and ayaan their Muhammed Jesus
00:08:13
Christ Gautam Buddha guru directiy your
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Muhammed Jesus Christ
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Gautam Buddha Guru Nanak ji haruka
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birthday hey up Anisha an American
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Jesus Christ got them both good one exit
00:08:38
yes to teach them the unity and
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diversity of our country because I feel
00:08:49
I always admire I feel the music is the
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most precious gift of God because music
00:08:57
does not belong to any religion but
00:09:01
these seven notes do REME facility oh
00:09:04
sorry gamma felony and also I mean
00:09:08
beside music I admire flowers colors air
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fire they don't belong to any religion
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right so you have this approach very
00:09:20
spiritual approach to music and thank
00:09:22
you for sharing you know your wonderful
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song with us at the same time you also
00:09:28
find that it music is a big global
00:09:30
industry yes have you ever found a
00:09:34
conflict a contradiction between your
00:09:37
approach to music and the compulsions of
00:09:40
how you remain a successful musician in
00:09:43
this global marketplace you see every
00:09:48
musician has a different mission and
00:09:51
different approach to music but I often
00:09:54
feel or I always feel that I should not
00:09:57
be that cause of humiliation of Indian
00:10:00
classical music because I must always
00:10:03
know when to end that's very important
00:10:06
in our field raga does not mean always
00:10:11
two hours or three hours yes I have I
00:10:14
might have played also because they say
00:10:16
there is no end to improvisation but our
00:10:21
whole life is my life is dedicated to
00:10:28
perfection excellence spirituality and I
00:10:34
mean through music I have realized the
00:10:37
presence of God and so the presentation
00:10:46
like in the world of Levite we all say
00:10:52
now the world has become a global
00:10:54
village but the Western world was always
00:10:57
very organized as far as artists and
00:11:01
management is concerned in our country
00:11:04
our management was very weak and now it
00:11:08
is you know we have even management's
00:11:11
now managers and they are but none but
00:11:14
nothing in comparison to the Western
00:11:18
world
00:11:19
I have management in Europe and what I
00:11:24
am still looking for a efficient
00:11:27
management in America I mean though I've
00:11:29
been performing since coming and all the
00:11:32
time but I still need in case if you
00:11:36
come across somebody because European
00:11:40
musicians they are very fortunate yes
00:11:42
they are very lucky and they depend
00:11:45
entirely on the management of the
00:11:47
manager but sometime in our country
00:11:51
people they feel emotionally they feel
00:11:56
humiliated
00:11:57
if we don't entertain them so people
00:12:00
write email to my wife and my wife has
00:12:04
been coordinating for me for so many
00:12:06
years
00:12:06
super Lakshmi my wife comes from Assam
00:12:11
and she was a great Bharatnatyam dancer
00:12:14
and she was named after ma sucah Lakshmi
00:12:17
okay so she became super Lakshmi
00:12:20
unfortunately our family had a very good
00:12:23
relation with MS Subbulakshmi and her
00:12:25
Guru was Rukmini Arun Dale who has a
00:12:30
institution in Chennai kailash yatra so
00:12:33
after our marriage she Erindale Rukmani
00:12:37
Arun Dale gave a big reception under
00:12:39
that banyan tree so management is the
00:12:44
only we need a good management otherwise
00:12:50
today we have very very outstanding
00:12:54
young talented musicians and
00:12:58
classical music I mean classical music
00:13:00
is there are we still everybody is
00:13:03
listening to classical music but where
00:13:06
suddenly there's so much fusion music
00:13:09
you know which has come and most of the
00:13:13
corporate people and some kind of
00:13:17
functions they want but what is your
00:13:18
view of these trends do you embrace them
00:13:20
or do you think that it is better to be
00:13:24
more of a purist to preserve the
00:13:26
tradition you see a tradition allow
00:13:29
innovation there's a very little thin
00:13:34
line between tradition and convention I
00:13:38
feel that convention is a very unhealthy
00:13:41
world I don't respect convention because
00:13:44
convention imposes that you must do only
00:13:49
like this but me from my childhood have
00:13:52
been what I felt right I did in my
00:13:57
presentation and recently I have worked
00:14:01
with Scottish chamber orchestra and I
00:14:05
wrote I composed for their orchestra and
00:14:09
it is the first sareth concerto I'm
00:14:13
playing with 40 50 musicians so last
00:14:18
year in fact I compose and we performed
00:14:22
together in Glasgow and I didn't were in
00:14:24
London and that we have called this
00:14:27
piece is about 45 minutes piece is
00:14:30
called samaram the confluence of music
00:14:33
and it's so I hope one day I could bring
00:14:37
it to USA and it is something something
00:14:42
different because this collaboration I
00:14:44
feel that the world is interested more
00:14:47
in collaboration I mean I always admired
00:14:51
European classical music because they
00:14:55
still listen to little vain Bach Mozart
00:14:58
but still they want collaboration you
00:15:03
know you although you say that this is
00:15:06
your first time at Wharton you you are
00:15:08
using terms like innovation and could
00:15:10
operation which so many companies has
00:15:13
invest a lot of money in could you see a
00:15:16
few words about your approach to
00:15:19
innovation in your music yes and what
00:15:21
can companies learned from your approach
00:15:24
to innovation you know education for me
00:15:33
as I said earlier also for the rest of
00:15:36
the world
00:15:37
education is book knowledge but in my
00:15:41
family in my life I did not learn
00:15:46
anything from the book
00:15:48
this was the oral tradition our music is
00:15:51
oral tradition and my father my guru he
00:15:56
strongly believed that you can one
00:15:59
person cannot do everything in one
00:16:00
lifetime whether you spend your life in
00:16:03
books or you spend your life in sound
00:16:07
with this to to world very rich world of
00:16:13
sound and other word is world of words
00:16:20
so I do I have a thank God I I belong to
00:16:24
the world of sound sound people ordinary
00:16:28
people cannot understand what sound is
00:16:30
but sound is equally as rich as any
00:16:35
books and the words so a sound and
00:16:41
basically the sound has connected the
00:16:43
whole world the seven notes adorable
00:16:46
facility the the office performance is
00:16:54
different way of interpretation is dead
00:16:56
but in our classical music we are
00:17:00
blessed with this grace that we can
00:17:02
slide and glide between one note 25.6 No
00:17:11
Hey
00:17:14
night
00:17:18
so this is the height of grace out of
00:17:21
height of submission otherwise the rest
00:17:26
of them this is also as I said I admire
00:17:36
European classical music I admire that
00:17:39
150 musicians together they collectively
00:17:42
produce a beautiful piece of music and
00:17:46
now maybe I am slightly late than the
00:17:50
rest of my fellow musicians but now
00:17:52
because because of my long legacy and
00:17:56
lineage I took time to collaborate with
00:17:59
European music but now I am enjoying and
00:18:02
I hope this collaboration because I feel
00:18:06
that the whole world is merging the
00:18:08
companies are merging
00:18:10
people are realizing I mean one side is
00:18:16
everybody wants to live alone in this
00:18:18
world but other side people are
00:18:22
realizing their strengths of
00:18:23
togetherness strength of merger and
00:18:28
collaboration so I because my father
00:18:31
often used to say that you have to
00:18:33
become a complete musician and I didn't
00:18:37
understand what he meant perhaps now I
00:18:40
understand the person who can be called
00:18:44
complete mission if we can see good
00:18:47
points in every system of music if he
00:18:51
can appreciate good points in every
00:18:53
system of music so but in our country
00:18:59
you see the relationship between you
00:19:03
know lots of youngsters they grew up
00:19:06
listening to me while they were in
00:19:09
school or while they were in college
00:19:11
while they were in IIT and so lots of
00:19:14
business tycoons today they heard me
00:19:18
while they were in college so we have a
00:19:20
very good relation very good and this
00:19:23
this goodwill you generate it doesn't
00:19:27
happen quickly and my way of life my
00:19:30
beliefs
00:19:31
in our family we feel we feel connected
00:19:34
with every religion with every soul of
00:19:37
the world with every song of the world
00:19:41
music has been transformed so much by
00:19:44
technology yes in recent times what has
00:19:47
that meant to your music and the way you
00:19:49
view music you see technology is very
00:19:54
important and in music also we have
00:19:59
musicologists they are great they are
00:20:01
knowledgeable but they are not great
00:20:04
performers but sometimes they are also
00:20:06
they want to perform they want to saying
00:20:09
they want to do everything but there
00:20:11
will be always a difference between
00:20:13
somebody who has done 18 hours practice
00:20:17
real sadhana and technology is important
00:20:23
I think technique is important but the
00:20:25
technology and tradition has to be
00:20:28
friends this is my humble message to all
00:20:34
the business and the students were
00:20:39
learning here the technology and
00:20:45
tradition has to be friends and I am
00:20:49
sorry but I have realized that with all
00:20:53
my due respect to education because a
00:20:55
lot of people boast about education and
00:20:58
PhD and MBA and double this and double
00:21:02
that education could not create
00:21:06
compassion and kindness in a human being
00:21:09
all these destructive activities after
00:21:14
9/11 what's your hap'nin they are all
00:21:17
very very highly educated people behind
00:21:20
this so and and today's human being
00:21:26
because of the achievements of Education
00:21:29
and and finance and business tycoons but
00:21:34
what is what I realize a successful man
00:21:38
becomes a symbol of arrogance and
00:21:42
destructive elements what would you like
00:21:45
legacy to be in the world of music is a
00:21:51
creative people in every field sometime
00:21:54
we become very arrogant also a lot of
00:21:58
creative people they don't behave in a
00:22:01
normal way and we have to be normal and
00:22:08
we have to I mean I understand why I
00:22:11
personally feel that I wish I was born a
00:22:13
hundred years before sometimes I feel
00:22:16
because this technology is becoming so
00:22:20
advanced and so sophisticated day by day
00:22:23
that man is going to meet only the
00:22:26
machines machine will check you in
00:22:30
machine will fly you machine will do
00:22:32
this but when the but at the same time I
00:22:36
I feel proud to see the achievement of
00:22:41
mankind like cell phone fax machine iPod
00:22:45
and and the keyboard
00:22:47
I mean keyboard is the shortcut of music
00:22:50
I feel that keyboard a lot of youngsters
00:22:55
they are entertained and I think it's a
00:22:58
very great invention herself - I think
00:23:03
it was Japan created keyboard and now
00:23:08
children are playing with keyboard Casio
00:23:10
and lot of music characters but what
00:23:13
what I feel said that because of this
00:23:15
keyboard lot of musician's have lost
00:23:18
their job in the you know Orchestra in
00:23:21
Bombay and in India especially because
00:23:24
keyboard can produce the sound of flute
00:23:27
and violin and cello I mean thank God
00:23:30
there is no Surratt sound in keyboard
00:23:33
but you know what certain keyboard sound
00:23:37
is very jarring for me and I'm sure
00:23:40
there are outstanding keyboard players
00:23:42
also in our country we have Louie bank
00:23:45
great keyboard player and I'm sure there
00:23:49
are many more so in every behind every
00:23:54
instrument I think there has to be
00:23:56
somebody who can who
00:23:59
music is appealing and music has to be
00:24:02
appealing that's most important it's
00:24:06
been a great honor and a pleasure
00:24:07
speaking to you today thank you so much
00:24:10
I would like to bring my son's Amara
00:24:12
lion and someday it will be great honor
00:24:16
and pleasure to perform in Bolton in
00:24:19
your University here and I hope the
00:24:23
business people people who care for
00:24:27
tradition and culture they must think
00:24:32
how to preserve how to popularize and
00:24:37
how to give greater honor to our artform
00:24:41
Indian classical music thank you very
00:24:44
much thank you
