If we can hang on to our culture, it'd be great: Bickram Ghosh

My career has seen three clear trajectories,” begins Bickram Ghosh, “One is that of a pure classical tabla player, which continued till about 2000 — that period was primarily spent playing in concerts in Chennai, with all the Carnatic artistes, from Balamurali ji to

Kadri Gopalnath

to just about everybody. I am one of the few tabla artistes who has studied Carnatic music as well, and I learnt the

mridangam

from Pandit S Shekhar, Calcutta-based mridangam maestro. This gave me an advantage, and I wanted to try it out, so I spent a lot of time here in Chennai back then,” he reflects.

“Then came the phase with Pt Ravi Shankar — I played with him in all his Chennai concerts, too. After which, came the phase when I started my own fusion band —

Rhythmscape

— we were an early bird of sorts in that genre, and we started off with three concerts – one in Calcutta, one in Bombay and one at the

Music Academy

, Chennai. This period was also one of the collaborations, which is why my original band had, and still has, a fair number of south Indian musicians.

Rajhesh Vaidya

was playing with Rhythmscape during 2003-2007, ghatam V Suresh has been with me for a good 20 years, now,” Bickram continues.

CHENNAI AUDIENCE IS TRADITIONAL AND YET OPEN TO NEW THINGS
The Chennai audience is one of the most clued-in audiences in the world — not just in India. They also love pure classical — which is why the ‘Season’ is so strong and still going so well. Some of the very high-end experimentation has happened from Chennai — and the purists have done it. And L Shankar, L Subramaniam (violinists, both), Mandolin U Shrinivas, and now, Rajhesh Vaidya with his electric veena — there are tons of names I can give you. It’s always been that juxtaposition — Chennai musicians know their craft; the audiences know their music. But again, they also appreciate the new and relevant — that’s the best thing of the city and its people,” opines Bickram

MY LIFE-CHANGING MOMENT
It was those early days... The very first time I came here, I remember sitting in a temple in the evening and listening to a bunch of drummers – they were playing the thavil,

chenda

, and some other instruments, I don’t exactly remember. What I do remember is being absolutely mesmerised, thinking to myself ‘I am learning an amazing craft, I want to learn it really well and I want to collaborate with these people’. And since 2000, I have done it — chenda, thavil, kanjira, ghatam, morsing, mridangam... I have collaborated with all. But that was a defining moment for me in my evolution to what I am today — the breeze, the temple ambience, the tinkling bells, and the drummers at it, oblivious to everything else around them. It was a fivebeat nadai,and ufff... mind-blowing. It has stayed with me.”

I LOVE ALL OF TAMIL NADU
Bickram says he’s been around the state pretty much. “I like the coastal areas – there is a pronounced culture in each region, which is primarily about clothes, food and music. I love the way people live within these traditions. The older meanings of a certain way of life — of the way a dhoti is worn, the way women tie the sari in different ways... I’ve always been fascinated by all this, which is why I keep coming to Chennai,” he says, and adds, “I used to love going to the temple and listening to the chenda and thavil players – it was a part of my musical experience, as was the unbelievable array of food.”

CHENNAI’S CHANGING, BUT THE BEST IS STILL HERE
“The the change that has happened here has happened everywhere – there are more malls, more standardised things, the standalones have become lesser. It’s the same in like Calcutta, and unfortunately even in a place like Varanasi. If we can really be careful not to break down old buildings, and hang on to the culture, it’d be great. But down south, the parts I like are still there — great musicians are still there, collaborations are on in full swing, the wonderful food is even better – more options. Just today I had this amazing mutton with some patta...”