His Father’s Son

Alam is the son of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Mary Khan (Ustad Ali Akbar’s third wife),grandson of Ustad Alauddin Khan,founder of the famous Maihar gharana,and Annapurna Devi’s nephew. So yes,there is an impressive and intimidating lineage in the background despite him being lesser-known in comparison to Ustad Ali Akbar’s eldest son Asish Khan. Alam is mindful of his descent and has had a tough time dealing with the pressure. “The expectations have been very stressful. It’ been years of comparison. But the bottomline is that I want to see music as a path to self-discovery and growth,” says Alam,whose sarod pieces were recently heard in Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and on a slew of tracks by Gods Robots,recent sensation on the Indian music circuit.

Growing up in California,the US,in a house where every room rang with the sound of the strings,Alam felt drawn to music at the age of seven,a time when Ustad Ali Akbar gave him a baby sarod. “I was also attending his vocal classes. But it was hard to get me to practice and my father made sure that he never pushed me into it,” says Alam,who grew up listening to Nirvana,Alice in Chains and a number of grunge and hip hop bands. He was drawn to Hindustani at the age of 13 again,and this time,he also began to enjoy it. “I also started listening to my father’s recordings and the melodies just touched my heart. That’s when I decided to learn seriously,” says Alam,who played tanpura on his father’s concert tours for a long time before his first solo in his late teens.

Alam has heard stories of his father being tied to a tree and beaten up by his grandfather if he did not get a note right. “Baba wasn’t like daadu. He did not want the same relationship with me. He was extremely generous and concerned with my well-being and happiness,” says Alam,who adds that Ustad Ali Akbar never stressed on learning Hindi or Urdu either. In fact,Alam does not speak any of the two languages. “It wasn’t important to him; music knew no language,” he says.

His India visits comprise compulsory trips to aunt Annapurna Devi’s house and to Maihar. “She is so loving and wonderful and I have some great conversations with her. In fact,she also likes giving me a few lessons sometimes. But she does not keep very well these days,so now we just talk whenever I visit,” says Alam.

For now,Alam is working on a slew of collaborative projects apart from a prototype of electronic sarod. But he wants to nurture the art form that has come with the pedigree. “My father always said that a raga should be played in tune,in rhythm and with feeling. He would say that if one went inside a raga with the respect it deserved,then the raga gives this power where all fears vanish and you play like a lion. I am going to remember that always,” says Alam.