Magic flute

“Like every other youngster,I too wanted to play drums or the guitar,till I enrolled into Kalakshetra,Chennai,in 1978,” tells Rajan,who went for Hindustani vocals and instead ended up in Sastri’s classroom. “He is the first generation of classical flutists,who followed the old style of music which did not have many takers. However,I was drawn in by his wealth of knowledge on the subject. He gave me a foundation,an emotional expression and music that was full of bhakti,” says Rajan.

Over the years,after much frustration,depression and rejection,Rajan developed his own style of music. “My father never compromised with his ethics or principals and neither did I. Maybe that’s why it took more time to make us famous,” says the 48-year-old who worked for 15 years as Deputy Secretary with the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi,organising music and arts festivals. He gave it all up because of lack of professionalism within the Akademi. He kick-started the famous http://www.artindia.com website on Indian performing arts and took on film projects from France and Malaysia,where he arranged and composed devotional music; Indian classical and modern dance,plays,films and documentaries apart from sound and light shows,music videos and thematic compositions. A globetrotter,he received a special fellowship from the Government of France to compose a raga-symphony and presented these compositions with French musicians in 2005. “Travelling opened my mind,and I realised gharanas are just a philosophy. One has to carve their own identity and deliver,” he concludes.