Drummer Boy

“My favourite drums are the big nagaras,” says Keshava,springing up to give a lively demonstration of how a nagara is played. Then he returns to his “princess storybook”,thumping a few light tabla strokes on the pink pages before opening it to read a chapter of Sleeping Beauty. “He loves princess stories,” says Keshava’s mother Gopika. “He would play perfect beats on the tables in our house when he was only two-years-old.”

Gopika,a painter and photographer,has lived in Mumbai most of her life. At present,however,she and her French companion and guitarist Nadaka live in Auroville near Puducherry,where they conduct chanting classes. Thus,Keshava has grown up in the spiritual environs of Auroville,close to nature and away from the din of the big cities. “We don’t have a TV in our house,” says Gopika as Nadaka adds,“Keshava is as restless as any seven-year-old but there are times when he is so quiet that one doesn’t not even realise if he is in the next room.”

Several videos of Keshava on YouTube show him playing difficult tala on the tabla. He learnt these intricate moves while observing Ganesh Basavraj — one of the famous Basavraj brothers—who visited the boy’s house often. “There was never an official training for him. He learned by observing Ganesh. We don’t want to tie him down,” says Gopika. Keshava has performed at concerts in Canada and the US along with his mother and Nadaka.

Bharat Bala,head of the creative committee of the CWG,first heard of Keshava when his father-in-law,who also lives in Auroville,sent him a clip. “Soon after,the Organising Committee got in touch with me,” says Gopika

Talk about Delhi,and Keshava is on fire — only by way of his instrument,playing a stream of heady beats. “I really liked playing at the dress rehearsal. It was a lot of fun,” he says. Then,his attention switches and he climbs up on his sister Kamakshi’s back and orders her to carry him around. Gopika turns on the CWG ceremony music on a laptop,and goads Keshava to play his piece. He jumps off his sister’s back and takes his place at the tabla,thereafter giving a glimpse of the masterstrokes that travel from slow rhythms to breathtakingly fast ones.

The moment the music ends,he wants to read out the story of Snow White,mouthing the dialogues of the evil stepmother. “I can say these in French also,” he adds. His mother drags him off for lunch but Keshava wants to talk on: “I love noodles and I like the Hyatt. I miss my friends in the old school. See,this is my plane that mamma got for me…” The topics of conversation change rapidly — just like his beats on the tabla.