Of Taals & Thaps

Pandit Azad trains the students in the Banaras gharana of tabla. “I came here 25 years ago,in hope that my interest in music will be supplemented here. My father Pandit Lalbabu Prasad made sure that after my education,I had the freedom to choose what I wanted to pursue. My choice was music,” he says. Today,Pandit Azad teaches tabla to more than 100 students. He supports interested students by providing them with training in classical music as well as basic education. At the apartment in Aundh,students from Patan,Latur,Aurangabad and Nanded stay to fulfill their dreams of mastering the instrument. “The story goes back six years,” says Pandit Azad. “I was in Nanded for a musical performance. After the performance,a visually challanged couple came to me and noted down my address. Ten days later,they were at my doorstep with their little son. They left him here for they wanted him to learn music at my academy. That child has today completed his Std XII examination and plays the tabla exceptionally well.”

There are several other similar stories. A student from Aurangabad,Sarang Bhandare,learnt music for 10 years at the academy. Today he teaches tabla at the Vidhyanchal School. Mayur Kumar from Patan now conducts tabla lessons. “Several of our students are now independent. Most of them are earning a living through the art. They have dedicated themselves to it.”

The class has students pursuing MA in tabla as well as tabla instructors who are trying to take music to a new level. Each student also appears for the government-run Akhil Bhartiya Gandharava Mahavidyalay’s certified course in tabla. Then there are pakhawaz players,women artistes and an atmosphere filled with love for the art form. Pandit Azad attributes his journey to Pune to his brother,B K Shrivastava. He has also earned several awards including the President’s Award in 1991,Sangeeet Ratna in 2009 and Maharashtra Gaurav.