Romantic tuning

Having treaded the journey for the past 25 years,Salil Bhatt feels he entered the lineage very late. “My father would often wonder if I’ll be someone at all but never was there a hint of pressure. He has been a principled person and a ruthless master. I dedicate my each note to my father as his humble student. The Satvik Veena too draws huge inspiration and is a reflection of his Mohan Veena. Today my son at the age of eleven with two Limca records and the knowledge of around 80 ragas,knows more then me. I am sandwiched between the two genius,” smiles the instrumentalist.

Speaking on the Mohan Veena Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt says,”The Mohan Veena is inspired by the Hawaiin Guitar and Veena,assimilating and adding 14 more strings. I made changes,redesigned and Indianised for the Indian classical music to be performed in its purest form.” Adding on the Satvik Veena,that Salil Bhatt considers has brought enlightenment in his life,he says,”I play hip hop,jaaz,classical rock,everything on it. Musicians abroad look in awe at the instrument since it has their own guitar in it. We have learned and been inspired and have acquired a lot of good things from the west and vice versa from music to occasions like these.”

Having performed the newly discovered raga,Vishwaranjani recently in the city with his father Salil Bhatt explains “The Mumbai terror attack was a shattering experience for all of us and we musicians can best express this through our music. The impact motivated my father to discover a new raga dedicated to the innocent victims.” The scale has all the bhaavas,joy,pathos,anger,grief,bliss,the spirit to fight back and so on as Vishwa Mohan Bhatt adds “It is a combination of Madhuvanti,Shivranjani and Dharmavati. Music after all purifies the soul and is the best form of meditation to revive peace and love. This weekend we will perform a raga that is based on the sringar raas as we call it in the sophisticated way,and some compositions specially dedicated to the day.”

(The performance will be held at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya’s 10 th vivida Smruti Sangeet Samaroh on February 14,at Abasaheb Garware College Auditorium Karve Road 6 pm onwards)