From performing at rural jatras to taking folk music beyond our borders,sambhal player Pandurang Ghotkar shares his musical journey For 66-year-old sambhal player,Pandurang Ghotkar,life has been a musical journey,with high and low notes. His first music lessons were conducted under his father's guidance. My father was a very strict teacher because I was very naughty as a child. I always preferred wandering in the wild with my sambhal instead of studying, recalls Ghotkar who gave up education to pursue music at the age of eight. The artiste was in the city recently to perform at Tablyachya Bol Katha,an annual percussion function organised by the Kala Chhaya Cultural Center,Senapati Bapat Road. I have no qualms about not studying further. My love for music filled that void, he adds. Unlike other children,Ghotkar's punishments in school would be playing a tune for the teacher. When ever I was up to some mischief,my teacher would ask me to play a tune on his desk. This was the way I would be punished, he laughs. Originally hailing from Aurangabad,Ghotkar was sent to Nanded,at the age of 10,to learn music from his uncle. I ran away twice,as I wanted to pursue music my way, he adds. His musical journey began with the tamasha groups which traveled across India in bullock carts. He covered the length and breadth of the country playing at rural jatras till his first big break came in 1960 at the Tamasha Mahotsav Spardha,a state level cultural programme. I was considered a wonder kid by local newspapers then, he gushes. Ghotkar was then trained under musician and dancer Balasaheb Gokhale,who sponsored his tabla classes at Sadashiv Peth. Guruji was the best gift in my life, he adds. Since then there was no looking back for Ghotkar. In 1964,he also spent time with the jawans at the Line of Control near the China border. Ghotkar's tryst with Japan has been his most memorable so far. In his first international visit to Tokyo,Ghotkar was asked by the the then Japanese Prime Minister to donate his sambhal to the cause for the betterment of Japanese music. Ghotkar's sambhal is now a treat for tourists at the Tokyo National Museum. It pained me to part with my instrument. I was offered money but music for me can never be equaled to anything, Ghotkar shares. The folk artist believes in maintaining the originality of music. When on international tours,he has rarely tied up with foreign artists to create fusion music. I want the world to know our folk culture first. It is then that we can create fusion music, he explains. His stage shows have folk sambhal players from his group. Gold cannot be substituted by any other metal. There is something about our roots. One should respect that before going global, he says.
