‘Isn’t a bad idea at all’: Tahira Kashyap on learning to play sitar at 39

 

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“Learning to play an instrument at 39 isn’t a bad idea at all especially if you get to collaborate with your father! Please watch till the end to see our own shock! Excuse the amateur self shot video and performance though it is all heart,” said Tahira, who is married to actor Ayushmann Khurrana.

The father-daughter duo’s jugalbandi clearly won hearts. Host and actor Mini Mathur commented, “This is so cute! Kya jugalbandi hai“, while former actor and author Twinkle Khanna commented, “How lovely”. Many others likes Bhumi Pednekar, Kubbra Sait, Rhea Chakraborty, Karanvir Bohra, Esha Gupta, Divya Dutta among others also responded with a heart emoji on the video.

According to sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, who has over 14 years of experience, music, especially Indian classical music has “healing properties”. “Our ragas and taals, they are personal, varying from person to person. It’s not like Mozart’s composition where everyone would play the same thing. Here, each person’s personality gets reflected and that’s what makes it magical. That’s why people gravitate towards it, and are so attracted to our music, especially in the West,” Rishab, the last disciple of sitarist and Bharat Ratna Late Pandit Ravi Shankar, described in an earlier interview with indianexpress.com.

Here are some tips from Rishab for those learning to play sitar

“It’s never too early or too late to start. My youngest student is 9 years old and the oldest student is 76 years old (I call her amma),” he told indianexpress.com.

He also shared some tips that can help.

Sitting position

This is one thing a lot of beginners struggle with. We are so used to sitting on chairs that we rarely sit on the floor nowadays. So, I always recommend yoga positions such as Vajrasana and Sukhasana to build flexibility of the legs and the back.

Getting the right instrument

If you want to learn sitar, you need a well-built instrument. I see a lot of people giving up on sitar because of the poor manufacturing and build.

Keep these tips in mind when learning sitar (Source: Pixabay)

Finding the right Guru

This is one of the most important decisions you will make. So do your research and find a sitaritst who inspires you the most and persuade them to teach you! If you can’t get them, then try to find someone who follows the same ‘style’ (gharana) of playing and sounds similar to them.

Initial technique

The first lessons are the most crucial, so give your 100 per cent attention and focus. These lessons will be very hard to unlearn. My Guruji (Pt Ravi Shankar) spent hours of his precious time to make me unlearn my poor technique and correct my hands on the sitar.

Patience

Lastly, this journey is long — perhaps for a lifetime. Everyday is a learning curve. “The beginning lessons will seem mundane, boring and even annoying at times. But trust me if you are patient and cross that initial threshold of repetitive practice, a whole world of possibilities is going to open for you. So hang in there,” he said.

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