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Journalism of Courage
Growing up in Palakal, Andhra Pradesh, U Rajesh never saw his older brother engage in sibling rivalry. “Or revelry,” says Rajesh, “He was nine years older, would hardly talk or play and was always bent on a small fretboard, trying to figure something rest of us didn’t know. But I was a restive child, always wanting to go out to play, but he would never bother.”
But Srinivas passed away in 2014 after a liver transplant failure. He was only 45, with a Padma Shri, a Sangeet Natak Akademi award and praises from Harrison and John Mclaughlin under his belt.
But, during the time he was alive, he taught Rajesh his unique style on the advice of Paramacharya of Kanchipuram. “I learnt some krithis. I always wanted to be a pilot. My brother said he’d help in that but, if I chose music, there would be no endorsements. ‘My job will be to only teach you. No more,’ he said. I was to take my pick,” recalls Rajesh, who did choose music, thinking he could go to his brother if there was a challenging situation. The two also played many duets. “And then, in a matter of just a month, he was gone. While performing, I still look to my right sometimes to get approval,” says 38-year-old Rajesh, who will be in Delhi on August 23 for a performance with sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee as a part of the 19th Amar Jyoti Concert presented by Pt Chaturlal Memorial Society. The organisation was formed in the memory of Pt Chaturlal, a fixture in Pt Ravi Shankar’s concerts abroad in the ’50s and one of the first Indian tabla players to introduce Indian percussion system to the West. Chaturlal died in 1965, at the age of 40. Ut Allah Rakha took over after that. The performance will be followed by a flute recital by Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia.
In the last three years, Rajesh says he has been trying to find his own sound. His collaboration with Chatterjee is also an endeavour in that direction. Apart from releasing Timeless, the last live recording of the kutcheri in Mylapore where he played with his brother, and performances at Chennai’s December season, he is actively collaborating “to see how classical mandolin interacts with other Western instruments”. He’s already worked with Mclaughlin on Floating Point, which was nominated for a Grammy in 2009.
He will soon head to the US for his work with LA Philharmonic Orchestra. “This exchange of notes widens my perspective of my own music. I’m trying to be my own musician, entangle myself with challenges, find answers myself,” says Rajesh.
