With an influence extending far beyond the sitar in the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood,” the richness of Indian classical music has come to inspire and connect musicians and students to their culture.
“Samarpan,” an Indian classical Vocal Concert featuring renowned vocalist Veena Sahasrabuddhe, along with UCLA ethnomusicology professor Abhiman Kaushal, will bring traditional Hindustani music to UCLA this Sunday.
The event will be hosted by the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth (SPICMACAY), a student group that holds lectures, demonstrations, and concerts related to Indian music, dance and art.
SPICMACAY formed to promote awareness of India’s rich and heterogeneous cultural fabric. Aside from performing arts, SPICMACAY is able to bring renowned guest speakers and philosophers from India to the UCLA campus.
“Basically, India is like a cultural mosaic of a 100 different styles of arts,” said graduate screenwriting student Sunayana Nadkarni. “If we have music, there are different kinds of music; If we have gods, there are different kinds of gods.”
Sahasrabuddhe is one of the most critically acclaimed Indian classical musicians, having performed at numerous prestigious venues in India. Aside from being a popular performer, Sahasrabuddhe is also a composer, professor, and vocal instructor. She performs northern Indian forms of Indian classical music, particularly Hindustani vocals.
There are two types of music styles in India, Carnatic music and Hindustani music. The main difference between the styles of music is the region in which they are based: Carnatic is south Indian music, and Hindustani is north Indian music. Within these styles of music, Hindustani tends to place less emphasis on danceable beats and more on melody.
“I think it has been called meditative, like yoga, because Indian art is more about the inner domain, about spirituality, meditation, mysticism if you may. So it takes you to a different plane altogether,” Nadkarni said.
Ethnomusicology professor Abhiman Kaushal, who has accompanied many of the leading musicians of north Indian classical music, will be performing tabla alongside Sahasrabuddhe. Kaushal also teaches tabla, the traditional north Indian drum.
“For me it is a privilege to perform with her, because as we all know, she was one of the topmost singers,” said Kaushal. “I’m really glad that she’s coming to UCLA, and all of my students are waiting eagerly for it.”
Kaushal learned tabla in the traditional way of India, where a student stays with the same teacher and dedicates himself to the instrument. He started when he was 8 years old, and has dedicated himself to tabla ever since.
“I try as much as possible to teach the tabla the way I learned in India, so the learning and the teaching process, I don’t compromise it,” said Kaushal.
“For me as a performing artist, I feel blessed to be part of this beautiful drum called tabla,” Kaushal said. “We always believe it is our teacher; in Indian culture we call it “˜guru,’ blessings with which we carry on tradition.”
Both Indian students and non-Indian students are drawn to Indian classical music not only to learn about its intensely beautiful sounds, but also about the culture that comes along with it.
“So, if it is Indian or other subcontinent students, they like to reflect back to the culture that they’ve learned from their parents through the music,” Kaushal said.
“And if it’s non-Indians, their curiosity brings them, not only for the sounds but there is a whole protocol of learning the music.”
Second-year ethnomusicology major Aditya Prakash has studied Indian classical music from a young age. As a member of SAPA (South Asian Performing Arts), Prakash focuses on getting youth to retain the art of Indian classical music.
“Since I’ve come here, I’ve noticed a lot of students have learned Indian classical arts when they were younger, but once they leave for college they don’t have time to pursue it or they lose interest because they are out of their atmosphere,” Prakash said.
Prakash, a south Indian vocalist, has observed that north Indian instruments such as the sitar have gained more popularity in the Western world than have south Indian instruments like the veena or mrudungam.
“I think one of the main reasons is Ravi Shankar toured with the Beatles and brought the sitar to the West, and the Beatles like George Harrison really popularized it,” Prakash said.
Although listeners may not know the more complicated aspects of Indian music, like rhythms or scales, they can still appreciate the quality of the music.
“For anyone who’s coming to an Indian classical concert for the first time, I would suggest for them to come with an open heart and an open mind, because the songs might be quite different from what they’re used to,” Kaushal said.
“But at the same time it’s a very deep classical art, it’s very spiritual in nature also. So, if they are able to listen to it in a way that they can take the music within themselves, then at a certain point, they will start enjoying the music.”
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