In the Chatur Lal home, the tabla meets the Turkish darbuka and Western drums.
Pranshu Chatur Lal has never seen his grandfather, tabla maestro Chatur Lal. The famed tabla player died in 1965, more than two decades before Pranshu Chatur Lal was born. But the 19-year-old is determined to carry forward his legacy and at the same time, charter his own course.
So, when he made his debut at the Pandit Chatur Lal Memorial show, the young artist did not resort to a plethora of tabla kaidas (sounds), like his grandfather who was known for his innovative exploitation of the kaida playing tradition. Instead, he launched himself by playing on the western drum, the Turkish darbuka and the Indian table, all at the same time, using his hands, a drum stick and the heritage of playing to the ‘Peshkar in khand jaati’. “It consists of four beats played to the count of five and the bols go like, dha-tita-dhita-dha-aa, in slow tempo, giving plenty of space for elaboration,” he explains. “It was something my father taught me and which I believe my grandfather had mastered. To give it a contemporary feel, I added a little to this family legacy.” One day, he took up the darbuka and began to imitate the bols of the Peshkar kaida on it and it sounded fine.
“The darbuka is played in a kaharwa beat of eight matras — dhum kaff-kaff dhum kaff. I used the right hand to play on the darbuka and a new kind of rhythmic sound emerged. In the same way, I introduced the bass drum of the western drum ensemble and added the snare and the cymbals later for making a rounded sound. Then I built up variations,” he says, sitting cross-legged amidst his paraphernalia.
The opportunity to test the waters came at a fashion show by Sanjana Jon in February. “Using the same set of drums I played as the models walked along. The show seemed to have appealed and plans were set for a formal launch of this ensemble.” A chance to play before a more informed audience came in March this year “at the annual memorial concert held to pay homage to my grandfather”.
Back in the capital, Chatur Lal sought an audience with dance doyen Birju Maharaj. “I head to his place every day to learn the dance bols and reproduce them on my instruments.” He says, like most tabla players, he does not want to be a solo artist but a good accompanist. “For that I need exposure to a large number of performers, both musicians and dancers.” It’s not that he hasn’t played solo. “I had solo concerts at the age of nine in the presence of the late Ustad Bismillah Khan and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.”
Legends like Birju Maharaj, Jasraj, Amjad Ali Khan, Ronu Majumdar and Shubhendra Rao play very soft music. “The Chatur Lal kaida is ideally suited to their music," he says. “We use only two fingers of the left and right hands to play out all the bols. In other tabla schools, such as Ajrada and Benaras, the entire set of fingers is used.”
His routine — four to ten hours of practise — is gruelling, but he doesn’t mind it. “I like to connect with people, be it the autorickshaw-walla who is taking me to my tuition class or the artists and fellow musicians. I want to connect with more people through my drums.”
