Anuradha Pal is a player par excellence, with not only conquering the technical aspects of the art but also equally perfecting its moral and social aspects- a rare feat to achieve. She is a President awardee of the First Ladies National award for being the youngest and first female Indian musician to have performed at two of the biggest music festivals– Woodstock and Womad for 400,000 and 150,000 fans respectively. A female empowerment icon, she has also been hailed as ‘Bharat ki Laxmi’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Lauded for her musical mastery and superb chemistry with the topmost Indian and international artists, she has collaborated with the best in the world, regaling millions in over 7,000 concerts across 30 countries. Though originally trained in the Punjab Gharana, she is prolific in other five gharanas of the instrument namely- Farrukhabad, Ajrada, Delhi, Banaras and Lucknow. “I learnt them on my own.” She says, which displays her dedication for the instrument. She has performed at 7,000 concerts across 30 countries. Recently, she came to perform in the city during ‘Badal Raga Samaroh at Bharat Bhawan. ‘The Hitavada’ interacted with her over several subjects of her instrument and music. Excerpts from the conversation:-

 

Q. As a female tabla player, what were the difficulties you faced in your initial days?

A. The time was challenging as I am the first professional female tabla player. Also, I am a first generation musician. My father, Devendra Pal had a background in the pharmaceutical industry whereas my mother, Meena Pal was a noted writer and painter. Throughout my journey, they supported me and encouraged me to develop a career in this field. Luckily, I was good in studies, so I had all options but I opted for music rather it can be said, Music chose me. Even my guru, Ustad Zakir Hussain says that ‘dha’ in your name stands for a ‘bol’ of Tabla which justifies that you are made for the instrument. Also, I started my journey with singing.

 

Q. How do you look at the audience of the city and of the places you go? Can you recall some funny experiences in this regard?

A. For us, the audience is everything. The audience of the city is special due to the musical intelligence instilled in them. To narrate an incident, once, during an interview, a lady called me and exclaimed, you are a great Sitar player. I replied, “ma’am, I think you are mistaken as I play tabla, not sitar.” Then, she mentioned, “Nahi, nahi par tabla aur sitar toh ek he hai na.” (No, no, but tabla and sitar are the same). I had a good laugh then and was wondering where I should start from now.

 

Q.Ustad Sukhwinder Singh ‘Pinky’ once remarked that the youth are now engaged in playing certain ‘difficult’ taals (beat cycles) like Teentaal or Jhaptaal during solo performances but several of them like Dhamar are not being played on stage. How do you look at this ? Is this thing for real? If yes, then why?

A.This is true that some taals are not being played so often on stage. This is because previously, the audience was well informed and aware but now one can’t get such type of audience everywhere. Audience has its own expectations like the younger generation wants a kind of fast music to connect. Among these things, I firmly believe that nowhere it is written that an instrumentalist can’t play certain taals. For instance, when I went to the Woodstock festival, which is considered as the largest open air festival in the world, to represent our country, where I was the youngest and only female among the musicians. Almost 4 lakh spectators were present there. There, I played six and a half beats and the audience enjoyed it. For us, the audience is ‘Janta Janardan’ and sometimes we have to play according to them. Time has its own journey and things change with time too, but it is the tradition, the techniques and the knowledge that prevail.

 

Q. You have also started a ‘Stree Shakti’ group. Can you elaborate on that?

A. Throughout my journey, I had to face hardships and challenges. But later in my life, I decided to empower the females coming in this revered art form and then came ‘Stree Shakti’, an initiative aimed at giving international exposure to the students and giving them a chance to perform at reputed stages pan globe. Till now when the group has completed 28 years of establishment, we have given opportunity to almost 100 students. It is important to note here that normally there are fixed members in the band, but here things are not like that. The one who deserves will get a chance. I want my instrument to be properly understood and interpreted by the audience. This happens through persistence. If someone wants to do anything in his/her life then he/she should be persistent.

 

Q. Can you tell us something about ‘Tabla Sings Stories’?

A. This was a unique and special creation made to demystify the notions regarding the instrument that it’s all about speed. This is because of the prevalence of speed and fastness in the atmosphere. Also, we can’t blame any individual for a certain thing as the same musician lives in a sociopolitical climate and gets affected by the same. Albeit, the sole motive behind this creation was to make people aware about the essence of instruments or the notes of this instrument (Dha, Ta, Tirkit etc). People are not aware of the same and to make them aware of the same, this idea came. Only to highlight that melody’s percussive ability of the instrument keeping its traditions alive. There are several aspects of the same like Ramayana on Tabla or others. Likewise, for the first time, I played ‘Ganesh Peshkar’ during the same.

 

Q.You learnt under the tutelage of Ustad Zakir Hussain, who is a great personality in himself. Can you recollect some experiences with his father, Abbaji or Ustad Allah Rakha?

A. Those days were great. I had the privilege of learning from him too. In 2018, during his centenarian celebrations, I performed with 217 musicians at Nagpur giving my humble tributes to him in front of thousands of people. For two hours, I played the authentic style of Punjab gharana. The idea of Peshkar and his thoughts on the instruments were presented by me along with a lehra composed by him in Raga Charukeshi.