I had an anna in my pocket and nothing to eat: Shivkumar Sharma

Why a coffee-table book now?
I know what you’re saying. There are coffee-table books which give the genre a bad name. Loud photographs with a few hagiographic lines thrown in, has become the norm. When I met Ina Puri who has put the book together, I told her I want a book people will read and cherish. It shouldn’t be forgotten on the coffee-table adding to the clutter.

Apart from a full length interview with me, the book has a chapter on santoor and its contribution to music, rare photographs and voices by musical greats.

From an unknown instrument confined to J&K, santoor has risen rather meteorically in five decades to ensconce itself in the upper echelons of the classical genre outpacing other instruments in popularity.
Connected with the Sufi spiritual tradition of Kashmir, santoor combines Indian as well as Persian musical influences. Yet references to it are seen in ancient Sanskrit texts, where its referred to as Shatatantri veena (100-stringed veena).
My father Pt Uma Dutt Sharma, a famous vocalist and tabla player of J&K had trained under the legendary Pt Bade Ramdasji of Benares and even performed in early childhood with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan whose father was a court musician in Kashmir. While working for Jammu and Srinagar Radio as a music supervisor he saw the instrument played in the Sufiana style and felt it would lend itself to the classical style.

But he first introduced you to tabla and singing?
That’s right. He saw in me an inclination for music and began my training in tabla and vocal music when I was five. This rigorous training went on till I was 13. Meanwhile my father had been working on the santoor, tuning it to the needs of Indian ragas. Around 13, he introduced me to the santoor and I don’t know how or why but I picked it up very fast. So much so, that in 2-3 years, I began playing in the children's programme on radio.

You were barely 18 when you first performed at the Haridass Sangeet Sammelan in Mumbai. What was the response like?
For the first time, people heard santoor at big concert at the national level. Some found it fascinating while a few music critics said classical music could not be played on this instrument.

Yet the legenday auteur V Shantaram was impressed and offered you work.
Yes he said I must play for Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (JJPB) and so I played under Vasant Desai for this 1955 release. Desai didn’t understand the technicalities of the santoor and generally left me to my devices to explore and play like I wanted. You know in an ode to JJPB the same Meera bhajan Jo Tum Todo... was used in Silsila too. In fact Shantaramji was so impressed that he offered me his next project Toofan aur Diya. I thanked him profusely and apologised saying I wanted to complete my education like my father wanted and went back to Jammu.

But you came back to Mumbai...
My father wanted me to take up the job offered in the Jammu and Srinagar Radio. Though he had only my best interest at heart and wanted security of a government job for me, I wanted more. When this led to an argument I just left home and came to Mumbai with my santoor and only Rs 500 in my pocket.

It must have been tough...
Yes it was. I remember going around looking for work. There were days when I had only an anna in my pocket and nothing to eat. I’d play the tabla to accompany others. Concerts were hard to come by because of the negative criticism of the santoor. The odd film assignments helped sustain me.

But did did you ever want to give up because of criticism?
Hurt, yes. Who wouldn’t be? But I didn’t allow that to affect me negatively. You know I’ve never felt like giving up. You can call this spiritual but an inner voice always told me I’ll make it. The first thing I did was improve tonal quality. If you listen to santoor now its totally different from the 50s. In Kashmir its still played on a small stand, squatting in front. I took it on my lap to cut vibrations. I also changed the tuning and increased the range and discovered how to play with the mallets, reproducing the Indian vocal nuances.
It was a long and tedious process.
Oh yes. It took over decade. Sometimes I’d play something and surprise myself and the audiences. (Laughs) Then I’d go back home and toil for hours trying to find out what I’d done. And I saw senor artistes and critics warming up to the santoor.

In between you were even offered a role in a movie...
(Chortles) Yes. That was really out of the blue. I was in the studios where film-maker Khwaja Ahmed Abbas was explaining a situation and footage to musicians for background. Later he called me aside. I thought he wanted to tell me something specific but he offered me Saat Hindustani as an actor. “Dikhate-bolte bhi theek ho... kad-kaathi bhi sahi hai.”  I folded my hands and said I wanted to pursue music.

Along with flute maestro Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, you’ve given us some of the most memorable film scores.
Both Hariji and me knew Yashji. When he offered us Silsila in 1981 we had no idea its music would catch on the way it did. In over a decade later we did Faasle, Vijay, Chandni, Lamhe, Sahibaan and Darr.

But then you stopped.
Hariji and me were doing films as long as it didn’t interfere with our classical music. Later it became difficult as both of us were touring. I remember I’d taken a month’s break after a long tour and gone back to Jammu. The day I reached, I got a call from Yashji asking me to head back saying he wanted us to do Dil Toh Pagal Hai. (Laughs) He even arranged tickets for me when I tried to wriggle out saying tickets weren’t available.    

Why haven’t you done films with anyone else since 1993?
Film music depends a great deal on a filmmaker’s taste and thoughts. Today’s film music is influenced heavily by Western beats and has more noise than melody. That’s the problem. We’re such great imitators of even mediocrity. So you see even if we had the time, which we clearly don’t, where’re the right kind of directors to work with? 

We just lost the mandolin maestro U Srinivas...
He was the only one of his kind. Its really tragic for anyone to lose their life at 45. It just becomes more difficult to deal with it because we are talking of an artiste of irreplaceable callibre. I have performed with him, Hariji and Zakirji at many concerts. Bot Hariji and me are now in San Francisco for a concert and we just don't feel like playing anymore. Srinivas' death has come as a shock to us.

You hail from J&K which saw a lot of devastation in the recent floods.
Its been really really horrible to see all the loss and destruction. Personally it has been emotionally overwhelming as my family and had the most agonising ten days during the crisis. My 85-year-old sister Sarla Raina and her son Sitanshu, 60, were among those trapped in the floods in Srinagar and unreachable on phone for over ten days. 
My nephew's wife and children were stuck in Jammu while my sister and her son were in the Srinagar home. They only go there once in a while and were going to be there for two days. Little did they know they'd be stuck on the second floor with waters swirling till the first for such a long time. 
Despite trying their numbers continuously, calls weren't going through. The visuals on television and the looming uncertainty over their safety led to a lot of anxiety for 10 days when we finally made contact and found they were safe. Some of my sister's Muslim neighbours sent their young sons over twice daily in boats through the swirling waters with hot food and water. My heart goes out to those who put themselves at risk to help my sister and nephew.