Earthy ragas encore

His musical journey had the most unlikely beginning and yet today he is the greatest living flute player in the world. Hariprasad Chaurasia, reveals his connection with the divine instrument and talks about his Gurukul in a candid conversation with Millennium Post.

Ironically, a man does not decide his destiny. In most cases, people fail to follow their heart because they require facilities and financial support to pursue it. Lots of factors like parents support, health, and good teachers determine a person’s growth in the desired field. It all depends on faith. Talking about me, I still don’t feel accomplished in all respects. There is still so much to learn about music. I consider myself a student, I feel that there is a lot to learn from music maestros from all over the world.

There is and there will be no instrument like the flute in this world. I never thought much about flute in my childhood as it was very common  those days. It was played in every house of the village and was a means of entertainment for people. 

Lord Krishna and his popularity overseas ISKCON  temples gave this humble instrument its deserved recognition around the globe. This instrument has a mythological connection , we all have heard tales of Krishna mesmerising Gopis and Radha with this bamboo stick. Whenever I play flute it makes me wonder what made Krishna see through this bamboo stick. It has no sur aur taal, neither it is made of any metal or leather, still it sounds so good. The quality of bamboo sticks which we get in India is impeccable and cannot be compared to what we get abroad. The flute now has global appeal,  and is available in different forms, ranging from gold and silver. 

As a flute player I feel there are two main attractions to this instrument, one is that we feel we are singing a song as this is the only instrument that is very close to your vocal cord. Second, we practice breathing technique just like in yoga. That makes us fit too. 

Before any concert, I rehearse a lot as there are some high notes which are difficult to get at once.

I cannot choose one, they all are my favourites. There is always some scope of learning  from every musician, even if he/she is a drum beater at a temple. I try to soak in every little knowledge that I can from every artist I work with.

Firstly, it is not a school. I learned this art at a Gurukul, therefore, I always wanted to open one. Students live with us and practice flute. There is no fee in our institute and we have two such Gurukuls in Mumbai and Bhubaneshwar. From children to computer engineers we have students from all ages.