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The recipient of ‘j&k state award’ this republic day, 31-year-old santoor maestro and music composer, abhay rustum sopori, became the youngest person ever to receive this honour. the heir of the 200-year-old sopori legacy speaks to anu gulmohar about his life’s mission of reviving the cultural glory of his state
Congratulations on winning the J&K State Award 2011. How does it feel to be the youngest ever recipient of this award?
Normally such awards are given at quite an elderly age. It’s nice that people in the government have acknowledged the kind of work I’ve been doing. I’m thankful to them. At the same time, I feel that the duties and responsibilities that I took on, to revive the culture of the state, have increased. The state is literally honouring you with some more expectations!
Tell us about the annual SaMaPa Aalap Festival.
We started in 2006. Till about 2005, the cultural scenario was very glum, to the extent that if 50-60 people were present at a concert here in Jammu, it would be deemed a super-hit concert! Being a musician, one knows that if you go to play at a music festival and the audience expected is 50, it’s really horrible. Though, by the grace of God, when I performed, I think it was the first time there were about 300 people in the concert. Within two years I was playing to an audience of 2,500 people. In 2010, the overall audience at the 15-days festival was more than 25,000. Over the years, a cultural forum has been created; SaMaPa Aalap Festival is part of a cultural revolution in J&K.
If you had not been the son of Pandit Bhajan Sopori, do you believe you would have still been a musician?
I don’t think so. It’s the biggest thing that could have happened to me – to have been born as his son. Whatever I’m doing is not just my thoughts, but the thoughts of all my ancestors. It’s something in my blood since the last 10 generations. And the sanskar and thoughts, which I’ve inherited, compelled me to think about others even in my early years of establishment. If I was not born in this family, I would just have been an ordinary person.
I have two nephews – one is three years old and the other is about 10 months old. Whenever we play, even the younger one comes and listens. Their training has already begun! In a typical guru-shishya family, it’s very difficult to say when the training actually starts. It starts even before one is born; it’s in your genes.
You have also learnt western classical music and are a visiting faculty at the University of Massachusetts. How does their method compare with the more traditional guru-shishya mode of teaching in a gharana? Which, personally, do you feel is better?
In our classical method you have to sit with your guru, but when it comes to western, the formulation is all done. Western style is very good to understand the composition. It’s a very scientific way of looking at music. Our music is more innovation based.
Can we expect you to compose music for Bollywood films too?
I hope so! I would say it’s in the pipeline. One of the best things that can happen to a composer is when he can compose music for films. Till now my focus was on the J&K state, now I feel we have reached a level, after five years, where a lot of things are happening, so I can look into other things. I’m not taking up too many initiatives on my part, but hopefully something might happen.
Do you think because of the exclusivity of the gharanas, plenty of talented people miss the opportunity to be taught by the best?
To blame the gurus for not reaching out to the masses is not always right. Undoubtedly, that has happened. Many of our great musicians have not proved to be very good teachers. But if you see my family – my grandfather has thousands of disciples. He’s hailed as the Father of Music in the state. There have been several cases where gurus have concentrated more on their children rather than other disciples. Also, you can’t expect revolutions to happen while you sit in palaces. You need to work on the ground, whether it is the Aalap Festival or working with the people here. The last 20 years have been very disturbing here in J&K. The graph has really gone down on the kind of students we get.
From your very young point of view, how do you see your music & the Sufi spirit of Kashmir helping it come out of its current state of confusion and conflict?
Well, it already has. Despite the events in J&K after 1989, there are people who say that they are Indians. What makes them say this? It’s their culture, which makes that happen. Does any part of the world become a part of the Indian territory by simply raising a flag? Putting the blame on the Indian government is not right; at the same time I think that the focus on culture has to be there. I’ve seen people leaving behind negative elements and coming together and forward, thanks to music. It has happened and it will continue to happen by the grace of God. In a few years, we’ll definitely see the culture of this region scale new heights.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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The recipient of ‘j&k state award’ this republic day, 31-year-old santoor maestro and music composer, abhay rustum sopori, became the youngest person ever to receive this honour. the heir of the 200-year-old sopori legacy speaks to anu gulmohar about his life’s mission of reviving the cultural glory of his state
Congratulations on winning the J&K State Award 2011. How does it feel to be the youngest ever recipient of this award?
Normally such awards are given at quite an elderly age. It’s nice that people in the government have acknowledged the kind of work I’ve been doing. I’m thankful to them. At the same time, I feel that the duties and responsibilities that I took on, to revive the culture of the state, have increased. The state is literally honouring you with some more expectations!
Tell us about the annual SaMaPa Aalap Festival.
We started in 2006. Till about 2005, the cultural scenario was very glum, to the extent that if 50-60 people were present at a concert here in Jammu, it would be deemed a super-hit concert! Being a musician, one knows that if you go to play at a music festival and the audience expected is 50, it’s really horrible. Though, by the grace of God, when I performed, I think it was the first time there were about 300 people in the concert. Within two years I was playing to an audience of 2,500 people. In 2010, the overall audience at the 15-days festival was more than 25,000. Over the years, a cultural forum has been created; SaMaPa Aalap Festival is part of a cultural revolution in J&K.
If you had not been the son of Pandit Bhajan Sopori, do you believe you would have still been a musician?
I don’t think so. It’s the biggest thing that could have happened to me – to have been born as his son. Whatever I’m doing is not just my thoughts, but the thoughts of all my ancestors. It’s something in my blood since the last 10 generations. And the sanskar and thoughts, which I’ve inherited, compelled me to think about others even in my early years of establishment. If I was not born in this family, I would just have been an ordinary person.
I have two nephews – one is three years old and the other is about 10 months old. Whenever we play, even the younger one comes and listens. Their training has already begun! In a typical guru-shishya family, it’s very difficult to say when the training actually starts. It starts even before one is born; it’s in your genes.
You have also learnt western classical music and are a visiting faculty at the University of Massachusetts. How does their method compare with the more traditional guru-shishya mode of teaching in a gharana? Which, personally, do you feel is better?
In our classical method you have to sit with your guru, but when it comes to western, the formulation is all done. Western style is very good to understand the composition. It’s a very scientific way of looking at music. Our music is more innovation based.
Can we expect you to compose music for Bollywood films too?
I hope so! I would say it’s in the pipeline. One of the best things that can happen to a composer is when he can compose music for films. Till now my focus was on the J&K state, now I feel we have reached a level, after five years, where a lot of things are happening, so I can look into other things. I’m not taking up too many initiatives on my part, but hopefully something might happen.
Do you think because of the exclusivity of the gharanas, plenty of talented people miss the opportunity to be taught by the best?
To blame the gurus for not reaching out to the masses is not always right. Undoubtedly, that has happened. Many of our great musicians have not proved to be very good teachers. But if you see my family – my grandfather has thousands of disciples. He’s hailed as the Father of Music in the state. There have been several cases where gurus have concentrated more on their children rather than other disciples. Also, you can’t expect revolutions to happen while you sit in palaces. You need to work on the ground, whether it is the Aalap Festival or working with the people here. The last 20 years have been very disturbing here in J&K. The graph has really gone down on the kind of students we get.
From your very young point of view, how do you see your music & the Sufi spirit of Kashmir helping it come out of its current state of confusion and conflict?
Well, it already has. Despite the events in J&K after 1989, there are people who say that they are Indians. What makes them say this? It’s their culture, which makes that happen. Does any part of the world become a part of the Indian territory by simply raising a flag? Putting the blame on the Indian government is not right; at the same time I think that the focus on culture has to be there. I’ve seen people leaving behind negative elements and coming together and forward, thanks to music. It has happened and it will continue to happen by the grace of God. In a few years, we’ll definitely see the culture of this region scale new heights.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Arindam Chaudhuri is Delhi franchise holder for i1 Super Series
IIPM ranks No 1 in International Exposure in the 'Third Mail Today B-School Survey'
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
IIPM Excom Prof Rajita Chaudhuri
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
'Thorns to Competition' - You can order your copy online from here
IIPM Mumbai Campus
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