Everyone who loves classical music would have wished to learn it from a legend. If you’re a fan of bamboo flute (Bansuri), here is your chance. Believe it or not, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, one of the pioneers in bansuri is set to offer online lessons for the instrument and vocal music.
All thanks are due to Rajeev Chaurasia, Pandit Chaurasia’s son, who is running an online fundraiser called Learn Music from Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. The fundraiser that began on September 24 has achieved nearly half its target of `5 lakhs.
“I receive emails every day from people from remote villages, different time zones, and diverse societies wanting to learn the bamboo flute from Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia,” he says. Hence was born the idea of online classes for those who are unable to attend Pandit’s classes in the music school Vrindaban Gurukul where he teaches in his free time in Mumbai and Bhubaneswar.
“Thanks to technology today we can create a bridge between the highest source of music teachers and students,” says Rajeev. They are offering courses in bansuri, vocal and tabla from the best teachers in the world. He also plans to create an app for tablets and mobile phones, which would make learning easier.
Though Rajeev doesn’t play the bansuri, he loves the instrument and its music and is very proud of his father. “Panditji is a man of high standards and while he expects the best, he also gives his best to anything that he does in life. So, both as a father and as a teacher he has set exemplary standards in life,” he says proudly. Rajeev is working along with the members of Vrindaban Gurukul to take his father’s legacy forward to the next generation.
“When I watch Panditji play, I see divinity in front of me. The power of his lungs, the peace in his mind, it is as if the cosmos are uniting with the present to create magic in front of us,” he says.
The fundraiser is on its last day and Rajeev urges music lovers to support the campaign for the sake of music and to help preserve an invaluable legacy of India.
Reach Out: www.ketto.org/fundraiser/vrindabangurukul