Musical instruments the worldwide play the same notes, and in their core sense, have time and speed as their basic elements. The difference is in the person, personality and knowledge who plays the instruments. Ramdas Palsule, an astute tabla artist, has a different way of treating the instrument and his skill stands out every time he plays it. His performance confirms the effort the 53-year-old Pune-based artist had put in to imbibe the skill.
“Spirituality and music are instilled in my family. My maternal grandmother was a kirtan singer and social worker and my father was a Sanskrit scholar. My aunts and sisters used to learn music and I would try to create rhythm with anything that was available, be it the chair, table, bottles, cans or vessels,” Palsule says. “I started my training under the guidance of G L Samantha at the age of eight and I was one of the youngest performers to showcase my talent in guruji’s 60th birthday celebrations,” he adds. But some unexpected change lay before Palsule’ life and he welcomed it.
Palsule had to quit his passion in order to complete his formal education. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and joined a company in Pune. This entire affair kept him away from tabla for more than a decade, but the artist in him refused to die and compelled him take a call on a fateful day. Palsule heard veteran tabla player Suresh Talwalkar at a concert and decided to get back to his passion. “After the concert, I immediately went to Sureshji and requested him to teach me. The veteran musician instructed me to start from the basics,” he says.
The decision at that time was not an easy one to take for 23-year-old Palsule, but he was adamant to follow his passion. “My life at the gurukul of Sureshji was around practice, eat, practice and sleep,” he says. Palsule spent five years at with his guru. The destiny again pulled him back and he got married. Palsule continued his tabla playing as his wife Mohana understood his passion and was very supportive.
In 2000, Pansule quit a small business he had started and finally chooses to become a full-fledged tabla player. “It was not an easy decision to take. I had a family to take care of. But I was so much drawn into my passion that I did not think about my decision twice and was confident that I will succeed,” the tabla player says. Years later, the decision proved right for him.
Palsule is a well-known name today and people come after him to request for a performance. What is the reason of the high demand of the artist? “I always follow my thoughts. For any artist, it is most important to have freedom of thought and an open mind,” Palsule says. If I had not been a musician, my life would have been incomplete, he points out. “What would I have done with the restless notes revolving inside me? How would I have given vent to my creativity? Music made me complete,” he says.
Palsule also runs a training school for tabla learners and doesn’t charge any fee from them. “They are part of my family. I teach students who want to pursue career in tabla,” Palsule says. He is also serving as a teacher at the Centre for Performing Arts, University of Pune.
Palsule organises music festivals and concerts in India and abroad. He has performed with many eminent artists like the late Jitendra Abhisheki, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar to name a few.