BENGALURU: If you have had enough of culinary experiments and fitness challenges over the past few months, here is a chance for you to acquire a new skill online. Dhrupad singers Sajan Sankaran and Ankita Athawale are holding a 10-session workshop spread over two weeks, which is open to trained singers as well as those with no musical background.
Sankaran and Athawale, both disciples of the renowned Gundecha Brothers, aim to lend an insight into the style of Hindustani classical music that is believed to be the oldest one to have survived until today in its original form.
“The workshop is designed to build an understanding of Dhrupad and a practice routine from zero,” says Sankaran, who is based in Bengaluru when he is not studying music at the gurukul in Bhopal. The sessions, organised by city-based Still Space Theatre, begin on Aug 24.
“We will try to guide participants as per their current understanding of music. For a practitioner of another form of music, it could serve as an introduction into an ancient and rigorous knowledge system that complements their own practice. It would also be true for other artistes like dancers or actors who wish to enhance their artistic vocabulary through a new but structured learning experience,” he adds.
Sankaran has been teaching Dhrupad online for a few years now, and while he believes that it is better to learn in person, he feels online learning still functions “with reasonable efficiency”. He also stresses that the surge of free access to online videos notwithstanding, there is space for all forms of engagement.
“People do value arts and traditional knowledge systems enough to understand that a detailed workshop takes a lot of effort to plan and deliver,” says the 28-year-old IIT-Bombay alumnus.
The encouraging response to the workshop is yet another evidence that the future of Dhrupad is safe, feels Sankaran. “I think the answer would’ve been different a few decades ago. But through the efforts of maestros, Dhrupad is fast regaining its status as a mainstream art form,” he says.
The Covid pandemic is a time to accept, assess and adapt, he stresses, talking about how online concerts have been a reassuring way to stay connected.
“The lockdown has given us the luxury of slowing down in other areas of life and diving deeper into riyaz. However, challenges remain in the uncertainty around the nature of live performance, and livelihood for the community,” says Sankaran, who feels blessed to be closely associated with the Gundecha Brothers.
“In the Guru-Shishya tradition, there is little distinction between the personal and the professional. We get to interact with them not only in class but also in everyday life situations, whether it is cooking in the kitchen or working in the garden,” he says. “In one way or another, every day spent with them is a lesson in life.”
(The workshop, being held from Aug. 24 - Sept. 6, costs Rs 6,000. For details, visit stillspacetheatre.co.in)