KOCHI: When Mahesh Mani and his son, 12-year-old prodigy Ganesh Karthik, produced the myriad tones din, ti, ta, dha, using split-finger taps and smooth palm slides, it reminded many of the iconic father-son tabla wizards Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain. The duo’s debut performance, the six-minute track ‘Taal Mantra’, is an original track composed by Mahesh
Following the footsteps of his father, Ganesh started playing the tabla when he was two years old. His grandfather was Mani S Puram, known as a great tabla artist in his time. “Being a premature baby, Ganesh had some limitations when it came to speaking. One day his physician asked him to say something. To our shock, of everybody, Ganesh instantly recited the thekas, Dhaa, Dhin, Taa, Naa, Tin,” says Mahesh.
Mahesh tried to teach his son along with his other students, but that didn’t work. “Being a tabla artist, I wanted him to excel as a classical tabla player. During lessons, he never sat with us but used to observe the class from a distance. Once the class gets over, Ganesh taps the lessons I taught my students,” says Mahesh.
Ganesh Karthik started taking lessons seriously when he met Zakir Hussain a few years back. “When my father showed him a few videos of mine, Zakir held me and spoke encouragingly. He asked me to continue practising the tabla and master it. As a token of love, he also handed me chocolates. After that, I started practising with my teacher Sumith Naik,” says Ganesh.
The idea to create Taal Mantra came from one of Mahesh’s students, Rakesh Panicker. “I used to play the raw version of the track on a Bluetooth speaker. One day, Rakesh and I found Ganesh playing the track on the tabla. That’s how he got featured in the music video,” says Mahesh. Taal Mantra includes the composition of the legendary artists, Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, Zakir Hussain, Alla Rakha and Pandit Udayraj Karpur. The tabla’s traditional tone gets a modern twist through the song.
Talent medley
Taal Mantra includes the composition of the legendary artists, Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, Zakir Hussain, Alla Rakha and Pandit Udayraj Karpur.