THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Not many Indian musicians have had the opportunity to be listed as Grammy nominees. But, musical great Ronu Majumdar has had that fortune - a musician that India can be proud of. A man who was addressed as ‘Doctor feel good of Indian music’ by one of the greatest musicians, ace guitarist Ryland Peter or Ry Cooder.
India’s ace flautist Ranendranath Majumdar, who is also known as Ronu Majumdar, was in Kozhikode, at the Government UP School, Naduvattom, this week to stage a concert.
Majumdar has already authenticated himself as a thinking musician and a scintillating performer. Various improvisations targeted at elevating the audience to a higher spiritual level is the benchmark of his concert.
Formerly trained under his father Bhanu Majumdar, Majumdar soon started playing flute under the guidance of the late Lakshman Prasad Jaipurwale and finally under Vijay Raghav Rao. He was also fortunate enough to get guidance under the great guru Pandit Ravi Shankar. Majumdar performed in concerts, only to get the award by the All India Radio (1981), the Aditya Vikram Birla Award(1996), the Lifetime Achievement Award by Sahara India (2001) and many others.
Majumdar, who has always enjoyed performing abroad, remembers his first performance outside India. “My first performance beyond the Indian shores was in 1988. It was in Moscow and I was lucky enough to be with my guru Pandit Ravi Shankar,” he says.
For him, playing abroad did not stop with just concerts alone. “I had the opportunity to collaborate with great musicians such as George Harrison, Ry Cooder and John Hassels. I also composed music for the Hollywood movie ‘Primary Colours.’ Those experiences were absolutely amazing. I also collaborated with Indian maestros such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Bhimsen Joshi and Kishori Amonkar, which were all great experiences,” he reminisced.
His most sought-after album, ‘Song of Nature/A travellers tale’ positioned him as a Grammy award nominee. People spoke of him as a musical innovator who introduced a radical aesthetics to Indian classical music. Yet again his idea of spreading music beyond borders made him do something more than just performing abroad. He built a school in the USA. “As a step towards spreading classical music and its importance in the whole world, I decided to set up a school called ‘Sadhana School of Music’ in Chicago,” he says.
Majumdar, who keeps travelling across the world throughout the year, reached Kerala after a workshop session at Chicago. “I conduct a workshop at my institute in Chicago every year during June. I am just back from one of those sessions to interact with these kids here,” says an elated Majumdar. The flautist interacted with the children in a very delightful manner and performed the concert, which left the kids mesmerised. He then asked the kids to sing the seven notes of Indian classical music, to which he played his flute. After the interactive session, he played ‘Miyan Malhar’ and the crowd let itself drown in the spiritual journey led by the ace flautist.
About the current generation’s declining interest in the field of classical art, Majumdar says, “The world presently is very fast-paced. Parents nowadays do not sit alongside their children and teach them morales. They hardly have any time for that and this leads to a society lacking in traditional values and culture, and this is one main reason for the declining interest in classical music and classical art forms amongst children today,” he says.