Strumming classical swaras

NADAKA IS the name of this musician, originally from Canada, but now a resident of Pondicherry for a quarter of a century. He has almost forgotten his original name, even his passport says Nadaka. He got the name through his association with Auroville and his new-found Indian personality.

It was reading of Aurobindo and the Mother which brought him to Auroville in 1974; since then he has become dedicated to the project of this international centre. His earlier interest in India was rather romantic, an idea of spiritually related life. When he first arrived in Chennai, he stayed with Rukmini Devi of Kalakshetra for some days, about whom he had heard from an English friend; he remembers her as a very kind person.

A Western guitarist, Nadaka has devised an acoustic guitar specially to suit Indian music. He has added two extra strings and movable frets, the scalloped neck of which enables the producing of gamakas, similar to the veena. In fact, it is even better than the veena, in his opinion. Chords like in Western music also can be produced in this guitar. He has learnt to play on the veena and sarod a little. He also learnt a little from classical musicians, but most of his knowledge of Carnatic music has been gained from his association with artistes of Chennai - violinists like Ganesh and Kumaresh, ghatam maestro T. H. Vinayakaram and ace drummer Sivamani.

He interacts with the artistes in creating his own music compositions. It has been a great experience and inspiration for him. Most musicians have been very open, welcoming and very encouraging, declares Nadaka. But he does not claim to be a classical musician.

He uses Indian ragas in his compositions, based on ideas from the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and the writings of Sri Aurobindo. He feels that one's compositions should reflect one's personality. He makes no compromise where his music is concerned, which goes through to reflect the inner aspiration and the uplifting attitude. It has no commercial goal, though his recordings are being offered for sale. All recordings are done in his Raintree Studio at Auroville, though he does make frequent visits to Chennai to discuss, coordinate and rehearse with other musicians of the city.

Constantly strumming a few swaras on his guitar, Nadaka claims that if one keeps playing a few notes repeatedly, it becomes like meditation; if one goes on with it for a few hours, at some point one goes beyond the mere music of it to something farther and deeper from the ordinary, and that is the greatness of Indian music. For him, chanting `Ohm' is a great experience, because he feels that sound alone contains all the notes.

A trilogy - `Lotus of the Quiet Mind', `Lotus of the Silent Deep' and `Lotus of the Open Heart' is to be released soon, all composed by Nadaka. In these he has not only played the acoustic guitar, but has sung - he is quite at ease in Tamil, played on the anantar harp, bamboo anklung, chimes, percussion, gongs, Tibetan singing bowls and steel drum; Ganesh and Kumaresh have played on the violin and Vinayakaram the ghatam; two children Vidya and Krishna have sung the verses and there are other artistes also participating besides a Tibetan Shartse Monastery choir. In the first of the trilogy, natural sounds, recorded in the open fields, have also been incorporated. The second one has a lot of Tibetan music in it.

Nadaka has come across some people who have been a great influence, such as veena-maker Ramjee of Trichy. With him he could discuss music for hours. So many Indian and international artistes visit Ramjee and it is a privilege to be associated with him, feels Nadaka. Along with Ramjee he has designed a new type of tanpura.

Another great influence has been Hasrat Inayat Khan (died in 1930) from Calcutta, who reflected the Sufi spirit; he used to play on the veena very well. Nadaka learnt about him from a chance acquaintance with a Sufi musician from Andhra Pradesh during a plane journey.

Nadaka has travelled all over India, but he makes frequent trips to various parts of South India and often spends time in remote temples. Earlier, he had given stage performances along with his group, but for sometime now he has been more of a studio artiste; but he plans once again to come on the stage. The instrumental music of his works have a soothing effect and is particularly appealing during the quiet of the night.

LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN

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