L Subramaniam: 'Honours Are A Passing Cloud'

'Ultimately, everything has to be shared. That's why you have that talent. To share it. Unless you share, it won't continue.'

Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (born July 23, 1947) is an acclaimed Indian violinist, composer and conductor globally revered as the 'Violin Chakravarthy' (Emperor of the Violin).

He is widely recognised for bridging the gap between Carnatic music and Western classical music, pioneering the modern global fusion concept in the mid-1970s.

"My dream is to create a global centre of excellence. We got a piece of land. We are working to raise funds to create the center where anybody from any part of the world who wants to learn Indian music, improvisation and experience, they can come and learn," Dr L Subramaniam tells Subhash K Jha.

What a pleasure and honour to speak to you.

Very, very glad for you to say that.

There's one question that I've always wanted to ask you. The sitar has Pandit Ravi Shankar. The shehnai has Bismillah Khan Sahib. And the violin has you. The other two instruments are Indian. What made you gravitate towards the violin from your childhood?

My father was a violinist. He was a vocalist and a violinist.

When he went to Sri Lanka, he taught a lot of people who got a lot of awards.

He picked up the violin and realised the violin should also be a main solo instrument, not an accompanying instrument.

When the violin was introduced in Indian music, it was basically an accompanying instrument. Once in a blue moon, somebody played solo.

So, he said, in order to bring Indian music, Carnatic music to the global stage, we have to change the technique and create a lot of things, which other people cannot copy easily.

So, with the million scale concept and multiple polyrhythm, he started working on the violin. His dream became my dream.

You inherited the dream and the talent?

Yes, thank you.

He wanted me to learn vocal because my elder brother Vaidyanathan was playing beautifully. He was a genius, he was a fantastic violinist.

My sisters were singing, so my father said, why don't you sing, so you don't have to struggle.

So, he taught me vocal. Then I got diphtheria when I was two years old. Some doctors said I'll lose my voice.

You have a wonderful voice.

Thanks a lot. Very kind of you.

I learned a little bit of harmonium because my mother used to play the harmonium.

In the family, my father wanted that there would be an ensemble. Somebody sings, somebody plays....He wanted variety.

Diphtheria also helped me. He thought I'll lose my voice. So, finally he gave in.

These things work in mysterious ways.

How do you look back at your journey?

The honours are a passing cloud. What we know is a drop in the ocean.

You have more than 5 million scales. And, you know, many, many rhythmic cycles. So, nobody can claim to master everything. There's always room to go on improving and learning.

As long as we continue to learn and create more things, and we use the creativity in a positive way, ultimately, spirituality also steps in.

Every note you play, there has to be something. So, I try to go towards more spirituality and try to do more things, which will be useful for the next generation, so they can accomplish things easier, so that they can create a pathway and a roadmap.

That's what my father's interest was. I'm still working on it. I have not completed all my dreams.

Sir, Lataji used to say that she was a student right till the end of her life. Do you feel like that too?

Of course. We learn a lot of things every day by hearing and looking at other things.

What more is possible for us to go towards and learn and create something different. That will lead to the next step. It's almost continuous.

'This generation of children, they have their own ideas'

The guru-shishya parampara in Hindustani classical music still lives to an extent, but it is dying out. Do you think classical vocalists and musicians are afraid to share their talent with younger generations?

There are different aspects to it.

First of all, when you take up music as a father or as a parent, unless you're really passionate, don't care for monetary benefit, don't care for comfort, but you want to continue music as a spiritual path, then you will also go in the direction without expecting monetary benefit.

So in music, there are only a few people, a handful of people, unless they are extraordinary, it is difficult for them to survive till they get to that point.

Whereas anybody who goes to an engineering college, medical college, once you pass out, you get some job, wherever it is.

So many musical parents, they try to make the children go in another direction. They don't want the children to suffer.

The second thing is, this generation of children, they have their own ideas, their own conceived, preconceived thoughts, what they want to be.

In earlier generations, you become a doctor, you become an engineer, you become a musician. From the beginning, you know, you were in that direction. Now, people want to experiment with their aspirations.

More possibilities have opened up. The education system right now is in a grey area because AI has come in. That has given an entirely new definition to every art form.

But Sir what I am asking is, don't you think that some -- not you, of course -- but some great classical exponents tend to behave like chefs guarding their recipes as far as talent is concerned?

That should not be there. It's not good. Because, you know, ultimately, everything has to be shared.

That's why you have that talent. To share it, to be creative. Unless you share, it won't continue.

By not sharing it, you stop it with you.

'Writing a composition for an orchestra takes six months'

You have done work in cinema. Notably, I remember Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay.

You know, my getting into cinema was accidental. I was mostly interested in playing a lot of classical solos because my father's dream was to bring the Indian violin to big auditoriums... Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center. That was the focus. And then doing major orchestral competitions. I became the first Asian composer to write symphonic works.

So a lot of that opened up and a lot of orchestras... New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Moscow Symphony, Suisse Romande Orchestra ... all the major orchestras asked me to play with them.

Writing a composition for an orchestra takes six months. Those days, you have to write by hand, copy it. Then they have to copy. So it was a huge process. So I had a lot of projects at that time.

Mira Nair had to do a lot of convincing?

When Mira approached, I recommended my elder brother Vaidyanathan. He was a genius.

He was into films. He was doing a lot of films, working with a lot of well-known music directors as an arranger.

I said you should go to him. You'll get a better result. But Mira was adamant. Then my wife Viji -- my first wife who passed away -- she said, 'why don't you do the film for her?'

'It's a lady director. She's struggling. So we should do whatever best we can. What is the big deal? Just spend a few days and finish the movie.' So that's how that happened.

That led to the next film. Peter Brook approached me for the Mahabharata, then Little Buddha.

Sir, what are your future plans?

So my dream, me and Kavita (singer Krishnamurthy), we have established a Lakshmi Narayana Global Center of Excellence.

We have created a new syllabus because most of the university education in the past has been British based.

They can't sing or play for 10 minutes because the learning process methodology is not right.

Whereas if you want to become a musician, you have to practice many hours, listen to other people for many hours, practice, rehearse.

That's how you become a musician. Not by reading 200 books, you cannot sing a raga.

So we created a new syllabus, convinced Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan who was the National Education policy advisor.

In engineering colleges, IITs, music as a subject was introduced.

In fact, I am the distinguished visiting professor at IIT Hyderabad, where they created a course for music, a one credit course.

My dream is to create a global centre of excellence.

We got a piece of land. We are working to raise funds to create the center where anybody from any part of the world who wants to learn Indian music, improvisation and experience, they can come and learn.

That process has already started. There is a long way to go.

Me and Kavita are hoping that we will be able to realise our dream.

'Kavita is one of the most talented and versatile singers I've met'

I cannot complete my interview without asking about Kavitaji.

She's one of the most simple, honest, and most talented and versatile singers I've met.

Initially, I met her because I was working on two projects.

One project, I got out of, a film project. Another project was I was doing an album for Warner Brothers, called Global Fusion.

I was looking for a voice, technically trained and virtuosic, but also very emotional.

I had written a piece called Gypsy Trail in the album.

I asked a friend of mine -- I was in the US those days -- to send me tapes of some Bollywood singers and different singers.

I got tapes of a lot of people, but this particular voice really attracted me.

I didn't know who it was at that time. Then I saw the name and said I want to use this voice for the album.

So I met her. She said she was singing every day, multiple songs.

When I asked would you be interested in doing a fusion thing, she said I'm not aware of global fusion, but I'll try.

So we did this initial project. And her contribution was fantastic. I told her let us do other things.

Eventually I proposed to her. She readily said sure, she said she was waiting for it.

I'm working on multiple projects with her. I told her you can compose, you have so much of music. So she did an album for Meera bhajans, which I arranged for her.

'Art will never die'

And your children, are they musically inclined?

Yes. All the children were taught music. My daughter Bindu, she has done a lot.

My eldest son, Dr Raju Narayana, he said, there are too many musicians, I want to take up medicine.

What do you have to say about the dying art of classical music in India?

It is a cyclic thing.

It's art, classical music. Art will never die.

If you see people like Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, many, many composers came subsequently, but Beethoven, Bach, Mozart are still alive.

There will always be people who are passionate about art. They will continue it further.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff