Music emanates from soul, not religion: Pt Hariprasad

Lucknow: “As artists, singers, flautists, we never see any differences due to religion with our counterparts,” said Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia on being asked about the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb and his experience of performing with other artists during a panel discussion with author-biographer Sathya Saran and singer Rekha Bharadwaj on the concluding day of Metaphor The Lucknow Lit Fest on Thursday.
“Mujhe ye koi bataa de hum mein se kaun alag hai (Tell me who among us is different). Music brings us together, we perform at a temple as well as gurdwara. We are all alike. Music, or any form of art, doesn’t come out of religion, it comes from our soul and experiences,” he added.
They discussed Chaurasia’s autobiography ‘Breath of Gold’ penned by Sathya Saran, and the musician’s life and trysts. Coming from a family of ‘pehelwans’, Chaurasia picked the path of music at a young age. Now 82, he says his ability to adapt, learn, and re-learn made him the artist he is. Sharing a personal anecdote when he was spotted by legendary music composer Baba Allauddin Khan, who asked him to come to Maihar but the fear of his father not allowing him to take music lessons stopped him. Khan told him to find his daughter Annapurna Devi if he ever wanted to learn music. “It took me three years to convince her to teach me. I would learn from her and take lessons late at night after finishing my film recordings,” he added.
He also spoke of his love for spiritual places, which inspire him to create music, and the power of meditation, which has become the most serene and quintessential element of his daily life.