International Fathers' Day: Music bonds these parent-child duos

Born to playTaufiq Qureshi talks to us about the day his wife Geetika delivered their son Shikhar It was the 9th of October 1996 And after the nurse got Shikhar out and placed him in my arms the most important thing for me was that his head resembled a percussion instrument So I told GeetikaYou know the angle from which I am looking at him makes his head look like a small conga And she saidWhat And I saidYeah I think I want to call him Kintou because the smallest conga is called a kintou So thats how he got his nickname and everybody in the family and most friends still call him thatThe story goes to show how in a family that already boasted three of the best percussionists India has ever seen mdash Ustad Alla Rakha Khan Zakir Hussain and Qureshi himself mdash Shikhars journey into music was almost preordained But Qureshi says that he never forced his son to play an instrument He tells us I basically let him be the way my father let me be because he never ever told me as a child that I must play music or learn it from himHe would just sayLet him find his way That actually brought out more of an interest in me because I was attracted to and wanted to explore music on my own So I did the same thing with Shikhar There were instruments lying around in the house and I would let him feel free about whatever he wanted to bang his hands on I would never guide him by sayingYou know what play it like this And thats how his interest grew too because he was exploring music by himselfWhile that may be the case Shikhar tells us that the direction hes taken with his art is nonetheless a direct reflection of what he imbibed from his dad My father is the progenitor of introducing desi influences into western percussion instruments like the djembe And thats what I try and do with my music as well Of course at 21 I am only starting out now and hope to find my own identity at some point But as things stand everything I play is born out of what I learnt from my dad he says proving how the apple really hasnt fallen far from the treeA sound nameShikhar is a taal with 17 beats while naad means sound in Sanskrit So Shikhar Naad is a doublebarrel name that the younger Qureshi has which means that along with Kintou each and every one of his names is associated with musicStringing it togetherSujay and Esani DeyIts difficult to put in words the amount of emotion that pours out of Sujay Deys voice when he talks about his daughter Esani To understand it we have to go back to the late80s when he arrived in Bombay with only 450 in his pockets hoping to find his fortunes in BollywoodEventually Dey became a sessions musician of note supporting himself and his wife Romia in the big city Then his first daughter was born Mohini Next came Esani And right from the time of their birth the 58yearold was absolutely clear that he would teach his daughters everything he knew about the bass guitar his area of expertiseEsani 18 says My dad would put headphones on my ears when I was as young as three making me hear rhythms that became a part of who I am In fact her inculcation into the art was so quick that she was ready to go on stage by the age of seven And she hasnt looked back ever since playing with the whos who of Bollywood and a bunch of international artistes even before shes left her teensThe key ingredient to her success though is her fathers unwavering devotion A lot of people tell meYour children are Godgifted And I tell themIn todays generation everyone from A to Z is gifted But as a parent how much time do you give your children And do you also think enough about what it is that your child really wants to do These are important questions Dey saysThe beat generationsVikku Vinayakram and V Selvaganesh PicGetty ImagesJust like a precious saree is handed down across generations music too can follow the same path sometimes Take the case of V Selvaganesh whose journey as a percussionist truly began when his grandfather TR Harihara Sharma commanded his father Vikku Vinayakram that he be taught the kanjira a onehand percussion instrumentVinayakram 76 tells us I have three children mdash Selvaganesh Uma Shankar and Makesh And it was my father who decided that Selvaganesh will learn the kanjira Uma Shankar will learn the ghatam and Makesh will learn vocals at the music school that he ran Initially though Selvaganesh had wanted to play the mridangam It is the king of all percussion instruments while the ghatam and everything else are subinstruments And I didnt want to be a subplayer I wanted to be the main percussionist the 45yearold saysBut then his elders in the family told him two things One that the kanjira was a dying instrument that the younger generation needed to keep alive And two mridangam players were a dime a dozen so playing it would be less special Thats how I made up my mind and they also told meWhatever you do work hard and you will succeed Thats what happened in my life and I now find the kanjira to be the best instrument Selvaganesh saysHe adds that he has a 24yearold son Swaminathan who is also a musician And when we speak to Vinayakram about his grandson the pride in his voice is almost palpable Its a sign of how doubly lucky the youngster is to have two gurus within the family as it is a sign of how sometimes music is just a generational thing3The number of musical sons Vikku Vinayakram has1999Selvaganesh joined Shakti a band his dad had played inCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates