Percussionist perfectionist

Ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram talks about how the initial struggle in life taught him the most.

When Vikku Vinayakram walks on to the stage, you don’t just get ready to listen to him play. You get ready to watch and feel his performance too. The man and his humble ghatam might look very simple, but when he played in Hyderabad on Saturday, it was obvious — the maestro simply makes magic.

Today, when people talk about the ghatam, they inadvertently talk about Vinayakram. From a simple “second instrument” to now being an instrument of great importance, the ghatam has travelled all over the world, thanks to Vinayakram.

But for the Grammy award winner, the start to this ardent musical journey wasn’t easy; there were challenges and obstacles at every point. “I was never interested in music,” he says unabashedly. “It was my father Kalaimaamani T.R. Harihara who forced me to take up music. So I got myself to learn. I started with the mridangam,” he adds.

Vinayakram’s father used to earn his living through performances, but after an accident which wounded his ring finger, he could never play the mridangam. “It was then that he pushed me to start performing so that I could earn. My family wasn’t rich, we depended on my father for the income and as the eldest son, I had to take care of them,” he says.

At 11-12 years, Vinayakram’s schedule was a very strict one. “My day would start at 4.30 am. I would be given a glass of mor (buttermilk) and then, my father would close the door of the room and light a lamp. I was supposed to keep practising until the flame in the lamp went out. Then, I would have a simple breakfast comprising last night’s rice and would continue practising for the rest of the day,” says Vinayakram. “It wasn’t easy. He was a tough taskmaster but it made me who I am. I was also able to get my elder sister married with the money I made,” he adds.

Vinayakram’s first performance was when he was 13. Then on, the 74-year-old has given countless performances in his more-than-half-a-century-old career. However, the shift from the mridangam to the ghatam happened much later.

“The ghatam was always looked upon as a second instrument, but I liked playing it. When I had gone to the US for a concert with M.S. Subbalakshmi in 1966, I was playing the ghatam, but the instrument became very famous only when I was part of the band Shakti with John Mclaughlin, Zakir Hussain and violinist L. Shankar. After that, there was no looking back,” he explains.

Later, Vinayakram would go on to win the Grammy for the Best World Music Album for his participation in Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, followed by another Grammy nomination, a Padma Shri, a Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship and the Padma Bhushan.

Vinayakram has travelled all over the world and has performed with some of the most famous names in the music world, but the thirst to keep playing is still on. “I might not be able to practise for long hours today, but not a single day goes without me touching the ghatam. I play the ghatam at least for an hour every day,” he says.

Today, at 74, one would expect Vinayakram to take a break and rest, but he is not one to conform to rules. He says, “My hands hurt badly, but I don’t pay much attention. So many years of playing does leave behind some effect, but does that stop me No. I have kept playing and I will always keep playing.”