Legendary Hindustani classical sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar has touched many lives, whether it is through his mellifluous compositions or through his tutelage. The Mohan brothers Lakshay and Ayush, as well as Grammy-winning cellist Barry White, are among those who have benefited from the maestro’s presence in their lives. In early 2012, Ayush and Lakshay, who had been learning sarod and sitar from Pandit Balwant Rai Varma, a student of Ravi Shankar’s, performed in front of the maestro, who then decided to launch them for an all-America tour. For White, the contact was much more personal as he has been learning Hindustani classical music directly from the maestro for more than two decades. A chance collaboration for the Grammy Museum’s Ravi Shankar installation made the musicians realise the compatibility of their music. They are now on a tour of India, the Golden Symphonies Tour. Their first two performances took place on June 23 and 29 in Delhi and Bengaluru and now Mumbai is all geared up for the Mohan brothers’ and White’s performance on August 3.
When speaking to the musicians, their mutual love for the arts and respect for their guru and gharana become clear.
Pandit Ravi Shankar’s influence Ayush and Lakshay have been learning the sarod and sitar since they were little more than toddlers. According to Lakshay, “Our father used to play the sitar and even though he was not a professional, we always had that atmosphere when we were young. Since we were three or four, he used to take us to concerts or sometimes, we would even sit and hear him play. He was our first teacher.” Unlike Lakshay, who stuck with the sitar, Ayush decided to branch out and play the sarod since he became fascinated with the deeper sound of the instrument. “Our guru Pandit Balwant Rai Varma, who is the senior-most disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankarji, is proficient in both sitar and sarod. He introduced me to the sarod and he later sent me to Sharan Rani Backliwal, who was popularly called the queen of sarod,” he remembers.
It was a jugalbandi that the brothers performed for Ravi Shankar in his Delhi residence. “We were very lucky to have been in front of him in 2012 for the Rimpa festival. We received his blessings and he decided to launch us for the US tour, so meeting him and interacting with him has made a real impact on our lives,” says Ayush, adding, “He is a very jovial man and really encourages the younger generations to perform.”
For Barry White, the journey with the maestro began at a time when he least expected it. “I met Ravi Shankar quite suddenly when he was looking for a cellist for one of his programmes,” White remembers. He adds, “After the concert, I decided to learn from him. I spent a lot of time learning Hindustani classical on my cello, as well as on writing down his compositions. I was quite star-struck, especially for the first couple of years. It’s hard to imagine sitting with him. Even after years, I would be amazed that this came about. He was so warm and casual and that’s the thing that sticks with me; how he put me at ease. Some of my most cherished memories with him are of going out to dinner with him or just going to the beach to watch the waves, casual things. These are easily as precious as the musical memories.”
Still, being from a Celtic background, it was quite a different and often challenging task for White to learn Hindustani music. However, the sitar maestro ensured that his student achieved nothing short of perfection, “He’d spend hours showing me how to play a single line. He was into such deep detail about how each note should sound and it had to be exactly right. In my Celtic folk world, that was something quite new. I mean, to some extent, we play the way we want. This was much more technical,” says White.
About touring abroad and in India Performing in India and performing abroad has given the Mohan brothers a diverse experience. The US tour found them performing at prestigious classical music conferences in Boston and Cleveland. “The Hindustani classical music scene has seen vast improvement abroad and, over the years, the western world has developed quite a taste for our instrumental music. When there are no lyrics, any musician can connect to the sound and the western musicians and students are quite keen about the sitar and sarod. We had a very receptive audience,” recalls Ayush. India, too, was an enriching experience for the brothers, with its varied audiences. “People in Rajasthan would want compositions that are more folk-based while in places like Kerala or Bengaluru, where Carnatic music is more rampant, the demand for rhythmic pieces is higher,” shares Ayush.
About the Collaboration It was on the US tour, though, that White met the Mohan brothers for the first time when, in 2015, they performed together for the launch of the Ravi Shankar exhibit in the Los Angeles Grammy Museum. At the time, the brothers had been touring the states. The harmony between the sitar and sarod that the two play is evident in all their performances. This, Lakshay explains, is because the Maihar Gharana, to which the brothers belong, places equal emphasis on both instruments and also creates similar compositions for both. This makes it easy for them to collaborate for their jugalbandis. For White, though, collaborating with the brothers has been more of a challenge since his bowing instrument may stand out against the backdrop of their plucking instruments since it produces a sustained sound. “We’ve worked it out so that there are some parts with bowing and some with plucking getting the precedence. With each phrase, we’ve kept either bowing or plucking, whatever brings out the emotion of that part,” Barry explains. He recalls that they’d had barely a month’s time to rehearse for the Grammy Museum recital but that at the end of it, they had been sure that they wanted to collaborate further in the future.
It is not just a blend of different instruments that these disciples and grand-disciples of Shankar are hoping to achieve but also a blend of musical genres. “At the Grammy Museum we had performed a Palas Kafi piece which is based on the classical raga of the same name. The piece is composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar,” says Ayush. “For our India tour, though, we have added two more pieces which have both western and Indian classical elements, with cello concertos composed by Bach blending in with Indian classical ragas,” he adds.
