When Prasanna Kumar, Regional Director, Leviton, India & SAARC, starts playing the tabla and the mrudangam, he enters a new world where his passion for music is all that matters.

He was 10 when Kumar's parents got him to train in mrudangam and tabla under Narayan Das, the famous Harikatha exponent. Harikatha is a form of Hindu religious discourse in which the story teller explores a religious theme, usually the life of a saint or a story from an Indian epic. By the age of 13, Kumar started accompanying his guru for public functions to play tabla and mrudangams.

“My first experience was frightening. Whatever I have been able to accomplish in the area of music is thanks to my guru. He was the one who encouraged me and gave me confidence to perform in front of an audience,” reminisced Kumar emotionally, paying homage to his guru who passed away about six months ago.

Though his interest in music made his parents happy, as Kumar was the first one in the family to venture into this field, they were also worried that the hobby would disrupt his studies and career. But, Kumar managed to strike a balance, pursuing studies and passion for music with equal dedication. He traveled to every nook and corner of Karnataka to perform Harikathas. By the age of 16, he started playing accompanying-instruments for many classical singers and other Harikatha vidwans.

In all, Kumar has presented about 60 perfor­mances of Harikathas at various places. The show typically begins on Saturday at 10pm and goes through the night till 7am. “It is sad that general interest in traditional artforms is decreasing and people are moving towards filmi music and partying to while time. But I appreciate and cherish our traditional forms of entertainment and even today, if someone offers me an opportunity to play for Harikatha, I am ready,” said Kumar.

That said Kumar likes some filmi music too but not at the cost of his own musical forte. Kumar is also adding to his repertoire by learning guitar. Fond of singing and playing commercial music hits on guitar, Kumar said, “I have a huge Karaoke collection of Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh and other leading singers.”

Talking of his dreams and the road ahead, Kumar marked, “One of my aspirations in life is to play mrudangam or tabla during Thyagaraja Aradhana at Thiruvaiyaru.” The Thyagaraja Aradhana festival which is conducted every year at Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu, is much valued for its historically rich traditional roots. This is the place where the great saint and music composer Thyagaraja lived and attained samadhi.

Bridging professional and personal interests came easy for Kumar who has performed with Kannan, the Country Manager of Anixter. “Having performed in many informal and social gatherings, I met up with a group of like-minded people with a shared interest in music,” Kumar noted. This group got together for many events including various festivities in his housing colony, which are usually attended by over 200 people.

“I practice every weekend without fail. This gives me inner peace and energy. I play for my heart,” said Kumar.

Kumar's family stands by him as he panders to the musician in him. His parents and his wife, Sandhya Rani, an ophthalmologist who is also an avid music lover, encourage him to devote time to music. Kumar also shares that while his elder son Pranai prefers sports; his younger son Prajwal seems to have a penchant for music. Kumar plans to nourish the latter's music interests by sending him to a music school for proper training.

Talking of personalities that have constantly inspired him, Kumar mentions his guru Narayana Das, a prominent name in the field of Harikatha; Gururajulu Naidu, who is also a tabla and mridangam maestro, Palghat Mani Iyer M Balamurali Krishna, Kunnakudi Vaidyanatha, SP Balasubramaniam, Matinee Idol Raj Kumar, Pandit Zakir Hussain, and Jagjit Singh. He also shares his plans to release his own Karaoke album that will include songs sung by Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and Mukesh on Facebook.

Apart from his passion for music, Kumar is also an avid lensman. With a Canon D-40 camera, Kumar loves to capture wild life. His other interest worth a mention is cooking which one can sample on certain Saturdays when Kumar lays out an elaborate breakfast for neighbors and friends.

N Vasudevan
vasudevann@cybermedia.co.in

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