"JALATARANGA": Milind Tulankar
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| Milind Tulankar
Born and brought up in a family with musical background; Milindji
started learning music from a very tender age. His grandfather Late
Pandit Shankar V Kanhere (Satara) who was a famous Jaltarang player
influenced Milind in taking up this unusual dying instrument the JALTARANG.
Also received guidance from Pt. Nayan Ghosh , SITAR
maestro Ustad Shahid Parwez & Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar.He
is one of the topmost Jaltarang players of India. Baba Harwallabh
Sangeet Sammelan at Jalandhar, Abhisheki Mahotsav at
Goa are some of the concerts where his art was acclaimed and appreciated a lot
and this rare instrument has kept him busy in concerts in India as well as
abroad. Malaysia, Singapore, Austria, NewZialand, Switzerland, Germany,
USA and Canada, Dubai, Aabudhabi are the countries where he has
presented his art. He is been doing some interesting projects with Ustad
Toufiq Qureshi. A BBC production film 'West is west' has
background scores played on Jalatarang by him. Milind Tulankar is
indeed a name, synonym for the untiring efforts, devotion, and endless passion
in pursuit of promoting Jaltarang.
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MILIND TULANKAR
What does it feel like being one of so few exponents of a dying art like Jaltarang playing? You see generally when somebody wants to arrange a concert of classical music; the first thought comes to mind is about Instrument…. Like ‘let’s arrange a performance of Flute this time’ and then the organizer starts thinking of the eminent artists playing flute. In that process, earlier when Jaltarang was not much known hardly anybody used to think of arranging a performance of Jaltarang! So it was really tough in initial years to get the opening, to tell people that such an instrument still exists! By Gods grace, it is not so anymore. And now being one of the very few players of this dying instrument; the things are totally different! Now I m searched of because of this instrument. Now people specifically look and ask for Jaltarang…. And that’s really pleasing. I am happy that this instrument is seeing glory once again. During my performances abroad I have noticed that there are many native people who don’t know anything about Indian classical music, but they still come there specifically to listen to this rare instrument. I had an overwhelming response in US and Canada last year. The shows were over booked…. No doubt it feels a great achievement my efforts have brought for Jaltarang. What are the main challenges of playing the Jaltarang compared to other Indian classical musical instruments? The biggest challenge is hidden in its name, Jaltarang. Jal…. That is water…. This is the only instrument which gets tuned with water and not with any water…. Soft water. Secondly, the Instrument (porcelain bowl) is fragile can break while traveling. Tuning cannot be done in green room, it has to be done at actual place where I am going to sit and perform. Also because of its character it can not create long notes, which is called as ‘Meend’ in Indian classical music. Also the sound system is a challenge because Jaltarang needs 4-5 microphones to collect the sound. Do you find it more challenging to perform solo or in Jugalbandi with other musicians? It is easier to play in Jugalbandi. In solo performance you have to take care of the colors being portrayed in the painting….. It’s only you and you who have to think of the complete performance, while in Jugalbandi the accompanying artist is giving in his inputs which gives time to take a pause and think of next move. Solo performance is like meditation… you do it alone to reach Nirvana… while Jugalbandi is like opening a magic box along with friends and enjoying, getting pleasant surprises from the box! Can you please tell us more about the origins and history of the Jaltarang? The Jaltarang one of the most rarely heard instruments today. It is one of the oldest instrument in the world. It consists of china bowls filled with water and struck by means of two cane sticks. Earlier, since china clay bowls were not available, artists used to play this instrument with metal bowls. Each bowl can be tuned to the desired frequency by varying the quantity of water in it. These bowls are placed in a semi – circular arrangement around the player and played. The Jalatarang has a pleasant characteristic tone. The player can produce on it, classical Indian ragas and light melodies as well. Jaltarang finds its first mention in Sangeet Parijaat. This medieval musical treatise categorizes this instrument under Ghan-Vadya . SangeetSaar considered one with 22 cups to be complete Jaltarang and one with 15 cups to be of mediocre status. Cups, of varying sizes were made of either bronze or porcelain. Today only china bowls are preferred by artistes, numbering around sixteen in normal use. Cups for Mandra Swar (notes of lower octave) are large while those for Taar Swar (notes of higher octaves) are smaller in size. Water is poured into the cups and the pitch is changed by adjusting the volume of water in the cup. The number of cups depends on the melody being played. The bowls mostly are arranged in a half-circle in front of the player who can reach them all easily. The player softly hits the cups with a wooden stick on the border to get the sound. It is not easy to tune the instrument and needs a mature musical ear. Jal-tarang was also called jal-yantra, Jalatantri Veena in the medieval times. Poets of Krishna cult (also called Asht-chhap poets) have mentioned this instrument, but there is no mention in literature prior to this. What is the tradition behind the Jaltarang? This is a very old instrument. This instrument has been described in ancient Sanskrit texts from 3rd century. Before the discovery and availability of porcelain (chine clay) bowls, this instrument was played using metal bowls made up mainly of bronze, copper and brass. Cane sticks were used to strike the bowls.There is a mention in the history that, when Alexander decided to end his endeavor in India and go back to his home-land, he took back with him a Jal-Tarang player, since he liked the instrument so much. My Grandfather, Late. Pt. S.V. Kanhere devoted his whole life for popularizing this instrument in India. He authored a book on Jal-Tarang, which talks about the instrument and the music around it in detail. This is book was published by Sangeet Karyalaya, Hathras, UP, India. This is the only book available in India on Jal-Tarang. He also did some changes to the earlier form of Jal-Tarang. He came-up with an idea of providing individual seats for each bowl, so that the bowls can be arranged in a more convenient way. There are a very few Jal-Tarang players in India. Some of them play in south-Indian style of music while rest of them follow the Indian classical style of music. Do you use the Indian rhythms or ragas or western scale? Normally I perform Indian classical music using indian ragas and rhythms. But this instrument is very versatile. Since water level in the bowl decides the ‘Swara’, the instrument can be fine tuned to various scales. This instrument can be easily adapted to play other styles of music. I have recently played background music for a BBS production film ‘West is west’. Today, music audiences seem to prefer pop music to Indian classical music, and modern instruments to ancient acoustic ones like the Jaltarang. How do you keep a rare musical form like Jaltarang relevant and exciting for audiences today? For day to day life people tend to wear the cloths that they find quick to wear, comfortable, fashionable and may be cheaper too, but during special occasions and during the festival season, they go back to their traditional dresses…. And they love doing it! So… even though people seem to be liking, listening to pop music more, they have their special feelings attached to the classical music. I have experienced this so many times, especially abroad where the culture of music is rock, pop, jazz type still my performances were over-flowing with the native people and after performance I was invited to the local schools, colleges too. So my feeling is, even though people generally seem to be liking pop music they simply love the classical music too. Why is such a traditional music instrument important today, that is if you agree with this statement? In my opinion, all the traditional musical instruments should be preserved, nurtured and played. Because every instrument is special in its own sense. Every instrument has its peculiar sound, style of playing, impact of its music on the audience. Main reason why traditional instruments should be preserved is, traditional instruments create original natural sound. It is not electronically or digitally created sound. They create variations in sounds which digital technology might not be able to replicate. Talking about this instrument: This is the simplest instrument ever, where all you need is a bowl, water and a stick to play. A completely uncomplicated and a ‘no-frills’ instrument so as to say with a very pleasant sound. Music from this instrument is very refreshing. Sad music is very difficult to be played on this instrument. But, contrary it simplicity, playing the instrument is a tough job. A great deal of talent, knowledge and practice is required to play this instrument. You have to understand the music first before you can start to learn this instrument.
- Milind Tulankar
http://www.jaltarang.com/
{Special Credits to Esplanade: Singapore(December 2014) for this interview & Thank you Milindji for sharing this to Samvaad!}
Few Glimpses of Jalataranga:
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