Sunanda Mehta: You have studied science and law and did not have any family background in music. How did you gravitate to this sphere?

I started from the scratch; there was no music in my family, no one even listened to classical music. My father was a headmaster in a school here. He was of the opinion that we all should learn cultural activities like dance, music, drama, etc. Then someone heard me sing one day and suggested to my father that I should learn music. I started learning harmonium, singing. I eventually started participating in inter-school competitions and small programmes during Ganesh festivals. It was only classical music at that time; all top musicians used to perform in classical music concerts. After my graduation, I did law but dissecting frogs, studying criminal psychology was not something that suited my temperament. I joined AIR in 1960 — I did stints in Bihar, Nagpur and Mumbai. I had many invitations to sing and as I performed, my name started appearing in newspapers and magazines...and inevitably some people started getting jealous. Every time I had to perform, I had to write to Delhi for permission. After a while it got too tedious and so I quit AIR. Later, my academic interest led me to join SNDT Mumbai, where I worked for almost 13 years...after that I came back to music, full

time — singing, performing, composing, etc.

Pranav Kulkarni: It is said that for an artiste it is very important to find the right guru...

I was very lucky to find Suresh Babu Mane as my guru. He is Hirabai Barodekar’s elder brother. I consider myself very lucky because nobody in my family knew how to choose a guru. But my father’s friend knew Suresh Babu ji and he introduced me to him. But we had to audition in those days! I had to sing in front of Hirabai and Suresh Babu ji...and they heard me sing, and they accepted me as his student. When I was in my first year law, my guru passed away. Later, when I was studying music on a scholarship, they wanted me to continue studying in the same gharana and the next choice was Hirabai ji. That time, she was busy travelling all over and I used to accompany her on the tanpura. There was no teaching and learning, but listening and grasping. I used to listen to her. It was a good exposure for me to sit in front of the audience and play the tanpura. But later, as years passed, no one could take Suresh Babu’s place for me. I started off on my own, like Eklavya, studying and listening and singing and performing. That’s when I came to know that I was a good composer. Being in AIR also, I had to compose at times. My audience liked my compositions, so I started singing only my own works.

Anuradha Mascarenhas: What difference do you see in the dedication levels of students then and now — in terms of studies and the method of learning?

In my time, we did not have all these fancy gadgets like tape-recorders and CDs...at time we had to rely on only one guru, nothing else. Nowadays, guru is not that important...you have so many other options to learn from...you don’t want to go to a guru...you can learn from the Internet, nowadays. But I still feel that music is to be learnt person-to-person.

Prajakta Hebbar: You have authored books on Indian music.

Do you think there is enough literature available on Indian performing arts?

No, I don’t think so. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to write a book. We researched on a whole lot of subjects but didn’t find any book on contemporary Indian performances. But regarding compositions, Bhatkhande has come up with so many volumes — compilations of many types of compositions.

Nisha Nambiar: There are a lot of websites that teach classical music online. Do you think it is the proper way to learn?

I was approached for some of them, but somehow I don’t feel comfortable with the idea. I know that time is changing...it is a good thing in a way that people from overseas can connect with each other. They can’t travel as much... But in any case, a personal touch is important between a student and a teacher.

Garima Mishra: What are the teaching methods that you follow?

We don’t have a syllabus that we follow. We groom them to be performers. Rather than focus on examinations, we train them such that they can be professional performers. When I was in SNDT, I followed that. But that does not help the performer a lot, it helps an academician like me.

Pranav Kulkarni: When listening to Pt Jasraj, and listening to Pt Bhimsen Joshi, while the former very clearly enunciates his words, the latter does not put much importance on the words, but the sur. What do you follow? Are words important?

I think that a performer should use minimum number of words, but in such a way that members in the audience are able to write them down. You use the words meaningfully, to enhance the performance. Technically, we use them to give more meaning to our music, otherwise a layman would not understand it. But the musical meaning is totally different and unique. One has to understand the meaning of the notes, the rhythmic patters to truly enjoy classical music. That is why we have limited audience for classical music, unlike pop and film music. My approach is different, but I sing the same music. The number of words is minimum, in fact, in my compositions, I use only one line, for certain rhythmic cycles I use only one line, sometimes.

Garima Mishra: You’ve been associated with Sawai for many years now, so over the years how have you seen it progressing and now with Pandit Bhimsen Joshi not there, what is the difference?

Of course we miss him very much. His presence and his name was a strength, which is not there anymore. But his son is doing very well. He shoulders the responsibility very well...as such there is no change, except that we miss him very much.

Nisha Nambiar: What do you think of the reality shows?

There is a lot of talent there, in Bollywood. I think they need good training, good facilities, good exposure. We don’t have these facilities at all, even now we don’t have even one channel thinking about giving classical music an hour or fifteen minutes. I don’t know why.

Manoj More: Your most memorable performance...or it could be a moment.

My first LP {long playing (record)} was very popular. In fact every house had that, even those who didn't even understand classical music also used to hear that LP. Many people come and tell me that it is because of that LP that they started listening to classical music. Even now, I have to sing that particular raga or composition and only then I am allowed to go.

Manoj More: Which Western classical musician do you like to listen to?

I like to listen to Western music but I do not remember the names. I like to listen to all kinds of music, right from jazz to pop, name any music and I like it.

Prajakta: You have a lot of interest in things apart from music... You were into cars... Can you tell me about that?

When I joined All India Radio in Nagpur, I didn't have a place to stay but I wanted a car. I bought a car, a Fiat, 1968. It cost some (Rs) 18,000. I took a loan for it. I used to drive to office. People didn’t like it, They thought she has a lot of money. Whenever I had concerts, they would write to the organisers enquiring how much I was getting paid. They even wrote to the income tax (department); I had been issued summons. They said you are not showing this amount. Ultimately, I decided to leave that job. Now things are much better but I had to suffer a lot there.

Prajakta: Do you still have a fascination for cars?

I still have. I love to drive. I have an Indica now. Three years back I changed my car. Till then I had my Fiat with me. It’s very close to my heart. I was very attached to it. But you don’t get parts now, so I had to change my car.

Garima: Not many people know that you were associated with theatre also?

That also was by accident. It was not that I planned and then got into that. That time they wanted a young girl who would act in Shardha, a play. Man Apman, Kamshay Kalol happened because once they found a singing actor, everyone wanted her. For three-four years, I was on a professional stage, but I didn’t like it because I had to travel with the whole troupe. I decided to stick to music.

Sunanda: Tell us about your family.

I have a small family. My parents were teachers. My sister is a leading anaesthetist in Mumbai. Now my parents are no more. My sister is also not there. She had two daughters. One of them stayed with me right from when she was four months old and she is like my daughter. I am not married. Now she is in America, and the other one is in Mumbai, she has a son.

Anuradha: You didn’t get married; is it because you wanted to focus on your career only?