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Talk about the sweetness
of Indian music and his face lights up with a beaming smile.
Reaching for toffees in his pocket, he will instantly befriend
you. Meet Upendra Patnaik, the favourite 'nanaji' of many
a children and their mothers alike at the Hiranandani Foundation
School.
A classical musician to the core, Upendra has the distinction
of working closely with Pt. Ravi Shankar besides the great
music directors of the golden era like S. D. Burman, Madan
Mohan, Salil Choudhari, vasant Desai and many more. Any song
with folk overtones was considered incomplete without the
rhythm contributions of Upendra. 'Aaja re pardesi', 'O sajana',
'Bole re papihara'... The melodious list goes on and on. He
started his career early when he was first featured on All
India Radio as a child artist. Ever since, he has been a regular
artist singing light and classical songs and playing the tabla.
He studied vocal music under the guidance of Pandit V. N.
Patwardhan and gained his Bachelor Degree of Sangeet Visharad
in 1958. His Post Graduate work under Prof. B. R. Deodhar
was awarded the Sangeet Alankar degree (Master of Music) in
1961 for the thesis 'The origin of Indian music from folk.
Upendra's relationship with IIT dates back to 1965 when at
the request of Brigadier Bose, the then Director of IIT through
Pt. Ravi Shankar, he joined IIT. In fact, the ever-popular
Mood Indigo is the brain child of Upendra and ditto for 'Synergy',
the annual Music Festival in NITIE, which he started with
two of his tabla students from NITIE.
During his stay in
IIT, he was deputed to Guyana and South America to represent
out country by the Ministry of External Affairs. During this
two year stint, he held lectures and demonstrations on Indian
music in various universities and T.V. Centres. "Indian
music has had tremendous influence over the people of the
world", he muses and adds "In spite of the greatness
of our music it is unfortunate that our younger generation
tends to follow the simple pattern of Western music rather
than try and understand our own rich music."
PP spoke to him asking his views on Powai. His face lit up
as he praised the place saying "It is a peaceful and
serene place. Great place to focus on music." He added
he was keen on making a choir group in Powai and encourage
the local talent.
The responsibility of acquainting the younger generation and
developing their fondness towards Indian music lies with music
teachers. To start with, more and more schools and educational
institutions will have to promote Indian music by motivation
the students to take deeper interest in it. Music competitions
and festivals will also play an important role in showcasing
new talent and giving it its due appreciation.
Well, so long as gurus
like Upendra are around, Indian music will continue to reverberate
in the minds and hearts the world over.
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