Bengaluru: Kedarnath Nagaraj Rao Havaldar, an accomplished Hindusthani Classical Tabla player has a new feather in his cap due to the accomplishment of the feat of undergoing the 40-day Chilla penance with the Tabla instrument recently. He is widely known for having enthralled audiences worldwide with his laykaari as an accompanist and a Tabla solo artist. He took time to share his experiences of the 40-day solitude with Tabla. Here are the excerpts:
Q: What is Chilla and why did you think of venturing the same?
Kedarnath Havaldar: Chilla in the Persian language means the number 40. However, when it came to philosophy and spiritualism, the Sufi saints practised penance for 40 days and the same trend continued even in music as well. Interestingly, the same has been evinced more among the Hindusthani classical musicians. From that perspective, many people have been at it since the good old days. The reason why I indulged in Chilla was more of a necessity and to get more insight, and more depth into Tabla and music and immerse myself into the related thinking. That is the reason why I thought of doing Chilla.
What about other stalwarts who might have attempted such feats earlier?
Kedarnath Havaldar: Well, if you have to mention the stalwarts of earlier days, Sitara maestro Pandit Ravishankar, Tabla wizard Ustad Zakir Hussain, our Guruji Pandit Sameer Chatterji and Pandit Shubankar Bannerji have all done it with the Tabla.
Q: How was the experience, initially for the first few days when your Gurujis were visiting you to cheer you up?
Kedarnath Havaldar: Of course, in the first few days there will be a lot of energy just like the enthusiasm one can boast of while doing a new project. You also feel that there is nothing to worry about. But, the fifth, sixth and seventh days were the lowest points of my Chilla and the toughest ones. Very negative thoughts have stuck in my mind all these three days and the only thing I did was either keep on crying or play with the Tabla. It was really a challenging time as many negative thoughts kept on piercing me continuously and unfortunately, I also cannot divulge to you all those negative thoughts.
A desire to meet the Guru: There was a kitchen in the basement where I practised Chilla. I used to write notes and keep them in the kitchen and at the end of the seventh day, I left a note saying that I would like to meet my Guruji and also mentioning it as urgent. Within 20 minutes, my Guruji came down and talked with me on several subjects including dealing with Tabla and other matters nowhere related to Tabla intending to lighten my mood. This went on for around half an hour and after that, I again resumed the practice of Tabla.
Q: When you decided to be all alone with Tabla for 12-14 hours of rigid practice, what was the feeling or challenge you felt?
Kedarnath Havaldar: To admit to you frankly there was no time frame set like practising for 12 or 14 hours. On the other hand, there was absolutely no thought over the time as I didn't even have a clock with me nor had set myself any target of practising for these many hours. It was only after the Chilla period was over, that my wife Anandawardhini revealed to me that I was practising for 13 hours daily.
No physical challenges as such: If, you were to talk about the challenges; once the seventh day is over, your body, mind and everything else will be in sync. But the challenges that remained were how to ensure the aesthetics of any composition; how to increase the tonal quality the composition demands and things like that. The good part was that there were no physical challenges as such, including being seated for long hours even without stretching the legs.
Q: How did you break up the 12-14 hours of solitude; Was it on any typical ragas or practice of some particular form?
Kedarnath Havaldar: As mentioned earlier, I was not even aware of these 12-14 hours breakup also. However, I had one thing in mind I must practise some notes daily; This aspect somehow had entered my mind and other combinations I practised for 1-3 days on a rotational basis. In that sense, breakup meant to me to keep playing until I felt satisfied. After that, you can take a break for 05-10 minutes to stretch yourself as it is permitted in Chilla. Then I used to go to the next material and continue rehearsing.
Tal Teen Tal for 40 days: When you talk about Tabla there is nothing like ragas, but we have tala. So, all along the 40 days, there was only one tal, Tal Teen Tal, a prominent tal in Tabla. Most of the compositions revolve around this tal and it was based on this I did my practice.
Q: After the first few days, you preferred to remain yourself with Tabla in the basement without even thinking of visiting the family on the first floor. How did you manage beverages, breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner?
Kedarnath Havaldar: It is not right to put it that way as one needs to be all alone for the whole 40-day period of Chilla. Our Guruji used to call only upon being requested; otherwise, once you enter Chilla there is nothing like family, contacts or the outside world, forget being in touch with any modes of communication! And whatever bare minimum communication that happened was only for indenting some medicines, which used to be in written form.
No idea what was happening on the other side of the curtain: Lunch and dinner used to be kept in the small kitchen. Someone used to drop in to keep them. A curtain was placed in the middle of the basement and I had no idea what was happening on the other side of the curtain. Whenever I felt hungry went to the kitchen and warmed up the food with the help of a microwave oven and this was how it went.
What's your feeling after the successful completion of the non-stop 40-day riyaz?
Kedarnath Havaldar: On the whole, there is nothing like any feeling as I felt it a necessity and had a wish to undergo the practice and it happened. In a way, I was very lucky that I got a chance to ensure it with the support system I had.
Difficult to imagine without any support system: Perhaps, it would be very difficult to imagine doing such a feat without any support system. My wife Anandawardhini, our Guru Pandit Sameer Chatterjee, Guruma Sanghamitra Chatterjee, and their son Gurubhai Dibyarko Chatterjee, our father and mother, our mother-in-law and father-in-law, brother-in-law and all their family members were a great source of inspiration.
Neither the first nor the last: So, there is nothing to be proud of as I am not the first person in the world to have achieved it nor there is nothing like no one else is going to venture the same in the days to come. On the other hand, I am very very grateful for having got a chance to try it, and other than that there is nothing like having developed any feelings.
Q: As now you have a proven track record of being all alone with Tabla for 40 days, are you pondering over repeating a similar feat soon with a prolonged time?
Kedarnath Havaldar: I have just come out from the 40-day program and the experience of the same is still too fresh to cherish. To admit frankly, I am still in a terrific mood for the same. To say what is going to happen in life is difficult to say at this juncture.
Q: What is your advice to youngsters and beginners, based on your experience with the 40-day penance with Tabla?
Kedarnath Havaldar: One thing looks to be clarified here, this is an impossible task for beginners or youngsters to try as the challenge starts from the thought of sitting continuously for 40 days. If one has experience of, let us say 10 years or 15 years just as example numbers and have a practice of sitting for long hours can think of. But, for beginners, I have nothing to advise.
Photos Courtesy: Ghanashyam Girimaji.
-Manohar Yadavatti
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