Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (1938-2022): The santoor falls silent…

The year 1967 Filmmaker K A Abbas was explaining a situation to musicians gathered for the background score of his Dharti Ki Pukaar When his eyes fell on a young musician he called him aside The young man felt Abbas wanted something specific in the music but was shocked when he was offered a role in Saat Hindustani 1969 ldquoDikhtebolte bhi theek ho kadkaathi bhi sahi hairdquo Abbas told himThe young man folded his hands and said he was happy to only pursue music Had the 29yearold agreed he would have debuted along with Amitabh Bachchan What that trajectory wouldrsquove done for Pandit Shivkumar Sharma wersquoll never know but the silver screenrsquos loss was musicrsquos gain The octogenarian legend was suffering from kidney problems for the past six months and was on dialysis He breathed his last on Tuesday morning following a massive cardiac arrest soon after his bath according to his familyAmong those condoling the maestrorsquos demise was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who tweeted ldquoOur cultural world is poorer with the demise of Pt Shivkumar Sharma ji He popularised the santoor at a global level His music will continue to enthral the coming generations I fondly remember my interactions with him Condolences to his family and admirers Om ShantirdquoSharma with Rakesh ChaurasiaTalking to midday sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan said his demise marked the end of ldquoa musical erardquo ldquoWe were close Our families share a great rapport We are all deeply saddened by this tragic news With him a musical era has ended We live in a cruel time when so many legends are bowing out Apart from a pioneering musician he was an exceptional human beingrdquoThe santoor previously confined to Jammu amp Kashmir rose meteorically to ensconce itself as a classical instrument thanks to Sharma Though connected with the Sufi tradition of Kashmir and called shatatantri veena in ancient texts it didnrsquot enjoy its current exalted status at that time The santoor maestrorsquos father Pt Uma Dutt Sharma came across the santoor as a music supervisor with a local radio station and felt it could lend itself to the classical style A young Shivkumar initially trained in tabla and singing was introduced to santoor at 13 Within three years he was playing it on the radioDespite purists curling their lip at the santoor filmmaking legend V Shantaram was impressed with the 18yearold Sharma and asked him to play for his Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje 1955 under Vasant Desai Back in Srinagar following an argument when he refused a secure job in the Jammu and Srinagar Radio Sharma left home and came to Bombay with his santoor and Rs 500 Pt Shivkumar Sharma has often told this writer of those tough times ldquoIrsquod only have an anna in my pocket and nothing to eat Irsquod accompany others on tabla since the negative criticism of the santoor meant no concertsrdquo hersquod reminisceOdd film assignments helped sustain both him and his fire for the santoor While the instrument was traditionally played in Kashmir on a small stand with the player squatting in front he placed it on his lap to cut vibrations He worked on the tuning increased range and discovered how to use mallets to reproduce the Indian vocal nuances A decade of his toil finally saw the music fraternity warm up to his instrument With Silsila 1981 both he and flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia turned film composers following it up with Faasle 1985 Vijay 1988 Chandni 189 Lamhe 1991 Sahibaan 1993 and Darr 1993ldquoIn some songs like Tere mere hoton pe you can clearly see how he brought in elements of classicism and folk music from the mountainsrdquo remembers ghazal exponent Pankaj Udhas who says he has never met a more disciplined musician ldquoOnce at an event he gently stopped me from drinking water immediately after my meal saying it was bad for digestionrdquo said Udhas adding ldquoEven in his 80s he never slouched on stage and sat ramrod straightrdquo He also spoke of Sharmarsquos prowess over rhythm ldquoAs someone who had played tabla and could sing it was interesting to see how he would even fox Zakir bhai Zakir Hussain at times when they played togetherrdquoSantoor exponent Satish Vyas who trained under Sharma from 1975 to 2006 says he feels orphaned ldquoBoth Panditji and his wife treated me like their son Even when he corrected me guruji did it gently playing on each disciplersquos strengthrdquo Sharma knew flautist Rakesh Chaurasia his colleague Pt Hariprasad Chaurasiarsquos nephew from when he was little ldquoExtremely loving and indulgent hersquod come up after a concert and praise even the smallest improvisation I tried Sadly Irsquoll miss unclersquos loving caress nowrdquo says the flautistCareer milestonesSharma gave his first public performance in Mumbai in 1955In 1960 he recorded his first solo albumIn 1967 he teamed up with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce the concept album Call of the ValleyThe santoor virtuoso was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986 the Padma Shri in 1991 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001