Unique tabla school enters 25th year

Kallur Mahalakshmi Tabla Vidyalaya is producing some of Bangalore's brightest young percussionists

Kallur Mahalakshmi Tabla Vidyalaya, one of Bangalore's most respected music institutions, begins its 25th year celebrations this Sunday.

Founded and run by well-known tabla player Rajgopal Kallurkar, it is the only school in Karnataka dedicated to the tabla. “The focus helps,” says Kallurkar. “Students here can go all the way up to a Ph D in tabla playing.” Most students train for exams conducted by the state board, or academies such as the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya.

The school’s 150 students come from all corners of Bangalore. It gets overseas students as well. Kallurkar founded the school in Dharwad in 1985. He migrated to Bangalore in 1997, and brought the school with him. “Bangalore was a bigger city with more opportunities, and my friends, especially the famous tabla player Ravindra Yavagal, advised me to move out of Dharwad,” recalls Kallurkar.

Wah Taj effect
Like him, several Hindustani musicians moved from Dharwad to Bangalore, looking to survive by performing and teaching. The cultural curiosity of the Old Bangalorean ensured that they had a steady stream of students. Many families switched from Carnatic to Hindustani music. Around the time the school came to Bangalore, tabla playing had become glamorous, thanks to Ustad Zakir Husain's TV appearances.

“Young people are crazy about the tabla,” says Kallurkar, whose youngest student is four. He gets enquiries from parents who want their children to hang out at the school even if they don’t take lessons. But six, he says, is a good age to start learning.

Kallurkar slowly built up the school, conducting classes inside his ground floor house initially, and then adding the first floor. He gives free lessons to about 20 needy students.

With a master vocalist
In Dharwad, celebrated vocalist Basavaraj Rajguru used to drop by at Kallurkar’s school during his morning walks. He would watch Kallurkar teaching his young disciples. And then, there were long practice sessions and concerts with him.

“It was such an awesome experience playing with him,” says Kallurkar, who believes he learnt a lot about complex rhythmic patterns and saat sangat (accompaniment) from that master. Kallurkar has fond memories of Gangubai Hanagal, who graced the 10th anniversary of the school. His photo album shows him with some of the greatest musicians of our times. In one, Kallurkar, then just a teenager, is standing shyly next to a regal-looking Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.

Kallurkar holds an MA in Sanskrit, and could have become a lecturer, or, if he had followed his father’s vocation, a priest. But his heart was in tabla playing. As a boy, he moved from his native Kallur to Dharwad to learn under Pandit Girish Avate. He then trained under Ustad Sheikh Dawood in Hyderabad.

Life’s roopak taal
“Teen taal, with 16 beats, is the king of taals. Take two beats off, you get deepchandi, four off, it’s ek taal, nine off, and you have roopak,” Kallurkar remembers the ustad telling him.

Incidentally, Kallurkar has named his son after the seven-beat taal Roopak. The 12-year-old is among the more accomplished students of the school. Adarsh Shenoy, another of Kallurkar's students, has already won the acclaim of hard-to-please musicians. And when disciples put together a memorial concert for Ustad Sheikh Dawood, Kallurkar met another tabla legend, Ustad Alla Rakha.

“He was short-tempered, and a chain smoker,” Kallurkar recalls. "He scared the others away, but let me sit with him and have a picture taken."

Thanks to his crisp, imaginative style, Kallurkar is a much sought-after accompanist on the concert stage. He is also active on several academic boards and committees.

As his school enters its 25th year, Kallurkar looks forward to offering scholarships, instituting a national award, and doing lots more for tabla studies.

Silver event
The school's 25th celebrations begin at 9 am on Sunday, February 21, with a concert featuring Prasanna Gudi (vocal), and a tabla solo by Pandit Vijay Ghate. The venue is J S S Auditorium, 8th Block, Jayanagar. For details call 98452 05803 or 94806 12234.