Somnath Roy, 49, is possibly the only Bengali to play the ghatam, an instrument synonymous with the Carnatic tradition. But then, his life has been about making unusual choices. Mr. Roy was a full-fledged sportsperson until the age of 19 \u2014 first as a gymnast and then as a coach for West Bengal\u2019s sub-junior kho-kho team \u2014 when he discovered his love for classical music. Today, as an established cine musician who designs rhythm for movies, he is helping raise funds for classical musicians who have been without an income due to the prolonged coronavirus-enforced lockdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cClassical musicians are in the field out of passion and not because of money because there is hardly any money. With the [enforcing of the] lockdown, whatever income they made from concerts dried up. We \u2014 a group of established artistes \u2014 have managed to help about half-a-dozen musicians so far. We are looking for more people who need help,\u201d Mr. Roy, a resident of Howrah, told The Hindu<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is identifying such people, because self-respect often stands in their way of seeking help. It wasn\u2019t easy finding out musicians who were really hard up \u2014 they included people whose kitchens had almost stopped functioning. Now we have come to know of a young tabla player from Asansol who is in need of money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cCine musicians like me are part of an association \u2014 there will be some kind of help if a musician is in need. But classical musicians belong to the unorganised sector, they are pretty much left to fend for themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n With recording studios shut for the past nearly three months, Mr. Roy himself has been making a living from online classes he gives students, teaching them the concept of tala<\/em> \u2014 or beats. Mr. Roy, however, did not begin his musical journey as a percussionist. After he quit sports at the age of 19, he was learning to play the flute from the flute-maker and -player Nepal Sarkar, who discovered that the pupil had a gift for rhythm and sent him to Bablu Biswas, a classical percussionist. Subsequently, he learned Western drums from Amal Roy and began playing for films.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 1996-end, I happened to watch a show of Zakir Hussain\u2019s Shakti group, and was mesmerised when I saw Vikku Vinayakram play the ghatam. I approached [the respected Kolkata-based mridangam player] Pandit S. Sekhar, who taught me the mridangam for a while and then referred me to Suresh Vaidyanathan, a well-known ghatam player living in Chennai. I lived in Chennai \u2014 in Mandaveli \u2014 for over two years, learning from Mr. Suresh,\u201d said Mr. Roy.<\/p>\n \u201cI continue to learn from Mr. Sekhar and Mr. Suresh even today. You can say I have introduced the ghatam as a Hindustani percussion instrument to audiences here. I have accompanied many artistes \u2014 Amjad Ali Khan, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ajoy Chakrabarty. I am absolutely fascinated by the ghatam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nLooking for more<\/h2>\n
Online classes<\/h2>\n