Music of a place reflects its soul

Sep 04, 2011 - Saumya Bhatia |

Age Correspondent

Travelling is an intrinsic part of my profession. I don’t get much time to travel on my own barring my concerts and family functions. But I love to know about various cultures. As a composer, I love studying how people approach their lives, food habits, personality, thinking, and how it all reflects in their music. The music of a place says a lot about the kind of experiences people have gone through. Besides music, I love taking photographs. I always carry my Canon G9 with me. I recently went to Iran and Brazil for concerts.
My instrument plays a vital role in concerts and weather conditions have an impact on santoor. So, if it’s a humid weather, I have to sit and tune it much in advance of the concert.
In Brazil, I was at Rio, and was told by several people not to miss the Christ Redeemer statue there. My hotel was very close to the beach, but I got time to explore on the final day of leaving Rio. Nevertheless, I spent a few hours at the Copacabana beach. The Sugarloaf Mountain is one of the biggest tourist attractions and to me it resembled the hunch of the camel but its name is said to refer to its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar.
I also tried the Brazilian food. Interestingly, they serve food by weight, they have a buffet system, so you take whatever you want to eat on a plate and they weigh and charge you accordingly.
When it comes to shopping, Brazil is known for its stones, and I picked up some as souvenirs from an artist who works with stones. I got him to design a leaf-shaped stone for me.
Another must visit in Brazil is the Chapada Diamantina National Park, they have clear lakes there and when you walk, you can see crystals around you.
I recently performed in Iran with my father and it was the first Indian concert in 32 years. It was a great honour to perform there. A funny incident comes to mind. One of my musicians was stopped by a military personnel when he was out for a morning walk. When he asked what he’d done wrong, he was told to dress appropriately as he was wearing shorts!
Places that I would like to visit include the Rocky Mountains in the USA, it’s truly a photographer’s delight. Strangely, I have been visiting the US for the past 10 years, but haven’t found time to go there.
Abhay is a santoor player

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