Listen to it, learn it and live it: Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan on classical music

In a candid chat with us, sitar maestro Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, who performed in the city recently, shares his memories as a child, talks about his beliefs and more. The 65-year-old musician comes from a long line of legendary sitar players, being the seventh generation of the Etawah gharana. When asked if he always wanted to play the sitar or if he was just following in the footsteps of his forefathers, he says, “When I first started, I was only three or four at that time.My father gave me a small sitar as a toy and told me to play with it. Then, slowly, he started training me.”
He continues, “So, I grew to appreciate the sitar and kept learning till I was 13 or 14. Gradually, I knew that was the instrument I wanted to play. To me, the sitar is everything and has given me everything. It is my life. Everything comes after this; it is always my priority.”
When asked about how he wants to be remembered, he says, “I want to be remembered as a purist. As a person who doesn’t go beyond boundaries but knows how to extend it when required. Because, there are all types of expressions in our music, there is nothing that we cannot play.” He adds, “So, we don’t need to spoil our music by going outside the boundary of traditions. The idea is to stay within tradition and your bounda ry and do whatever you want.”
ON EXPERIMENTING WITH MUSIC
I do believe in experimenting, and I have done so many different things with my instrument, but never at the cost of music. If different musicians work together, they can create good music. I have worked with symphony in the US and Australia, and that was a beautiful experience. When there is a proper exchange of ideas to create something beautiful, it leads to beautiful collaboration.
ON HIS FIRST PERFORMANCE
Every day is a new experience. When I first performed, I was seven; that was my first big performance and it was in Kanpur, in UP. I’m not sure how I did it, but in that moment, what I felt was beyond nervousness; it can’t be explained in words. That’s how I started playing and have played so many times and with so many different celebrated musicians after that, but that first big performance was special. But every performance is a new experience that is very memorable. I’m very lucky to have played with senior tabla players like Ustad Allah Rakha saab, Karamatullah Khan saab, Pandit Kishan Maharaj and Samta Prasad ji.
‘I JUST TRY TO DO JUSTICE TO MUSIC AND LET IT FLOW NATURALLY’
If you love music, then you are playing for music, not for the gallery. Automatically, the result will be very good because you aren’t worried about how you are trying to cater to something particular. You should not do anything at the cost of music. That’s what I believe, so I just try to do justice to music and let it flow naturally. I think Chennai is the city of music; I always enjoy playing here and when I came to know that I’m performing here, I was very excited. It is one of my most favourite places to perform.
‘MY FAVOURITE COMPOSERS ARE MOZART, BACH AND BEETHOVEN’
I love listening to my uncle, Ustad Vilayat Khan, and other popular artistes. I also listen to Western musicians. My favourite composers are Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. I listen to them all the time. If you directly take something that they have done, it will be a copy. So, I have taken inspiration from their work and from what I felt after listening to that, and I play that in my own way.
‘Our culture reflects in our classical music’
People say that they love India but have accepted the Western culture and left our own. They forgot their own culture; if you love India, you should love your culture also. So, what I believe is that our culture is reflected in our classical music, it is passed on from generations and has seen it all. It needs to be kept alive, so listen to it, learn it and live it.