Enigmatic Permutations

(page 6 of 6)

One of the major differences between Swapan and Zakir is in their teaching approach. Swapan tends to teach in a more traditional manner while Zakir is more relaxed and unorthodox. For example, Zakir reclines on the couch and jokes with students before teaching, the students do not stand for him as he enters, and he explicitly teaches elements of improvisation to beginning students. Swapan, on the other hand, has a formal and intimidating approach. Many students attribute the difference to the amount of time each has been in the United States. Zakir came to the country in his teens whereas Swapan came in his late thirties. The relaxed manner that Zakir conducts his class sometimes backfires. During one class, we spent an hour trying to play the tintal composition in triplets:

dha na ge ne na ge dhin ne ge ne na ge
te re ki te dha ti ge ne tin ne ke ne
dhin ne na na ge ne dhin ne ge ne na ge
te re ki te dha ti ge ne tin ne ke ne
ta na ke ne na ka tin ne ke ne na ke
te re ki te ta ti ke ne tin ne ke ne
dhin ne na na ge ne dhin ne ge ne na ge
te re ki te dha ti ge ne dhin ne ge ne

The composition itself is not terribly complicated, but the students kept writing the composition in their notebooks and flipping the side of their cassette tapes instead of focusing on the composition. In his frustration with us, Zakir implemented a change in his teaching style. In his own words:

Okay, I think you need a month or two to learn this. If you recall, earlier, about an hour ago, we did each line many, many, many times: "dhin ne na na ge ne," and "te re ki te dha ti ge ne." We did all those things, each line many, many times. Still, you didn't learn it. So for next week, all tape recorders and cameras are banned. When you leave from here, either you've got it or you haven't got it. If you leave from here with the stuff learned, fine. If you haven't, that's it. Okay, we're going to try it this way, the old way. Since the new way hasn't worked, we'll try the old way. (excerpt from tabla lesson, 21 August 1995)

Zakir's return to the "old school" of teaching shows the tension of the informal and formal approaches to teaching. The division between Zakir's students and Swapan's students is distinct. I have heard that Swapan sometimes refuses former students of Zakir's. Certain compositions flag other gharanas or teachers. Swapan discovered that I had been studying with Zakir when I asked him a question about one of Zakir's themes. I had learned a kaida theme from Zakir and not learned any of the variations. At this point in my studies, I was already deriving my own variations from themes. I wanted to check with Swapan whether or not a variation was in proper form. The theme:

dha - kre dha ti dha ge na
dha ti dha ge tin na ke na

After playing my variation of this theme, Swapan replied that is was fine but said to play a "three-and-one" variation first. As I was packing up my tabla, feeling successful about my variation, Swapan asked me, "Where did you learn this kaida." Sheepishly, I told him where the composition came from and he did not respond. After the incident, Swapan did not look to me to carry his drums after concerts or to get him tea. This was his way of expressing his disapproval. I had violated his trust, in that I gave my trust to a different teacher and that I was mixing compositions from different gharanas. [It was years later in Calcutta when I had realized that the two gharanas were not only different in hand technique, but also in the deep structural process of the compositions. I had a frank discussion with Swapan about my thoughts and was able to win back his trust.]

The politics of tabla compositions is rampant in the Bay Area, especially between Zakir's and Swapan's students. Due to these politics, certain compositions are supposedly not taught to certain students. Kippen found this same occurrence in India:

That tabla players are secretive and do not "bring their treasures," as one person put it, was a very common accusation. (Indeed, this was an accusation leveled at all kinds of musicians.) "If one learns privately," said a student of a music college, "the teacher will keep certain privileges from you. He won't give everything to all his students. A student won't get any more from the teacher than the teacher himself allows." Most musicians, of course, asserted that they never hid thing from anybody, especially their students. However, in practice I believe accusations may have been justified under certain circumstances, for I observed that musicians could be intensely proud of their knowledge. (Kippen 1988: 89)

Among students, compositions become currency. Certain students would seek to photocopy other people's compositions, sit in on as many classes as possible, and trade compositions with other students. While each composition is worth years of study, people still look for as many compositions as they might incorporate into their repertoire. My studies in the music and culture of Hindustani music made me keenly aware of issues of genre. Not only did I risk studying with two tabla teachers, I was also involved in many different styles of music. Returning to Wesleyan, I found that I had to be able to incorporate what I had learned from the tabla into the music scene at the university. There were no opportunities to study tabla, so I had to balance keeping my attention to traditional forms while keeping my accompaniment skills by playing with other musicians. I found futility in explaining tal structure to non-Hindustani musicians as it reduced them to a complete rhythmic novice. I also discovered the intricate tie between tabla technique and tabla grammar.

REFERENCES

Kippen, James. 1988. The Tabla of Lucknow: A Cultural Analysis of a Musical Tradition. Cambridge: New York.

Lewis, Rowell. 1992. Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago: Chicago.

Skiba, Norman. 1993. Creation, Form, and Tradition: A Cybernetic Study of North Indian Tabla Drumming. Ph.D. Disseration. Wesleyan University: Middletown.

Wulff, Donna Marie. 1983. "On Practicing Religiously: Music as Sacred in India." In Sacred Sound: Music in Religious Thought and Practice. Scholars: Chico.

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