Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu:

Where there’s a will, there’s away... and that was how Manohar Gurung became probably the first certified ghatam player of Nepal. Manohar or ‘Bobby’ as he is known in the music circle is a fantastic percussionist. He played for two years with the rock group 1974 AD and later, also with the fusion band ‘Sitapati’. His quest led him to learn various instruments, some of which are conga, bongo, djimbe, maadal, dholak and others. His latest is the ghatam.

Ghatam is a Carnatic percussion instrument — an earthen pot. On August 15, 2003 when the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu organised a musical concert ‘Sapthaakshara’ featuring the Grammy-award-winning musical maestro Pandit Vikku Vinayakram, Bobby went to the workshop the next day, carrying his ghatam. "I had bought the ghatam when I was in India three years ago," shares Bobby. "I had tried to learn the ghatam on my own by listening to Panditji’s album ‘Shakti’. To have him come here was amazing and I took a chance."

Pandit Vikku, surprised and impressed by this young musician’s interest, told him to come to Chennai to learn formally. Bobby wanted to but his finances would not permit. Bobby’s father felt his son’s eagerness and so did Nirakar Yakthumba, the bass guitarist of 1974 AD. The duo sponsored his trip to Chennai and his ghatam education there.

"When I reached there, I was so happy. I had stayed in contact with Panditji and he told me that he had found me a place to stay just nearby. Panditji’s son T H V Umashankhar would teach me the ghatam." This was not the first time that Bobby had left everything in pursuit of music. After finishing his Bachelor’s in Commerce, Bobby went to study MBA in the UK. Once there, academics faded before all the opportunity in music. He met a German sitar player with whom he produced an album ‘The Bazaar in a Nutshell’. He then worked as a musical therapist, recognised by the National Health Service, UK. "I used maadal, singing bowls and worked on holistic music therapy also."

He had an hour’s class everyday when his guru would teach him. "Guru told me to beat always the seven syllables. It took long to catch up but one day, he just recited the syllables and told me to beat it out on the ghatam. It was as if my fingers had a life of their own — they beat it out perfectly. From then on, guru would simply dictate the syllables, not demonstrate." Bobby’s practise sessions stretched longer. Sometimes he wondered why his guru would only dictate and not demonstrate. Then one day, his guru told him to go back to Nepal. "I was surprised because I wanted to learn much more. I asked him to teach more lessons. But Guru told me that this was a two-year course that I had completed in three months." In December, he received his certificate from the Sri Jaya Ganesha Tala Vadya Vidhyalaya as a certified ghatam player. Early this January, Bobby Gurung had his first public ghatam show. To hear Bobby play the ghatam is a different experience altogether because from the Carnatic, it has been baptised in a new genre of Nepali fusion music.