spot_img

HinduPost is the voice of Hindus. Support us. Protect Dharma

Will you help us hit our goal?

spot_img
Hindu Post is the voice of Hindus. Support us. Protect Dharma
20.1 C
Sringeri
Friday, March 29, 2024

Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma was born on January 13, 1938, in Jammu to Uma Dutt Sharma, a vocalist and musician (player of Tabla) in the tradition of the Benaras Gharana and the “raj pandit” at the court of Maharaja Pratap Singh. Uma Dutt Sharma, was a disciple of Guru Bade Ram Das Ji of the Benares gharana. He introduced his son Shiv Kumar Sharma to vocal music and tabla from a very young age. Shiv Kumar trained under his father as a singer and tabla player, and, by the time he was 12, he was performing for the local radio station in Jammu.

Uma Dutt Sharma who headed the music section at Jammu Radio, was transferred to Srinagar Radio for few years. “That is the destiny,” in the words of Shiv Kumar Sharma, “Had he not been transferred to Srinagar Radio, he wouldn’t have seen the santoor, and the idea of the santoor coming to Bharatiya classical music wouldn’t have taken place.”  Shiv Kumar Sharma credits his father for bringing the santoor instrument into the fold of Bharatiya classical music and redefining its role.

When he was thirteen, Shiv Kumar started learning Santoor to fulfil his father’s dream. In those days, santoor, a dulcimer with some 100 strings was well known in the Sufi music of the Kashmir region has strong Persian influence but totally alien to Hindustani tradition. Encouraged by his father, Shiv Kumar shifted his instrumental focus to sanṭoor, with the aim of using the instrument to perform Hindustani music.

In Kashmir, devotional music was performed in small, intimate gatherings, often with devotees clustered around the Sufi saint and singing in praise of God. The santoor accompanied this music, which is itself influenced by Kashmiri poetry, Persian poetry and on a linguistic level by Iranian-Persian words.

“My story is different from that of other classical musicians,” Shiv Kumar told The Times of India in 2002. “While they had to prove their mettle, their talent, their calibre, I had to prove the worth of my instrument. I had to fight for it.”

To many Bharatiya classical traditionalists, the santoor was an instrument deemed ‘unfit’ for the nuances of Bharatiya classical music, said to lack the fluidity of the sarangi and the depth of sarod in addition to several other shortcomings.

But the father-son duo of Uma Dutt and Shiv Kumar continuously strived to reconfigure the instrument, changed the weight of the small mallets used to strike it and developed new techniques that allowed Sharma to bring more melody to the Santoor instrument and at the same time capturing the essence of Hindustani music’s singing style.

During his student life, Sharma was invited to perform at a concert at the residence of the Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir, with members of the legislative assembly. The dignitaries were sitting on chairs and the musicians on the carpet on the floor. Shiv Kumar refused to sit at the feet of the audience and perform and asked them to either arrange a proper stage or remove all the chairs. Finally, he went home without giving his performance. When his father Uma Dutt Sharma came to know about it (at that time he was an employee of Jammu Radio) he appreciated it and advised his son not to compromise on the dignity of music. (The above incident was narrated by Shiv Kumar   during Darbar Festival 2015 at London.)

Shiv Kumar turned down a financially secure job from Jammu Radio and instead preferred to be a freelance musician. He landed in Mumbai and had to undergo some struggle in his initial days. He did background scores for films.  He declined few chances in acting career as he was totally focused on his music. While doing background scores for films he simultaneously pursued his classical music concerts.

He gave his first public concert in 1955 in Mumbai. Though progressive audience used to praise him, conventionalists believed that Santoor being a fixed pitch percussive musical instrument it may not be suited to match the nuances of Hindustani music. Shiv Kumar Sharma took the criticism as a challenge and went on continuously rearranging and finetuning the Santoor strings, worked hard on his playing technique and could finally succeed to produce a sustained sound that almost matched the tone and modulation of the human voice.  In 1956 he composed the back ground music for one of the scenes for the famous movie Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje. He recorded his first solo album in 1960. 

In 1967, he along with the renowned flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and musician Brij Bhushan Kabra, produced an album titled Call of the Valley, which became one of the greatest hits.  Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hari Prasad Chaurasia together (known as Shiv-Hari music duo) went on to compose music for many flims, like Silsila (1981), Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991) and Darr (1993). He played Santoor for quite a few popular film songs sung by the legends Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh.  

Shiv Kumar Sharma went on to release several innovative and experimental albums on Santoor instrument like- ‘The Glory Of Strings – Santoor’ (1991), ‘Varshā – A Homage to the Rain Gods’ (1993), ‘Hundred Strings of Santoor’ (1994), ‘The Pioneer of Santoor (1994)’, ‘Sampradaya’ (1999), ‘Vibrant Music for Reiki’ (2003), ‘Essential Evening Chants’ (2007) ‘The Last Word in Santoor’ (2009) and Sangeet Sartaj (2011).

“I have added 16 more strings to the original hundred, added four more bridges to the existing 25, and reduced the clusters of four strings, to three strings each. By these alterations, the tonal clarity has been improved and enriched. I can now produce komal and teevra notes one after the other. In order to make up for the lack of meends (glissando i.e., continuous slide downwards or upwards between two notes), I have devised an alternative device by which I can produce prolonged and continuous vibrations of a single note, so that the continuity of the notes can be sustained long. For prolonged pauses on a note, I slide the kalam on more than one note at a time,” Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma told author Susheela Misra for her book, Among Contemporary Musicians.

He is instrumental in getting recognition for Santoor as a solo music instrument in Hindustani classical music, transforming it from being an accompanying instrument in the Sufi music of Kashmir till few decades ago. He is known for teaching Santoor without charging any tuition fees to students, that includes students both from Bharat and abroad.

He got Platinum Discs for Hindustani classical music album Call of the Valley, 1967, music of the films Silsila, 1981, Chandni, 1989 and Gold Disc for the music of the film Faasle (1985).  He also received a ‘Special Award for outstanding music for the 1991 romantic film Lamhe and the 1993 romantic psychological thriller film Darr.

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma also accompanied renowned Punjabi folk singer Surinder Kaur, Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan  (Sarod) with Tabala in music concerts.

Awards

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma received several awards and some of them are as under.

  1. Honorary citizenship of the city Baltimore, 1985, USA.
  2.  Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986
  3. Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar, 1990.
  4. Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Award, 1998.
  5. Honorary Doctorate from the University of Jammu, 1991.
  6. Padma Shri in 1991
  7. Padma Vibhushan in 2001
  8. Pandit Chatur Lal Excellence Award – 2015

In 2002, he published his autobiography, Journey with a Hundred Strings: My Life in Music (with Ina Puri). Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma married Manorama and the couple have two sons. One of his sons, Rahul Sharma, is also a renowned santoor player and the father-son duo performed together at many concerts. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma died at the age of 84 on May 10, 2022, from cardiac arrest, in Mumbai. He was on dialysis as he was suffering from kidney-related ailments. He was a rare blend of an artiste who was creative, innovative, and modern yet one who retained the Hindustani classical convention.  

The music instrument Santoor is identified with Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and it will remain so for a long time to come.

References:

  1. https://www.culturalindia.net/indian-music/classical-singers/shivkumar-sharma.html
  2. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/pandit-shivkumar-sharma-5503.php
  3. https://www.darbar.org/article/remembering-pandit-shivkumar-sharma

Subscribe to our channels on Telegram &  YouTube. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

Related Articles

Dr. B.N.V. Parthasarathi
Dr. B.N.V. Parthasarathi
Ex- Senior Banker, Financial and Management Consultant and Visiting faculty at premier B Schools and Universities. Areas of Specialization & Teaching interests - Banking, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Economics, Global Business & Behavioural Sciences. Qualification- M.Com., M.B.A., A.I.I.B.F., PhD. Experience- 25 years of banking and 16 years of teaching, research and consulting. 200 plus national and international publications on various topics like- banking, global trade, economy, public finance, public policy and spirituality. One book in English “In Search of Eternal Truth”, two books in Telugu and 38 short stories 50 articles and 2 novels published in Telugu. Email id: [email protected]

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Articles

Sign up to receive HinduPost content in your inbox
Select list(s):

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Thanks for Visiting Hindupost

Dear valued reader,
HinduPost.in has been your reliable source for news and perspectives vital to the Hindu community. We strive to amplify diverse voices and broaden understanding, but we can't do it alone. Keeping our platform free and high-quality requires resources. As a non-profit, we rely on reader contributions. Please consider donating to HinduPost.in. Any amount you give can make a real difference. It's simple - click on this button:
By supporting us, you invest in a platform dedicated to truth, understanding, and the voices of the Hindu community. Thank you for standing with us.