Delegates at the release function. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Oct. 31: The bayan, which acts as the base drum, is always kept at a lower pitch than tabla. The Benaras gharana famous for its thumris has many facets adopted from the Luncknow gharana.

These and many such untold facts of Indian classical instruments come alive in the book Tabla and the World of Indian Rhythms, released by tabla maestro Pandit Kumar Bose at Tata Auditorium, XLRI, this evening.

Written by metallurgist Sudhis Chandra Banerjee, a former vice-president of Usha Martin and ex-divisional manager of Tata Steel, the book contributes to the expansion of Indian culture in bringing the concept of Indian rhythms within the fold of world music.

Published by Gurgaon-based Shubhi publications, this hardcover is perhaps the first book on tabla written in English by any Indian author. A complete comprehensive guide for any tabla player and students, the book deals with the details of both the theoretical and practical side of tabla learning.

A renowned publishing house in its own right, the publishers have so far worked with maestros like Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Shobhna Narayan.

“It took almost 10 years of thorough research to pen this book which is actually the result of a huge study and interactions with several well-known tabla exponents in the country,” said Banerjee who, apart from being a hardcore technocrat, is also the disciple of famous Pandit Biswanath Bose of Benaras gharana and an avid tabla player himself.