Sarod maestro Tarun Kalita performs at Aarohan on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Oct. 27: It took just a few minutes of a soulful recital by renowned sarod player Tarun Chandra Kalita to attract the children of Aarohan towards the instrument.

Kalita, while conducting a demonstration at the auditorium of Aarohan — an institute for young minds to nourish and flourish — at Beltola this afternoon, introduced to the children one of the most fascinating classical instruments of the country.

“This is first of its kind programme. As far as imparting lessons in music is concerned, we only teach students. And most of the time we impose lessons on their young minds. What we did today is a bit different, an interaction where the queries and suggestions of young minds were taken into account,” said Kalita, who has learnt the art of playing the sarod from internationally renowned musician Pandit Buddhadeb Dasgupta from Calcutta.

“I must say the entire programme was very fruitful and I also benefited by the interaction,” added Kalita.

The instrument, mostly associated with maestros Ali Akbar Khan and Amjad Ali Khan, has its origin in Afghanistan’s popular instrument rabab, an instrument used in the battlefield to announce the beginning and end of war. It was some 400 years ago that rabab was brought to India by three musicians from Afghanistan to the Mughal court, where art and culture weregiven royal patronage. The sarod can be aptly described as a modification of the rabab to suit Indian sensibilities. Kalita shared these details with the children.

“I was not aware that the sarod has such a great tradition. From describing the basics of the instrument to the art of playing it, Kalita Sir has given us in-depth knowledge about the instrument,” said Mohan Das, a child present at the interaction.

Kalita is an artiste of great repute who has participated at the prestigious Akash Bani Sangeet Samilan recently organised by All India Radio. Otherwise a banker with State Bank of India here, Kalita pursues sarod playing as a passion. He can also play several other instruments, including the violin and flute and is an accomplished singer and actor. He has scored the background music for several Assamese films, including national award-winning film Raag Birag by Bidyut Chakraborty.

After the success of his first initiative, the artiste wants to continue his endeavour to nurture young talents in the city. “The city has many talented children, who only need to be shown the proper direction,” said Kalita.

Aarohan is a dream project of famous writer and filmmaker Bhabendra Nath Saikia, where children of all class can congregate to learn various arts. Currently, it has a library, conference room, auditorium, computer laboratory and a room for conducting music and dance classes, among other things.