N. Tiken Singh. Picture by Ritu Parna Dutta

Calcutta, April 30: He is, as creative people are wont to be, ?an incorrigible dreamer?.

But not even in his wildest dreams had N. Tiken Singh imagined that his ability to soar on the wings of his musical imagination would bring him this far.

A composer, choreographer, instrumentalist and ethno-musicologist from Manipur, the 50-something Tiken has been performing with different cultural troupes across India and Europe for several years now. But it is as a composer and musician in the multi-lingual British Council-sponsored experimental stage production of Shakespeare?s A Midsummer Night?s Dream that he has truly made a splash.

Directed by Tim Supple, one of the big names in the European theatre circuit, the play was staged in Calcutta for three nights, beginning Friday, and Token?s contribution was acknowledged as one of the highpoints. The troupe had toured Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai before arriving in Calcutta.

The next stop on their itinerary is Stratford-upon-Avon in the UK, where the Complete Works (of Shakespeare) Festival begins on June 7.

The story of Tiken?s journey from the cauldron of insurgency that is Manipur to the international stage is an inspirational one.

?I am just lucky, you know,? he said, hours before Saturday?s performance in a makeshift amphitheatre on the Tollygunge Club golf course.

Tiken?s luckiest break, perhaps, was being born in a family of artistes. His mother Ibemni Devi is a balladeer with a Sangeet Natak Akademi award on her trophy shelf.

The young Tiken started off by learning dance along with his sisters, but gravitated towards music and theatre as he grew older. He joined the Manipur Rifles in 1975 just because the then commanding officer, a reputed musician, told him that he could learn to play the saxophone if he became a part of the force.

?I quit a year later because my guru was transferred and the new commanding officer insisted that everybody ? from the barber to the cook ? should undergo arms training,? Tiken recalled.

Over the next few years, he learnt how to play the violin and the flute along with a variety of percussion instruments. Theatre icon B.V. Karanth spotted the young Tiken during a visit to Manipur and took him to Bhopal, where he became an integral part of Rangmandal at Bharat Bhavan.

?I owe my success to Karanth. It was during my stint with Rangmandal that I met several internationally acclaimed theatre directors and got a wealth of opportunities,? the musician said.

Tiken?s previous collaborations with Supple were for Jungle Book and Haroun and the Sea of Stories, both of which were staged in the UK. He also performed with Mallika Sarabhai in her ballet, Power of a Woman, in London a few years ago.

In between all these major productions, Tiken found time to complete a three-year Ford Foundation-sponsored study on ethnic music.

?It took visits abroad for me to realise how little the world knows about our music. You will find scant mention of indigenous musical instruments from the Northeast in any encyclopedia. We need to do something about it,? he said.

The project close to Tiken?s heart now is an orchestra of indigenous musical instruments of the region. ?If the Chinese can do it well, why can?t we? I dream of the day when I can take my orchestra to the world.?

So doesn?t Tiken ever relax?

?I do?by listening to western classical music,? he said. ?Tchaikovsy and Stravinsky are my favourites.?