The happy news of winning a Grammy has not inflated Boston based tabla maestro Sandeep Das’s ego in any manner. He has been a member of the acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble team for the past 18 years and has been nominated twice previously for the Grammy award. With violinist Johnny Gandelsman in the lead role this year, the Silk Road ensemble’s “Sing Me Home” album scored a win over four other albums featuring sitarist Anoushka Shankar, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, The Celtic women and Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil respectively, in the World Music category.

Groomed by the renowned Banaras gharana tabla legend, the late Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Das has impressive credentials. In a career spanning nearly three decades, he has played with top Hindustani classical musicians from India such as Bharat Ratna, the late Pandit Ravi Shankar, renowned flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Santoor player Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Sarod player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, violinist L. Subramaniam, Mohan Veena exponent Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, vocalist Smt. Shubha Mudgal among others. In the US, he has played with the prestigious New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony orchestras. A faculty member in the music department at the Ivy League Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, Das has conducted arts in education programs at the Harvard University, Julliard College, Berkley College of Music, Rhode Island School of Design and Stanford Universities. As a cultural and educational entrepreneur, he founded the non-profit organization HUM (Harmony, Universality through Music) in India, as a spin-off from the Silk Road Ensemble with the purpose of promoting global understanding through musical performance and education. Das, who lives with his family in Newton, MA recently spoke to Shuchita Rao about his journey in music thus far.

Congratulations! You were nominated twice earlier for the Grammy award and you won it this year. How does it feel to win this honorable award?

This is a win for the Silk Road Ensemble – it is not my personal Grammy award. The ensemble is happy with the award and is enjoying a feeling of success. We continue on our path of composing new pieces of music, having a good time and spreading love around.

As a young child, did you ever dream of winning awards in the field of music?

Honestly, as a child, I never wanted, desired or dreamt of winning awards. Even now, as an adult, I do not work to get awards. A sportsman such as a tennis player may dream of winning the Wimbledon, a golfer may dream of winning a US Masters championship but no musician, poet or artist ever thinks in terms of winning awards.

Do you come from a musical family?

No. I cannot claim to have come from a family with seven generations of tabla players in it. My father, the late Shri. Kashinath Das was part of a musical organization called IPTA (Indian People Theatre Association) which had the famous playback musician, the late Shri Manna Dey as the lead singer. My family belongs to Bengal. Whether they have enough to eat or not, Bengalis love the arts. My father was an ardent admirer of the tabla player, Pandit Kishan Maharaj of Banaras. While he did not have the financial resources to pursue music as a full-time career, he probably realized his own dreams of a career in music through me.

How did you develop an interest in playing the tabla? At what age did you start receiving formal lessons in playing the instrument?

The story goes like this. I was seven years old. One day my father received a complaint from my school. “Your son keeps tapping incessantly on the desk. When he stops tapping with his fingers, he taps with his feet. Please have a doctor assess his condition.” I became quite scared and thought to myself that when I would reach home,  a doctor would be waiting to give me an injection. When I did get home, instead of scolding me and taking me to a doctor, my father took me to the living room to show me my first pair of tablas. “What is that?” I asked my father. “That is a tabla and your lessons start today!” replied my father. We lived in Patna and my first teacher was a local tabla artist, Shri Shiv Kumar Singh ji. In one year, my father realized that I had the potential to develop as a fine tabla player. He took me to Banaras, to the famed Pandit Kishan Maharaj ji’s home. Approaching Guruji was difficult but once he listened to me play the tabla, he said “Tabla iske khoon mein hai”( Tabla playing is in his blood!). He agreed to teach me.

Did your family then move to Banaras so that you could receive lessons from Pandit Kishan Maharaj?

Initially, as I was only 8 years old, I learned only on the weekends from Panditji. My father would take me on the train to Banaras on Fridays and bring me back to Patna on Sundays. The train journey took anywhere from four to twenty hours (Unruly travelers liked to pull the chain to make the train halt at unscheduled stops). While other kids celebrated vacations, I spent my summer holidays, Durga Puja, Diwali, Christmas and other holidays at Guruji’s house. When I was 11 years old, I moved into Pandit Kishan Maharaj’s house as a full-time disciple and for the next 12 years, lived and learned from him in the traditional Guru-Shishya tradition.

How was that experience of learning from your Guru by living with him at his house? Can you describe your Guru’s teaching style?

My Guru, Pandit Kishan Maharaj was known for his temper and merciless, old school style of teaching. He expected 8-10 hours of practice every day. I remember this incident where my index finger was hurt and I had put a Band-Aid on it to stop the bleeding. When Guruji returned from a dinner that night, he asked why I was not practicing. I showed him my finger, fully expecting that he would feel sympathy for me. He looked at the finger for a few minutes and then at the tabla. “I don’t see so big blood that you cannot play. Start practicing now!” he commanded. Looking back, I am thankful that he did not teach me tabla as something external to me. He taught me to internalize it, to make it a part of my life. Many of our lessons were not even with the tabla anywhere in the vicinity. I learned when we were riding horses, seeing the swing and watching the speed of the fan. I received valuable life lessons from him.

At what age did you play your first public concert? Was it in the presence of your Guru?

My debut concert was with Pandit Ravi Shankar when I was 16 years old. One day, in the car, half way to the performance venue, approximately an hour before the performance, Guruji told me that I would be on the stage playing my debut concert. I hoped that he would give me some important tips such as “Do this or don’t do this.” Instead, he said “If I see fear in your eyes on stage, my shoe will come flying at you!” When I went on stage, this is how he introduced me to the audience. He said “I am introducing my student Sandeep Das for the first time in front of all of you. Just imagine the condition of someone who has bought an air gun thinking he will go into the bushes and shoot a few squirrels or birds. All of a sudden he comes across two lions! That is the condition of this young child right now, but I am sure that if you bless him today, one day he will make you all proud!”  My Guruji trained me to be prepared at all times. For that reason, today, I can play anywhere at a moment’s notice.

With your tabla lessons and extensive riyaaz, did your regular education take a back seat?

I completed my graduation in English Literature from Banaras Hindu University and was awarded a gold medal. I also secured admission to a prestigious Business Management program for post-graduate studies. I was in two minds about pursuing higher studies and approached my father for guidance. “Will you enjoy being a CEO of a company or a being a tabla player?” my father asked me. “Pursue what gives you true happiness” he said. My father also supported two of my three older brothers in sports related careers – my oldest brother played football for the state and second brother was a cricketer. My third brother, the “achha bachcha of the family” (the good boy!) became an engineer! My father had foresight and vision. He felt that if I child had potential in a non-mainstream discipline such as music, I should receive education in the IIT/MIT of music.

What are some of the main features of the Banaras gharana? What is the meaning of the term “Banaras Baaj”?

The Banaras gharana is the youngest of the five main tabla gharanas (schools of music). It was started by Pandit Ram Sahai ji who introduced a signature sound and several new compositions in the gharana’s repertoire. This was after Ram Sahai ji returned to Banaras after several years of tabla training in Lucknow.  Tabla players from the Banaras gharana distinguish themselves in the manner they approach sound and the techniques they use in creating those sounds. The strokes are resonant and the sound like those that come from the pakhawaj instrument. The Banaras baaj is a “khula haath ka baaj” and our fingers are more erect when we play the tabla. Other styles of playing the tabla have slightly more slanted fingers when they play the tabla.

When did you join the Silk Road Ensemble? How many members comprise the ensemble?

The world famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma created the ensemble in 1998 to explore how the arts can advance global understanding. I joined the ensemble, some 18 years ago. There are core members in the ensemble but the total number of players in the ensemble fluctuates from time to time. There have been performers and composers from more than 20 countries who have participated in the ensemble’s productions.  While Yo-Yo Ma is the founder and artistic director, the lead artist can be new member at different times.

In what ways have you contributed to the Silk Road Ensemble?

I brought in the sounds of the traditional Indian tabla to the ensemble. I do play other percussion instruments but my primary instrument is the tabla. I have composed several pieces and can give you three examples. My first piece for the ensemble titled “Tarang” had four string instruments and four percussion instruments. It became the theme for a documentary produced in U.K featuring the conquest of Mount Everest by six blind climbers. Another creation of mine,  Mohini,  inspired by a statue at the National Museum in Delhi, became the theme music for a 10-episode documentary on the Silk Road, produced by Japanese TV channel NHK. A composition Shristi,  themed on Lord Shiva was created during a residency with the Rhode Island School of Design.

What kind of musical challenges have you faced while collaborating with Western musicians?

Western rhythms are different than the cyclical Indian rhythms which work around a focal point such as the “sum”. They could be more linear (recites Dhi Na Dhi Dhi Na, Ti Na Dhi Dhi Na, Dhage nati naka dhina, dha tete, tha tete..). My inability to read Western notation has also been a challenge when I have played with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic or Boston Symphony. I have memorized all the parts I have had to play with the orchestras.

Could you describe any of your initiatives in terms of giving back to our community/society.

Sometime back, I started thinking in terms of how I can give back to the community. I started a not-for-profit organization called “Hum” (Harmony, Universality through Music) which has world class artists associated with it. Currently, the organization is supporting six musically gifted, visually impaired children through a scholarship.  There was a heartwarming incident that your readers may be interested in knowing about. A few years back, I had approached a school in India wanting to know if they had any musically gifted children. The principal arranged for me to listen to a blind child who played the dholak instrument. The young boy, Abhishek played very well. I casually inquired if the school had a pair of tabla and it so turned out that the school did have a pair lying around, which they brought to me. I asked the boy “Do you want me to play the tabla?” He said “Haan Bajaayiye” (Yes, please play!). The moment he heard me a play a little he said “Arey, aap tho achchaa bajaate hain!” (You seem to play well!). I immediately hugged the child and said “Ye bachcha mera hai!” (This child is mine!). Some of these children may be impaired physically but their sensibilities may be fine in some other ways. I want to support arts education for differently abled children and also provide health insurance for aging artists. With that purpose in mind, I started HUM and we have given a few very successful fund raising concerts in India.

Are you performing in the Boston area in the near future?

On Thursday, March 23, Sanders theatre will be presenting the Silk Road Ensemble which will include one of my creations “King Ashoka”. One can contact the Harvard University  Box Office (617)-496-2222 for more information or check the Sanders theatre website. I will also be playing at the LearnQuest music conference on Saturday, April 15 along with Sohail Khan on the Saarangi and Rajib Karmakar on the Sitar. For tickets, visit http://www.learnquest.org.

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