Today’s
Enlightening Entertainment
will be presented
in Hindi and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Hindi, Indonesian,
Italian, Japanese,
Korean, Malay,
Mongolian, Persian,
Portuguese, Russian,
Spanish and Thai.
Welcome, music lovers,
to Enlightening
Entertainment.
Today, we will feature
the internationally
celebrated Indian tabla
maestro, percussionist
and composer,
Pandit Kumar Bose,
from Calcutta,
West Bengal, India.
Belonging to the Banaras
Gharana (school) of
table playing,
Kumar Bose gave his
first public performance
when he was only four.
In his early teens
he was already
performing overseas.
He has performed in
the most prestigious venues
such as
the Royal Albert Hall
in London, United Kingdom,
the Carnegie Hall
in New York, USA,
and the Kremlin
in Moscow, Russia,
to name a few.
He has also collaborated
with music greats
such as Zubin Mehta,
Lord Yehudi Menuhin,
and George Harrison.
To start, let’s enjoy
part of a rendition
that the legendary
tabla maestro gave
at the Darbar festival
in London, UK.
Pandit Kumar Bose
comes from
a well-known musical
family background.
His father was
the tabla maestro
Pandit Biswanath Bose,
and his mother is
the eminent sitarist
Srimati Bharati Bose.
Kumar Ji’s brothers are
also musicians.
His brother Jayanta is
a noted lyrist, composer,
and singer, and
his brother Debojyoti is
a renowned Sarod player
and music director.
Kumar Ji was trained
in tabla playing
from a very tender age
by his father and then
following his father’s
untimely demise,
he continued to train
under the guidance of
one of the most respected
and sought-after
tabla gurus in India,
Pandit Kishan Maharaj.
Pandit Kumar Bose rose
to fame in the 1970s
when he played alongside
the world renowned
Indian sitarist,
Pandit Ravi Shankar.
Today, Kumar Bose,
with his distinctive and
creative tabla-playing style,
continues to entertain
his many fans
through performances in
his Indian sub-continent
homeland and abroad,
both as an accomplished
accompanist
as well as a soloist.
Supreme Master
Television had
the wonderful opportunity
to meet Kumar Bose
during his visit
in the United Kingdom.
Pandit Ji, we would like
to thank you very much
for coming here…
You are most welcome.
It’s my pleasure.
…and having your presence
here with us today.
Tell me, how did you
begin to play tabla
and what is unique
about your personal style
of tabla playing?
Well, the first question,
it is a very natural thing
in my family,
because I belong to
a very musical family.
And my father,
as you should know,
he was a very famous
tabla player, musician
as well, in West Bengal.
Very respected.
Pandit Biswanath Bose,
his name was.
And my mother
is a musician also,
and she plays sitar.
And she is
a very senior disciple of
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan,
a very famous
sarod maestro.
So since my childhood,
whenever I saw my father
playing tabla
and practicing
and things like that,
I can only put in that way
that tabla was the best toy
to me since my birth.
And finally when
I was matured enough
and at the age
of 10, 12 years of age,
then I was very sincere,
very serious, and
I wanted to play tabla
very seriously.
So then my father
started teaching me.
Tabla is
a complex, ancient
percussion instrument.
The instrument consists
of two drums
played simultaneously –
one is played
with the right hand and
the other with the left hand.
The tabla drum
which is played
with the right hand
is a wooden treble drum
and it keeps the beat
or the time with it.
The drum played
with the left hand
is made of metal
and it is the bass drum
which is used to produce
the sound effects.
And could you tell us
what is unique about
your tabla playing?
What I can say (is) that
I always try
to play tabla
for my enjoyment,
not for professional reason,
not for financial purpose.
I do enjoy music.
I do love music.
I play music out
of my love and affection.
In India, there is
a beautiful tradition
that still continues today
not only
in the well known area
of spirituality
but also in all fields
of art and creativity.
This is the guru-shishya
or master-disciple
relationship.
It is through this teacher-
disciple relationship that
traditional artistic skills
and knowledge
are taught and imparted.
Can you tell us
about your guru,
Pandit Kishan Maharaj,
and the special
student-guru relationship
in Indian music?
My guru was
not only a tabla player.
My guru was
a very good poet,
very good philosopher,
very good human being,
very special human being,
very manlike and
very strict-principled man.
And he was
a very good horse rider.
He was a very good painter.
And to some extent,
he was in every aspect
sort of a success.
It was not that
he just used to paint, no,
he was a fantastic painter.
In one word,
I can say that he was
a man of many talents.
And I think because of
those different dimensions
of art and different sort
of experiences, that made
my Guru very special.
And the main point of
my playing, what he liked,
that I never copied him.
I followed him.
I never tried to copy him.
I always followed him.
And that brings my style.
So when you were
with your guru, what
environment was it like?
You learn to see the world
according to his eyes,
how he sees the world.
So that’s what
our main observation is,
should be, and what I did.
So be with him all the time,
till morning till night,
whatever he is doing
you just observe him,
how he is doing,
what he is doing
and why he is doing, and
what he is looking for.
And he is a perfectionist.
Everything has to be perfect.
Even you keep the tabla
perfectly.
So, it comes to a point
that for every aspect,
you look for perfection.
As one of the most
popular and respected
tabla players of our time,
Pandit Kumar Bose’s style
is extremely versatile
and he can accompany
any instrumentalist,
vocalist, or dancer.
When we return,
legendary tabla maestro
Pandit Kumar Bose
will speak more about
the spiritual side of music
and show us how
the tabla can “speak.”
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back
to our program
on the world-renowned
Indian tabla maestro
Pandit Kumar Bose.
Traditionally, as with
most Indian instruments,
the tabla is played
in a sitting
cross-legged position.
To become an
accomplished tabla player
requires diligence
and putting in
long hours of practice
under the guidance
of a music teacher who is
accomplished in the art.
Tabla players must also
be able to recite the syllables
of the beats which
they play on the tablas.
Now, Kumar Ji will give
a demonstration of a few
tabla playing techniques.
First of all what
I would like to show you
as we were talking,
the expression is
so important.
That when I play
a syllable, suppose “ta”
See if I make my face “ta”,
that “ta” means
something else.
And when I say,
something else.
Same syllable.
When you watch the face,
you know exactly
where I’m going.
And consequently you
will be coming with me,
in the subconscious
of your mind,
you are coming.
I’ll take you.
If I do that, you cannot
look at me like that.
You have to
always be sweet,
if I’m sweet to you.
You’ll be shaking your head.
This is very natural.
The beauty of tabla is,
tabla can talk.
Tabla can speak
any language.
If you say, “just go.”
And it also speaks
Sanskrit poetry, like:
If somebody is playing
music for himself,
if somebody is playing
music to get God,
a touch of God, I think
that is more enjoyable
and you can take
your listeners with you
to a journey, to that extent.
In classical Indian music,
there is a strong
significance between
music and the spiritual.
Could you explain your
understanding of this?
Actually, our music
is invented by God,
we believe…
and it’s a God’s gift.
And Thakur Ramakrishna
is a very great saint,
he always said
that you can get God
very easily by music,
through music,
because He loves music.
And if you see,
especially in Hinduism,
every god has
some instrument,
musical instrument.
Lord Krishna has a flute,
Shiva Ji the dancer,
Ganesh Ji plays
mridangam,
Vishnu is a singer,
Devi Sarasvati has
a veena.
So, when you sing, then
God is very, very happy.
So through singing,
through music,
you can have a sort of
a feeling of touch.
Whenever I play,
I do play my tabla,
I do play my music
for spiritual sort of
connection to get,
and I always do that.
I close my eyes, I can see
through my music,
I can see my guru,
I can see God.
Some beautiful things –
it’s very hard to explain,
but even if I’m talking
I’m closing my eyes,
I see very beautiful things
in front of me,
that is spirituality.
Tell me, what is
the meaning of music
in your life?
It’s everything.
It’s my happiness,
it’s my sadness,
it’s my food,
it’s my dream, everything.
I mean
my life goes with music.
Every moment,
every second, I cannot live
without music.
I see music everywhere.
I see music in my romance.
I see music in my sadness.
And that’s the best thing,
best gift I have that God
has given me, I believe.
I’ve been born
for only this –
that’s what I believe –
to play music.
Even sometimes
you forgot where you are,
on the stage or home
or anybody’s (home).
If I start playing here
very deeply,
for hours, definitely
I will forget where I am.
I’m just playing.
And that kind of music,
I think, for listeners,
is very, very important,
very, very powerful,
and very enjoyable.
Even if they do not know.
Because the listeners
have come
just to listen to you,
just to get enjoyment,
entertainment.
But when you take them
with you, then afterwards
they feel “Yes,
I was somewhere else!”
And that’s the beauty of it.
And also in India,
you are using the music
for devotional songs,
this kind of purpose.
Devotional songs.
So, what’s the purpose
of this, could you explain?
Just to, take God’s names
and remember Him
and pray to him,
all kind of poetries
are there.
And in every religion,
everywhere, in India
especially, you find this.
And we call it Bhajan.
Some other religion
calls it Kirtan.
Some other religion
calls it Sufism.
So, that is the basic thing.
And we have
this devotional aspect
of our music.
So is this also connected
in any way
in kind of deepening
the consciousness, when
you are actually singing
or playing this music?
It is, because of the lyrics,
I mean the poetry
is based on God.
So if you are singing
and following the words,
and try to understand,
then slowly, slowly
you’ll go into it.
Our heartfelt thanks
to Pandit Kumar Bose
for sharing with us
the beauty and magic
of the Indian tablas.
May your God-given talent
continue to delight
audiences around the world
and bring us closer
to the Divine.
Thank you,
gracious viewers,
for joining us
on today’s episode of
Enlightening Entertainment.
Coming up next is
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News.
May the heavenly melody
which is reflected in
the music of all cultures
touch and uplift your soul.
For more information
on Pandit Kumar Bose,
please visit
Music CDs
of Pandit Kumar Bose
are available at
or at
Dr. John Hagelin,
world-renowned
vegetarian
quantum physicist has
scientifically proven
that when a sufficiently
large number of people
meditate together,
they can effectively
lower social conflict
as well as crime rates in
the vicinity around them.
It is a level of dynamism,
where the energy density
is a thousand,
million, million times
more powerful than
the nuclear force.
That’s the level where
you can even overwhelm
the destructive potential
of nuclear weapons,
millions of times
more powerful,
to prevent the use
of nuclear weapons.
The scriptures tell us
that with a mustard seed
of faith, you can
move mountains.
To find out more,
watch part two of
“Dr. John Hagelin:
Look Within to
Understand the Universe,”
Monday,
September 27 on
Science and Spirituality.