mid-day Lunchbox: Cymbals of authority

There is a point when while having lunch at By the Mekong at St Regis Trilok Gurtu picks up his unused chopsticks he then holds the one in his left hand like youd hold a pen and tells Sivamani whos sitting beside him You know this is how Id hold my drumsticks in the beginning My technique wasnt correct and the Catholic guys near my home in Mumbai would say What men What are you doing Thats the wrong way There was no one to guide us you seeThe confession shows how comfortable Gurtu mdash widely regarded as one of the most innovative percussionists in the world mdash is in his own skin The Hamburg resident is in India for a series of concerts and workshops And for a man who has won a host of international awards including a Grammy that he forgot to receive he comes across as someone who has no airs whatsoeverSivamani on his part manifests his own humility by referring to Gurtu as his Guruji multiple times having first met him in 1982 That appellation comes from someone who is arguably the most high profile percussionist in the country Sivamani first shot into the limelight as AR Rahmans go to drummer before carving a niche for himself as a solo performer who plays a variety of instruments He flies off to Chennai for a concert immediately after this edition of Lunchbox But not before he and Gurtu have a hearttoheart about their journey into the world of music Edited excerptsShunashir to Sivamani What were your early days in Chennai likeSivamani My journey started with live music and the first day that I played jazz with Frank Dubier an AngloIndian trumpeter in Chennai there were these local boys who started throwing bottles at me But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I decided to leave the city At first I wanted to move to New York A friend of mine had even prepared all the documents in Mumbai And I later started thinking Why do I have to go to America leaving my family and friends behind Why dont I just move to Mumbai Plus my band mdash with Louiz Banks Shankar Mahadevan and all these guys mdash was here So I shifted my equipment and realised that I really like Mumbai once I started living here in 1997Trilok You know my own experience with America was not very pleasant Life over there and the way people talk is really artificial For instance I didnt understand what they meant by fodoka I thought Fodoka Yeh kya hai yaar And then I realised ke gaadi mein chaar darwaze hai mdash four door car Also theyd say things like Im coming to check you out and I couldnrsquot digest all of that Then I once ordered a pizza and since I had no money I asked for a small oneBut when it came it turned out to be this big stretches his hands out to indicate a huge size I asked This is small And the guy said puts on a gruff voice Yes sir this is the small one So I didnt like the food either and eventually decided to move to Europe which was my own blessing in disguise For thats where I cultivated my music starting to add Indian elements like the tabla to my soundThe food mdash including steamed Peruvian sea bass Vietnamese style pomfret veg tom tum soup and burnt garlic fried rice mdash arrivesTrilok You know its so irritating when people in the West think that all Indian food is teekha Im like Aisa nahi hai yaar The Italians think that their food is regional And I tell them My friend no After how many kilometres does your food start changing 50 Well ours changes every 10 km enter a different lane and yoursquoll find a different cuisinersquo But one thing I am really big on in the West is wine I even have a cellar in my house And not many people here know that I have held wine tasting sessions with Gaggan Anand who I know really well In fact I am more of a foodie than someone whorsquos looking for concertsShunashir to Sivamani And what about youSivamani I enjoy cooking too Whenever I was on tour I would call my mum when I would get bored of eating pizzas and burgers She would give me the stepbystep recipes for sambhar rasam and fish curry the powders for which I would pick up whenever I went to Chennai But I am starting to learn new things now For example there is this chicken dish I cook that has no masala in itShunashir How do you make itSivamani Well its my secret recipe so I cant tell you that laughsQuick TakesIf you had to cook dinner at home tonight what would you make Sivamani I think Irsquod make a khichdiTrilok Irsquod probably do a pastaOne instrument that you would like to learnSivamani Id love to play the mridangamTrilok Vocals I got this complex from my mother who would never say Kharab gaa raha hai Shed just laughIf you had to take each other out for lunch in Mumbai where would you go Trilok pointing at Sivamani His house both laughSivamani There are so many places really But maybe Irsquod take him to Trishna