In talk with Sathya Saran, author of 'Breath of Gold: Hariprasad Chaurasia'

Who would imagine a classical flute player as a wrestler in his early life Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasiarsquos life mdash as captured in Breath of Gold Penguin India mdash is no less than a film Author Sathya Saran speaks about documenting his lifeWas the recent chat with the flautist at NCPA your first meeting with him since the pandemicI met him a couple of times during the pandemic too We met talked and laughed at a function previously I had also visited him to personally hand over copies of the book Pandemic or not I keep in touch with him and his familyA signed picture from George Harrison right to Pandit Chaurasia left and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma PICS COURTESYPENGUIN INDIAAfter a long break from tactile exchanges how did this evening feelIt was wonderful All of us had a great time together The thing about Hariji Hariprasad Chaurasia is that therersquos not one dull moment around him He made the audience laugh and regaled them with humorous incidents from his life Of course we discussed the book too He tends to speak in a selfdeprecating manner and dishes out humour with a straight face I remember him recounting a happening at an immigration office on one of his international tours the officers would ask tabla players to take out and show their instruments When Hariji was asked to do the same he told them ldquoDekh lijiye idhar bhi chhed hai aur udhar bhi chhed hai You can see for yourself there are only holes on either siderdquo How has the response to Chaurasiarsquos biography beenQuite strangely itrsquos been delightful I received a message from fashion designer Krishna Mehta some time ago and it fills my heart She attended the event and later sent me a message saying that she needed to work on her collection but couldnrsquot put the title down Apparently she kept telling herself ldquoJust one more pagerdquo That is the kind of response the book has been fetching so farFrom left Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Sathya SaranTell us about your longstanding association with the classical flautistEven before taking up the book I have worked with him in an unofficial capacity Back then his wife Anuradha Roy was making a television series on musicians and I had written two scripts for her I travelled with them to Oslo once Zakir bhai percussionist Ustad Zakir Hussain was also there So although I knew him and we had a cordial friendship I was continually in awe of this renowned figure I had written the back cover piece for The Valley Recalls mdash a sequel to Call of The Valley released in 1967 When the book began to take shape he was very happy to know that I was writing it How do you look back at your journey with writing and researching the bookThe book has not been written in a conventional format The format is pretty unusual It proceeds with striking interludes and anecdotes that offer thoughtful breaks in knowing the artiste and stand out as singular pieces I did not pen his biography with a view to condense a life as long as 82 years in 200 pages Compiling instances from a life as eventful and pronounced as his is a tough job I wrote this book in a certain way to make it accessible for young individuals This is a legacy that we must pass on to the next generation His life shouldnrsquot fade out withthe people who have heard him Thankfully Breath of Gold has been able to strike that chord of relevance across age groupsDo you observe Chaurasia evolve over the yearsI notice his humility and grit even at 84 On some days he sparkles in front of an audience on other days you can see him make an effort despite poor health That worries me After the talk at NCPA he personally signed so many copies At his age it is physically tiring