All inside the Family

As a child, whilst Pandit Suryakant Gaikwad and his spouse Sangeeta Gaikwad first began teaching track to their son Ramakant and daughter Gayatri at the age of 4, they knew that the two could cause them to proud. “We began with raag Yaman and practiced it for four-five years. Initially, our riyaaz revolved round omkar sadhna, alankar and know-how the intricacies of the song. It helped us to get a grip on our notes, which may be very critical in Indian classical music.” says 29-yr-vintage Gayatri. Their day by day riyaaz starts offevolved with a -hour session in the morning, followed with the aid of afternoon and evening sessions.
Every disciple follows a guru mantra. The key lesson Ramakant and Gayatri learned from their father, who became their instructor, was “listening is half of the learning”. Ramakant says, “This is something that has caught with us. Right from childhood, we grew up listening to mythical artistes inclusive of Bade Ghulam Ali, Bhimsen Joshi, and Mehdi Hassan. We listened to the bikes and alaps and later covered them in our exercise.”
The duo started out performing at a completely young age and Ramakant located his moment of glory in 2003, whilst he performed with
Pt Jasraj in New York. “I received an all India competition that allowed me to perform in New York. I was honored to do the month-long excursion with Pt Jasraj. I learned a lot from him. This helped me grow as an artist.”
The gharana system in Indian classical song started out in the 1860s — families bonded over music and comply with a fashion of song. Suryakant became trained within the Patiala Gharana by Pt Marutirao Dandekar and has taught the same to each of his kids. Inspired by way of Ustad Amir Khan, Ramakant additionally learned the nuances of the Kirana Gharana. “There turned into one particular composition by way of Ustad Amir Khan sahab that my father made me pay attention to. That made me curious approximately this unique fashion, so I determined to officially teach below Pt Satish Kaushik,” says Ramakant, who done in Pune on April 26.
Gayatri is also fond of semi-classical tune and is attracted to ghazals and thumris. “My father as soon as told me that Shobha Guruji and I actually have a comparable voice and her compositions will suit my voice. Every disciple listens to their guru, so I started out making a song her ghazals. Though she had an equal command over pure classical fashion, it becomes a light classical song that got her recognition. She is my idea.” says Gayatri. One of her most memorable performances is “Khazana” organized by way of Pankaj Udhas in Pune closing yr. She did alongside artistes including Anup Jalota, Kaushik Chakraborty, Richa Sharma, and Udhas. She has additionally finished with Shubha Mudgal in Goa. “Performing with such legends is continually overwhelming but gratifying. Events like these open up a number of possibilities for artists like me,”
says Gayatri.