Classical musician S Balachander modified the popular Carnatic Saraswati Veena to create the Chandra Veena. The five-foot long instrument weighing 62 kg, aids the easy performance of Hindustani Dhrupad, the oldest genre. It is an effort to bridge the north-south musical divide.
Armed with a masters in physics and diploma in computer science, the corporate professional’s journey in search of the right craftsmen took him to Mysore, Bengaluru, Tiruchi and Thanjavur. Balachander’s search ended with Mohanlal Sharma in West Bengal, who accepted the challenge and crafted the veena in teak wood. Balachander used principles of sound dynamics, to design the Chandra Veena which creates tones resembling the north Indian Rudra Veena.
Balachander was trained in Carnatic Saraswati veena initially at Madurai in Tamil Nadu where he was brought up. After his schooling he went to Mumbai for his graduation and post-graduation in physics. “I was looking for a Saraswati veena teacher but found it difficult to find one in Mumbai in the mid-1980s I suddenly took fancy for the sarod. I was trained under Pandit Pradeep Barot and that marked my beginning with Hindustani lessons,” says Balachander.
Exposure to more and more of Hindustani music had him gradually appreciate the Dhrupad form especially being inspired by Zia Mohiuddin Dagar’s presentations. He switched gears and learnt the finer aspects of the form in vocal from the Dagar Bani under Zia Fariduddin Dagar in the early 1990s.
“The more I went into the nucleus of the form, the more I was absorbed into its affluence and richness. In 2000 my vocal guru suggested I try Dhrupad on the Saraswati veena as the veena, was an ideal instrument for the genre,” recalls Balachander.
As Balachander tried to play Dhrupad on the Saraswati veena, he realised the instrument was not ideal for the genre. “In 2002 I quit my corporate job and undertook extensive research into the technicalities embedded in the instrumentation. I wanted to remodel the Saraswati Veena to play Dhrupad on it perfectly,” said Balachander.
Having met Mohanlal Sharma in Kolkata, the first prototype of the Saraswati veena was created after many trials in 2007. “Structurally it looks the same, but the Chandra Veena has two bigger resonators on the side, with the bridge holding thicker strings and wide, movable frets. The sheer character of the alaap changes,” explains Balachander.
On selecting teak, Balachander says, “Teak is a harder wood with richer harmonics. Soft wood tends to bend with thick strings, while the wood is resistant to termites too.”
Does Balachander hope to have students wanting to learn Dhrupad on the Chandra Veena? “I plan to have demonstrations far and wide to propagate the new version of the traditional Veena. The instrument costs about ₹60,000.”
“During the course of my research between 2004 -06, I wrote to the Ministry of Culture about the Chandra veena and was awarded a two-year Junior Research Fellowship for the project, “North meets south: Dhrupad on Saraswati Veena.”
S Balachander will be performing on Chandra Veena on March 8, at Laughing Waters Villa, Whitefield; and at Hejje Foundation, Jayanagar First Block on March 10