JHAPTAAL TABLA SOLO – SARASWATI PUJA, KOLKATA 2011

I gave a tabla solo recital in Jhaptaal (10 beat cycle) at the Saraswati Puja celebration at Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri’s home on February 8, 2011. I was accompanied on Santoor by Shri Amit Kumar Das. This video is Part 1 of the 30 minute recital.

“I remember the first Saraswati Puja I played at in Kolkata, back in 2004. It was in the exact same place, and for me it was a very special moment in the very early stages of learning tabla and coming to Kolkata. To return after many years, and be able to give back, this time with a bit more confidence and a bit more humility, felt really empowering. It was a beautiful and warm day in Kolkata, and just that morning, we had a beautiful puja for the Goddess Saraswati in Swapanji’s ancestral home near Lake Market. The intensity of the morning’s blessings were heavy on my mind and heart, and I was feeling a lot of joy for all that I had learned so far in my study of tabla, and all that was yet to come. The recital was one of my favorites during my time in India in 2011.”

Compositions by Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri; Video by aysi Chander