Striking a chord

Japanese musician Takahiro Arai was in college when he first heard the notes of santoor in a concert. The music mesmerised him and he decided to pursue his quest to learn Indian classical music as a hobby. Luckily, he found Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma's disciple in Japan in Setsuo Miyashita who became his first guru. After learning for two years, Takahiro was later introduced to the santoor maestro who has been training him for the last 10 years.

As he graciously greets us at a coffee shop, Takahiro explains his fascination with India in broken English and Hindi. The musician says that it didn't take him much time to learn the language and adopt the Indian culture. Takahiro chose santoor over other western classical music instruments, as he connected with the way it is played. "It's the only classical instrument played by stroking two hands and it allows you to improvise a lot," says the artist.

Hailing from the family of five, Takahiro believes that his parents were sure of the fact that he would never take up business as a career and always supported him and his decision to come to India despite uncertainties. "My parents have been supportive and I didn't have to think about money at that time as they took care of everything. However my parents were worried about my food," quips the musician.

Over the decade, Takahiro has been able to differentiate between different Indian ragas, though he feels that there is still much to learn. With four to five hours devoted to music practice everyday, the performer wants to master his skills on the stage. "I get a lot of ideas while performing and I want to be able to perform them with perfection so I am trying to evolve everyday," he says. When asked if the audience has changed over the decade, he answers saying that the timeline isn't enough for him to understand the audience, "but Guruji says earlier people used to understand ragas but now people don't, though people still listen to music and enjoy as well," he adds.

He also says that music is to feel than to understand and if you like being in that moment then the expectations of the artist are fulfilled.

On whether he wants to go back to Japan and establish himself as Indian classical music performer, the musician feels that won't be possible as the environment to play music also matters a lot. "I have to understand and surround myself with the essence of Indian culture to support my music," he insists adding that music should be made mandatory in a school's curriculum.  "Music should be introduced to kids at the elementary level so that they become aware of their culture, not necessary to learn and understand it," he concludes.