Colour Coded Harmony

She runs a music school — the Ameer Khusrau Centre for Excellence in Delhi — and was a part of the fusion band called Parinday. “I was born to play the violin,” says Deotale,for whom violin stands for everything “delicate,emotional,technically sound and complete”. Although she was initiated into it by her mother as a child,it took a couple of years before Deotale realised that this was her calling. “Had my mother not encouraged my gift,or taken me from Indore to Delhi to learn music under Ustad Amjad Ali Khan,I would have never reached this far,” says Deotale,crediting her father too,a celebrated poet,for filling the house with prose and poetry.

When it comes to music,she refuses to slot herself in a gharana. “I trained under various gurus,and drew lessons from all of them,” says Deotale. From Shri Ashutosh Maharaj Ji,Pandit Ram Narayan,Pandit Mukesh Sharma to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Ustad Shaid Parvez,Deotale learnt from the best in the world of music.

In order to understand the nuances of the instrument,she had to go to sarangi maestro,Pandit Ram Narayan. “His simplicity,humility and love and respect for his saaz is what I carry with me,” says Deotale,who wants to use her music to promote peace,compassion,love and a green environment. “Music has the power to move and to trigger the right emotions,” she reasons.

The first Indian musician to receive the prestigious Ustad Salamat Ali and Nazakat Ali Khan award at Lahore,Pakistan,Deotale is the first Indian classical female musician to be recorded for a programme by the Pakistan Television. From France,Germany to Spain and Reunion Island,Deotale has globetrotted and collaborated with various musicians. “The Government alone can’t promote the arts or music,senior artistes and musicians need to chip in too,” she says. To reach out to the youth,Deotale along with her band is releasing a seven set CD album,based on seven ragas and seven colours of the rainbow. “We will be releasing the CDs in seven cities,like the colour pink in Jaipur,” she says with a smile. Here’s hoping for colour green in Chandigarh.