The refreshing rhythm of tabla

Meher Hossain on tabla

A staff artiste of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Meher began to play the tabla in his boyhood. In 1978 he took training from Milon Bhattacharjee and later went to Kolkata for further training. Meher said, "In Kolkata, I took training on Rampura Gharana, a style of classical tabla playing, from Ustad Shawkat Ali Khan, whom I consider as my mentor. Till 1995 I continued to train in various techniques in tabla."

Meher prefers performing instrumental to performing with the singers. In his words, "I enjoy improvising with sitar, santoor and other classical instruments. Most of the time I compose the instrumentals in which I perform. In course of doing that I fuse Rampura style with different beats of Kathak dance compositions such as tehai, toppa and others

"Three/four frequently used classical beats such as trital, kaharba and others are incorporated in songs. Since many singers in our country do not have adequate training in classical music, it is difficult for them to improvise with uncommon beats of tabla. I enjoy playing tabla only with the singers who have sound knowledge on classical music."

What's the response from the audience? Meher replied, "I enjoy playing uncommon beats such as 'seven beat', '14 beat', 'seven and quarter beat', 'four and half beat' during my solo performances. And I've noticed most of the viewers of the classical instrument concerts in Bangladesh are not well versed in the medium. As a result they have little understanding about the quality of the compositions."

Nowadays, Meher teaches tabla. On the response of the younger generation, Meher said, " The scenario for classical instrumental music is very poor. Tabla players in Bangladesh do not get due respect, as classical instrumental concerts hardly take places.

As a result there is not much scope for taking tabla playing as profession. Moreover, the learning process is very laborious and much effort goes into mastering the rhythmic instrument. That's why, in many cases, students frequently drop out. Only a handful of artistes who continue to learn, perform with singers."

Despite such obstacles, Meher has a niche in the musical arena of Bangladesh. He has also played the tabla in USA, Canada, Germany, France, England, Russia, Holland, Myanmar and other countries with government and non-government teams.