THE CURTAINS PARTED FOR A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE

By HARDEEP CHANA

I’m sitting crossed-legged on a small, intimate stage, our family bina harmonium in my hands.

In front of me, the maestra herself – Kaushiki Chakraborty – gives me a kind and encouraging smile. The curtains open and an audience of a few thousand people roars into applause at Metro Toronto  Convention Centre.

This is the story of the first time I played harmonium on a stage. Ever.

Let’s rewind a bit. My name is Hardeep Chana and I’m a musician based in the Toronto area. As far back as I can remember, my family has always been blasting music in our house. We would travel hours or days to attend concerts. And, truth be told, I loved it!

We, my brothers and I, grew up in a small suburban town outside of New York City and spent our free time learning traditional Sikh hymns that we sang in Gurudwaras. Our focus was reviving kirtan with instruments that had become scarce. I played an instrument called taus while my younger brother accompanied on percussion instruments called jori and tabla.

We were fortunate to have travelled to cities around the country performing with other younger musicians of our generation. Music opened the world of travel and exploration to us. We soaked it all in.

It wasn’t until I moved to Toronto, around the age of 19, that I discovered a musical community that fostered my creativity and allowed us to dive into more “classical” elements of our music.

A local teacher, Mohan Singh Dahaley – affectionately called “Mohan Uncle” – opened his door to kids every weekend to keep us out of trouble. We’d sit for hours practising together and he would reward us with late-night burritos or pizza. His home was a safe place for us.

Mohan Uncle is key to my story. He and his family would often host the best artistes visiting Toronto. The list includes, but is not limited to, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan and many other legends. Fortunately for us, we had a lot of great relationships blossom because of him and the proximity to renowned artistes we all grew up listening to on cassette tapes and CDs.

One of these weekend nights, I met a visiting tabla player, Subhajyoti Guha, or Subho Ji. We instantly connected and became friends. Beyond his immense talent, he is very charismatic and has the unique ability to connect with anyone. We began to learn more about each other and I had the pleasure of accompanying him a few times for some local solo concerts.

A few years later, in 2013, he arrived in the summer ahead of a massive festival being held in Metro Toronto Convention Centre. There were thousands of people coming from around the world, to attend. Headlining an evening was one of the leading vocalists of our generation, Kaushiki Chakraborty.

I remember getting a call from Subho Ji asking me if I had a harmonium. Of course, he knew I did – I had accompanied a few of his students just the weekend before in a student concert. “Hardeep, do you want to accompany Kaushiki Ji?”

Kaushiki Ji is one of those individuals you listen to and instantly get transported to another dimension. I don’t mean that as a cliché, that lady has some serious talent. Her natural talent combined with years of hard work has honed her craft to a level of mastery very few reach in their lifetime. Of course, I was excited!

Subho Ji said that her harmonium accompanist’s visa did not arrive in time for the festival and that they were looking for someone to fill the void.  I jumped at the opportunity and said yes. It took exactly three seconds after that for me to realize what I had just gotten myself into.

A day before the concert, I had the chance to meet the team for the first time. We all connected. We spent some time chatting about the concert and she briefed us on the compositions she was planning on singing. I remember we all grabbed some dinner together and enjoyed the city that evening. This was what I remember the most about those few days. We walked around soaking in Toronto. Lots of jokes and laughs were had. Good food was an obvious must. It was an unforgettable evening.

The next day, I remember getting a message saying that the soundcheck was cancelled and the mix would be done on the fly. Looking back, it was super scary, but, we all took it in our stride.

I arrived and headed down three escalators to the main floor where we would be performing. It was here when it dawned on me that I was about to perform in front of thousands of people in a convention centre that hosted the G20 summit, international car shows and only the largest events.

I found my way backstage and met up with everyone. We took a moment to tune our instruments. Before I knew it, I was sitting cross-legged on the intimate stage. The curtains were drawn and thousands of people gave us a thunderous warm welcome with applause. We all locked eyes with each other and everyone else just faded away. The raga, Jog, began and the rest is history.

I’m extremely grateful for that evening and the musical family that supported me. It changed my life in ways I still can’t comprehend. Performing in front of all those people with the support and generosity of seasoned artistes like Kaushiki Ji and Subho Ji brought me a sense of confidence with harmonium. It became clear that I wanted to pursue this instrument.

I travelled to New York City shortly after where I would meet my future gurus, Pandit Yogesh Samsi and Shri Tanmay Deochake. Since then, I’ve had the awesome opportunity to tour with those same legendary artistes I grew up listening to including Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Pandit Yogesh Samsi and, I would accompany again, Kaushiki Ji.

Thanks to local organizations, I was able to perform with other legends like Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, Aditi Kaikini-Upadhya, Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari,   Kiran Morarji, Karan Minhas, Ustad Tari Khan and others.

It was life-changing. Reflecting on it, I’d give the same advice to anyone. When you’re presented with an opportunity, seize it and cherish it. Who knows, you might find yourself sitting with legends you look up to in front of thousands of people.

• Courtesy Raag-Mala Toronto (www.raagmala.ca).