By Esha Chaudhuri
The story of Shillong-bred Akash Dhar (29), is one of a simpleton raised in the alleys of Jail Road, and who by the most humblest means of his parents went on to learn the piano. Honing his skills at the musical instrument, Dhar, performed at his first concert show held at the Calcutta School of Music (CSM) where he describes that he played a composition by Ludovico Einaudi, one of his favourite composers as most of his compositions are dedicated to nature. In his words, “It was a success as he received a lot of compliments from the crowd after the show, it gave me the courage to go deep in this study to explore beautiful sounds.”
On World Piano Day, which is held on the 88th day of the year (29 March in normal years and 28 March in leap years) in celebration of and reference to the 88 keys on a standard piano, Dhar’s story seemed like a compelling one for this edition’s Sunday read.
Born in a Bengali family, Dhar’s initiation to music was through Rabindra Sangeet, which did not tune well with his music sensibilities and had an experimental hit and miss there. “I got admitted to a harmonium tutorial class to learn singing but as I was young and shy, I faced difficulties in singing in front of everyone” he recalls.
“Since this didn’t work out well, my parents then admitted me to learning the tabla. It went well for a few years as I practiced hard and appeared for exams but I gave it a pause after I went to boarding school and had to leave Shillong for further studies” he adds.
After this, Dhar began learning the piano graduating from the Calcutta School of Music in 2013. He says, “I was really enthusiastic about music and wanted to play tracks from my favourite bands like Greenday, Simple Plan, mostly punk rock which I admired a lot at that time.”
After spending a few years learning script music, Dhar learned about the works of famous composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Peter Schubert and their history. “I fell in love with their music – deep, dark yet beautiful. I used to imagine myself playing those pieces which left me with deep curiosity to venture into their script. As I lived alone in Kolkata at the time, I would wake up early in the morning and play these classics on my laptop. Watching their technique, swift buttery movements of their hands made me wonder how long they exercise their fingers and wrists!” says Dhar.
Dhar dedicated most of my time in piano exercises, scales and arpeggio to get his hands acquainted with such classics.
During his practice, Dhar’s differently-abled sister would assist him in capturing shots and shooting videos of him. He considers his sister his biggest cheerleader and support. He says, “She always admired me while playing and studying music, and someday I wish that she can hear me play.”
Dhar acknowledges that family and friends play a huge role during the ‘construction
Dhar’s teacher is a well-known Tollywood Music Director of many international award winning films like Macher Jhol , (2017), Shobdo Kolpo Droom ( 2018).
Dhar lauds World Piano Day as he believes that this day is a celebration of everything a piano represents, its history, its expressive power, compositions by great composers, who have gifted valuable insights to the field of music.
On asking Dhar how learning the piano has transformed his life, he answers, “It has changed my life in many ways, whenever I listen to a piece which I love the most I feel like taking it down on the piano, the curiosity to imagine myself playing it on the piano and recording myself gives me immense satisfaction. After appearing for my first concert, I also gained confidence.”
Sharing details on the kind of piano he’s learned playing and number of years at it, he reveals, “My first piano was the Yamaha P145 which is a digital piano and after five years I moved to the Yamaha GB 1, a grand piano. This one was bought because in western classical music weighted keys are required to handle the touch response of heavy scales and arpeggios. It’s been 13 years in practice and I’m going to appear for grade 8 ABRSM this year.”
Rendering his venture into music to his upbringing in Shillong, Dhar expresses that the city is blessed with many musicians and that music is a big part of our lives everywhere and that to maintain this culture he thinks that perhaps bringing artists from abroad to perform stage concerts in the classical field, be it of different instruments, to give an insight of the world in technicality, and to hold workshops in music from those artists time to time would prove fruitful.
Like every artist, Dhar too, has had his share of setbacks that paused his musical endeavours. As a budding artist, he performed at a few shows in Kolkata but after graduating from college, he returned to Shillong to lend a hand to his father in his tax business in 2016 as GST was introduced at that time and his father needed a trusted hand at work. Dhar believes that one’s passion always finds a place but responsibilities towards parents come first. True testimony of a strong family foundation finds itself extending support even through the rough patches. Dhar fondly says that on Sundays his parents come and sing Rabindra Sangeet in his room where he plays the piano. This brings the family together irrespective of the limited time they have for each other and also because he is preoccupied with his practice in his spare time.
At present, Dhar has his own Youtube channel @akashdhar5871 where he has several videos of himself playing pieces of different composers including his compositions. As he’s under the rigour of his upcoming grade 8 Exam Under ABRSM Board, he hopes for things to go well so that he’d be able to compose music in the capacity of a music director. As far as his future plans are concerned, he plans on recording his compositions professionally and to make script music of what he plays, so that one day he can participate and represent India in the Chopin Piano competition.
As Dhar exemplifies the extraordinary impact of piano in his life – taking him places, thinking bigger, imagining and reimagining life but also a humbling experience, it most definitely evokes a sense of commitment to nurture one’s interests and zeal.