poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and Hindustani classical vocalist. ''Elephant Bathing'' (Poetrywala, 2012), ''Mughal Sequence'' (Poetrywala, 2012) and ''Waking in December'' (Harbour Line, 2001) are his three collections of verse. He received training in Hindustani vocal music for many years from Satyasheel Deshpande and Pandit Baban Haldankar of the
Agra Gharana
The Agra gharana is a tradition of Hindustani classical vocal music descended from the Nauhar Bani. So far, Nauhar Bani has been traced back to around 1300 AD, during the reign of Emperor Allauddin Khilji of Delhi.
The first known musician o ...
. He is the founder of Harbour Line, a publishing collective, and ''Kshitij'', an interactive forum for musicians.
Early life and background
Anand Thakore was born in
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
in 1971. His father Sandeep Thakore was a sitar enthusiast and a disciple of the late Ustad Mohammed Khan Beenkaar. As a child he was fascinated by
Hindu Mythology
Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...
and
Indian classical music
Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...
and
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
. His Grandmother, Kapila Thakore was an award-winning Gujarati children's writer and translator.
He spent a part of his childhood in the UK and has lived in India since then. He was educated at
Solihull School
Solihull School is a coeducational private day school in Solihull, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
History
In 1560 the revenu ...
, in the West Midlands, and at
Cathedral and John Connon School
The Cathedral and John Connon School is a co-educational private school founded in 1860 and located in Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra.Kumar Gandharva, Pandit Kumar Gandharva.
He gave his first public performance at the Vitaan Festival of Music and Dance, 1989, hosted by the Sheriff of Mumbai. He has been giving public concerts and '
mehfil
Mehfil or ''mahfil'' (Urdu: محفل), alternatively known as Bazm (Urdu: بزم) is a formal venue where indoor recreational activities such as poetry ( mushaira), singing, music, and dance are entertained in parts of the Indian subcontinent. ...
s' regularly since. While learning music he simultaneously developed a passion for
English literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
and various Indian languages:
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
,
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
,
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and
Braj Bhasha
Braj is a language within the Indo-Aryan language family spoken in the Braj region in Western Uttar Pradesh centered on Mathura. Along with Awadhi, it was one of the two predominant literary languages of North-Central India before gradually ...
. In addition to writing poetry in English, he began, in his late teens, to compose his own Hindustani compositions with Braj and Hindi lyrics.
He earned a BA in English Literature from the
University of Mumbai
University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges.
It was est ...
where he also studied courses in
Sanskrit literature
Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...
. He then earned an MA in English Literature from the
University of Pune
Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Pune, is a public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The uni ...
.
Literary career and style
Anand Thakore has been writing verse in English since his teens. He is the author of three books of verse ''Elephant Bathing'', ''Mughal Sequence'' and ''Waking in December''. He has also authored a number of critical essays on music and poetry and a pamphlet of 'Khayal' lyrics in Hindi.
Thakore's poems first appeared in Literature alive, a British Council Journal. His work has appeared in various national and international journals and anthologies since then. He has read work at major literary festivals
Post-Colonial critic Bruce King points out in
World Literature Today
''World Literature Today'' (''WLT'') is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The magazine's stated goal is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book ...
( Vol. 75, No. 3/4, Summer - Autumn, 2001, p. 136) : "That Thakore is a classical singer shows in his imagery and complex patterns of sound, and in the texture of his verse. There is a song-like quality about his verse".
Jeet Thayil
Jeet Thayil (born 1959) is an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is the author of several poetry collections, including ''These Errors Are Correct'' (2008), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award. His first novel, ''Narcopolis (book ...
writes about Anand Thakore in the book ''The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets (Newcastle: Bloodaxe, 2008)'' : "Both cultures feed and animate his work. His poems have a line and weight reminiscent of mid-twentieth century British verse; his music reaches out to antiquity".
"From a child who grew up partly in England writing prose, Thakore evolved into a teenager who explored Braj lyrics, which he had to sing as a student of music. His love for poetry took him to literary greats who lived in Mumbai such as Adil Jussawalla,
Dom Moraes
Dominic Francis "Dom" Moraes (19 July 1938 – 2 June 2004) was a British writer and poet who published nearly 30 books in English. He is widely seen as a foundational figure in Indian English literature. His poems are a meaningful and substan ...
and Gieve Patel who guided him through the jungle of words. But he considers
Hart Crane
Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Inspired by the Romantics and his fellow Modernists, Crane wrote highly stylized poetry, often noted for its complexity. His collection '' White Buildings'' (1926), feat ...
as one of his earliest poetic influences ... The metre and discipline of traditional verse forms helped Thakore find a 'deeper integration of ideas and meanings.' "Free verse," he says, "was driving me crazy. There was too much linguistic and cultural chaos in my head'." - Anupama Raju,
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
.Music of the spoken word, Anupama Raju, The Hindu /ref>
In 2001 Anand Thakore co-founded ''Harbour Line'' - a publishing collective devoted to English verse on the Indian subcontinent. ''Harbour Line'' was founded in collaboration with poets Jane Bhandari, ( 'Aquarius',2002, ), Deepankar Khiwani ('Entr'acte', 2006, ) and Vivek Narayanan (Universal Beach, 2006, ).
The verse of ''Waking in December'', Thakore's first book shows a reverence for definite form and an interest in classical structures like the
sonnet
A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
and the
villanelle
A villanelle, also known as villanesque,Kastner 1903 p. 279 is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet re ...
, exemplified in poems like ''Chandri Villa'' or ''What I can Get away with''. This interest in classical forms is linked to his training as a Hindustani classical vocalist and composer.
In 2006 he received a Charles Wallace India Trust grant for an experimental music-poetry collaboration in the UK with composer and guitarist Pete Wyer. He has a number of recorded readings with music - both Hindustani and western- some now available with his books of verse.
His poems and critical essays on music and poetry have appeared in leading national and international journals and anthologies. His poetry in included in ''Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry'' ( United States ).
Anand Thakore was judge and a co-editor for the first Montreal International Poetry Prize (2011) with
Valerie Bloom
Valerie Bloom MBE (born 1956)Jeffrey Wainwright''Poetry: The Basics''(2004), 2nd edition, Routledge, 2011, p. 21. is a Jamaican-born poet and novelist based in the UK.Fred D'Aguiar
Fred D'Aguiar (born 2 February 1960) is a British poet, novelist, and playwright. He is currently Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Life
Fred D'Aguiar was born in London, England, in 1960 to Guyanese ...
Stephanie Bolster
Stephanie Bolster (born 1969) is a Canadian poet and professor of creative writing at Concordia University, Montreal.
History
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (1991) and a Master of Fine Arts (1994) from the University of Br ...
, amongst others.
Publications
Books
* ''Mughal Sequence'' (Poetrywala, 2012).
* ''Elephant Bathing'' (Poetrywala, 2012). Newspaper article about ''Elephant Bathing'' by Gopikrishnan Kottoor in
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
October 6, 2010
* ''Waking in December'' (Harbour Line, 2001).
Essays
* ''On the Music of 'A Missing Person': Adil Jussawalla and the Craft of Despair'' (New Quest, Pune, Ed.
Dilip Chitre
Dilip Purushottam Chitre (17 September 1938 – 10 December 2009) was one of the foremost Indian poets and critics to emerge in the post Independence India. Apart from being a notable bilingual writer, writing in Marathi and English, he was als ...
)
* ''Myth and Monologue'' (New Quest, Pune, Issue 167, 2007, ed. Dilip Chitre)
* ''If Music be the food of speech'' (New Quest, issue 169, 2007, ed. Dilip Chitre)
Editorial work
*
*
Anthologised Poems
Thakore's poetry has appeared in the following anthologies amongst others:
* ''The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry'' (Harper Collins, 2012 ed.
Sudeep Sen
Sudeep Sen (born 1964) is an Indian English poet and editor.
Early life
He was educated at St. Columba's School in Delhi and received a degree in English literature from Hindu College, University of Delhi. He received a master's degree from ...
)
* ''Sixty Indian Poets'' (Penguin India 2008, ed. Jeet Thayil)
* ''Reasons For Belonging'' (Viking, 2002, ed.
Ranjit Hoskote
Ranjit Hoskote (born 1969) is an Indian poet, art critic, cultural theorist and independent curator. He has been honoured by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, with the Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award and the Sah ...
Robert Minhinnick
Robert Minhinnick (born 12 August 1952) is a Welsh poet, essayist, novelist and translator. He has won two Forward Prizes for Best Individual Poem and has received the Wales Book of the Year award a record three times (in 1993, 2006 and 2018). ...
)
* ''Fulcrum Three'' (Cambridge, MA, USA, 2004, ed. Philip Nikolayev)
* ''The Bloodaxe book of Contemporary Indian Poets'' (Bloodaxe, UK, 2008 ed. Jeet Thayil)
* ''Both Sides Of The Sky'' (National Book trust, India, 2008, ed.
Eunice de Souza
Eunice de Souza (1 August 1940 – 29 July 2017) was an Indian English language poet, literary critic and novelist. Among her notable books of poetry are ''Women in Dutch painting'' (1988), ''Ways of Belonging'' (1990), ''Nine Indian Women Poet ...
)
* ''Poetry with Prakriti'' (Prakriti Foundation, 2009)
Musical career and style
As a child, Anand Thakore learnt Hindustani vocal music,
sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...
and
Tabla
A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...
. When the family moved to England for a period, he studied rudimentary western musical theory, and violin and sang soprano in the Solihull Chapel Choir. He has always maintained a strong interest in
Western Classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
and jazz though fusion as such, is not his choice of form. On returning to Mumbai he trained for a while with Ustad Aslam Khan of the Atrauli Gharana; though most of his training has been under Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande, senior disciple of Pandit Kumar Gandharva.
Inspired by his Guru, Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande and Pandit Kumar Gandharva (whose music he had the good fortune to listen to at close quarters), Anand Thakore began to compose his own compositions at the age of sixteen, working with Hindi Lyrics in the traditional form known as the
Bandish
Bandish, cheez or gat is a fixed, melodic composition in Hindustani vocal or instrumental music. It is set in a specific raga, performed with rhythmic accompaniment by a tabla or pakhawaj, a steady drone, and melodic accompaniment by a sarangi, ...
. In addition to being taught a host of traditional compositions from different gharana-s and sources, he was also initiated into various aspects of gayaki ( i.e. modes of improvisation and raga-development) and he was encouraged to seek out his own mode of presentation and expression. He played a supportive role in the musicological research and documentational activities at the Samvaad Foundation run by his Guru, where he had the good fortune to interact with a wide spectrum of artists of the older generation; to vocally accompany and comparatively analyse the music of such stalwarts as Ustad Salamat Ali, Pandit Ramashreya Jha, Pandit K G Ginde, and Pandit Sharadchandra Arolkar, amongst others.
In 1994 he received a scholarship to study music full-time from the
Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)
The Ministry of Education (MoE) is a ministry of the Government of India, responsible for the implementation of the National Policy on Education. The ministry, headed by Sanya Shresth, is further divided into two departments: the Department ...
. He then studied music for several years under Pandit Baban Haldankar of the Agra Gharana. This ''Taleem'' (training) familiarized him with a large number of Agra-Gharana compositions and various aspects of the Agra tradition: ''Bol-alaap'', ''Nom-tom'' ''alaap'' and ''Layakari''.
Thakore's first professional concert was at the Vitaan Festival of Music and Dance 1989, hosted by the Sheriff of Mumbai. He has accompanied his Guru-s and performed across the country as a soloist at mehfil-s and music festivals since then.
In 2001 he co-founded Kshitij, an interactive forum for musicians, devoted to the spirit of the live Hindustani ''mehfil''. Kshitij was founded in collaboration with vocalists
Sanjeev Chimmalgi
Pandit Sanjeev Chimmalgi (born 29 July 1972) is an Indian music composer and Hindustani vocalist. He is a disciple of C. R. Vyas. His music reflects the voice culture of Kirana gharana as well as the bandish oriented singing of the Gwalior gh ...
, Kedar Bodas, Krishna Bhat and Tabla accompanist Rupak Kharvandikar. The group has organized concerts of senior and younger artists in semi-private soirees as well as public auditoriums. It also functions as a musicians' salon, repeatedly creating space for interaction between musicians, connoisseurs,critics and musicologists.
In 2006 he received a grant from the Charles Wallace India Trust to work on a collaborative experimental project with British composer and jazz-guitarist Pete Wyer. A participant in the ''
Time Structured Mapping
Time Structured Mapping (TSM) is a musical notation, score based system created and used by the composer Pete M Wyer. It uses the bar (music), bar-lines found in conventional Orchestration, musical scores to indicate durational periods during whic ...
'' project, he collaborated with soprano Evelyne Beech, microtonal vocalist Toby Twining, Pianist Burkhard Finke and the
Orchestra of the Swan
Orchestra of the Swan is a British professional chamber orchestra based at Warwick Schools Foundation in Warwick. It is Resident Orchestra at the Royal Birmingham ConservatoireThe Courtyard Hereford Warwick Hall and the Stratford Play House wi ...
on a piece called ''Four Bridges''; a score or ''Time Structured Map'', with scope for improvisation, simultaneously recorded in various parts of the world.
In 2009 Anand Thakore presented ''Sabadpiya Ki Khoj'', a concert and presentation at the
National Centre for the Performing Arts National Centre for the Performing Arts may refer to
* National Centre for the Performing Arts (China)
The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) (), colloquially described as The Giant Egg (巨蛋), is an arts centre containing an opera ...
, Mumbai, focusing on his work as a composer of ''bandish-es'' composed under the ''Takhallus'' or pseudonym ''Sabadpiya'' (''sabadpiya'' implying ''lover of the word'' and reminiscent of Agra gharana pen-names like Ustad Khadim Hussain ''Sajan piya'' etc.) The event brought together his work both as a composer in Hindustani
Raga
A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...
and Tala and as a lyric-writer in Hindi. A pamphlet of the words of these compositions brought out by Kshitij was also published at the event.
Guldasta-e-Khayal (2011) is his latest Hindustani classical CD. The CD features a live 'mehfil' in Mumbai with ragas Multani, Tilak Kamod, Darbari and Malkauns and is distributed by Underscore Records Pvt. ltd.
* He is the recipient of a National scholarship for music from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, a grant from the Charles Wallace India Trust for experimental work in the UK.
* He has received "Sur-mani" award for excellence in classical music, conferred by the Sur Singar Samsad.
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...