Indian musical instruments are remarkable for
their beauty and variety of forms which, as seen in the paintings at Ajanta,
have remained largely unchanged in the last 2000 years.
Among all the classical musical
instruments, the tanpura, or tambura as it is called in south India, is special
as it crosses the divide between Hindustani and Carnatic music, between dhrupad
and khayal, vocal and instrumental, and classical and folk music. This drone
instrument is considered the foundatio
is a Delhi-based journalist and photographer with broad interests in human rights, development, environment, and arts and culture. He has worked with Mint and Tehelka and contributed to BBC Hindi, The Hindu, among others.
