Her musical instruments add background scores to popular film songs like ‘Jaago Mohan pyare’ ‘Ik ladki bheegi bhagi si’ ‘Mere samnewali khidki mein ik chand ka tukda rehta hai,’ and others. The background sounds of rain, or wind, or the waves of the sea are brought about by Ujwala’s hand instruments. Having lived in Nagpur for several years and having known Ujwala quite well, I have seen her as a judge for cooking competitions, participating in many contests, singing and attending varied programmes.
When I visited her recently she took me on a guided tour of her instruments. Her repertoire included various interesting items. She played a couple of them, and it was sheer magic to hear rain falling, or a door in the background closing or even the howl of the wind and I was frankly stunned. To discover such sounds from unusual items was astounding.
Ujwala has been interviewed several times by the press, but remains a modest mother and grandmother. In a tete-a-tete, Ujwala tells Veena Adige of her journey from a simple housewife to being the only female percussion artiste in Maharashtra.
How did you become a percussion artiste?
Honestly, I feel it is a God-given talent, as it came naturally to me. Till I was almost 45 years of age, I had no idea about these instruments and their sounds. After my children got married and settled down, I had time on my hands. When a teacher friend enlisted my help in preparing children for their school annual day, I realised that I could add to the music with a musical instrument. And that is how everything started around eight years back. I call myself a “self-guided”, siderythmist (percussionist) (Sahatalawadika in Marathi) by profession and I play various types of side rhythm instruments for big and small music concerts, orchestra’s, Geet Ramayan, gazals, bhajans etc.
Which instruments do you play to create music?
I use different types of ghungroos, shakers, scrapers, khanjirs, and cymbals that can enhance the background music of a song and add melody. At musical shows, where I have perform, I have added background scores to popular film songs like ‘Jaago Mohan pyare’ ‘Ik ladki bheegi bhagisi’, ‘Mere samnewale khidki mein ek chand ka tukda rehta hai,’ and few others.
Where do you buy these interesting instruments?
I picked up most of them from local shops selling musical instruments. Sometimes you are lucky and just chance upon some unusual stuff. There are several, some of which have no names. I buy whatever fancies me, take it home and experiment. When the sounds come, I decide where to use it. I even picked up a couple of instruments, when I visited my son in Australia.
Which has been the most memorable programme so far?
All the programmes I do are memorable for me, the programme may be small or big, but I enjoy each one of them. Till today, however, my most memorable show has been India’s Got Talent 3 in 2011 on TV Channel Colors, where I performed before one of the greatest musicians of our time Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar. I recently had a live show with Amit and Sumit Kumar, sons of the legendary singer Kishore Kumar. It is a great feeling to share stage with such celebrities and to be the only female percussionist amongst all the male musicians.
Which is the programme you really enjoyed the most?
To name any one is very difficult, but I have participated in many that have been organized to pay tributes to great artistes — Tributes to Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Dev Anand, Naushad, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, R.D.Burman, A.R.Rahman, Gulzar etc. Some programmes were purely instrumental; Saaj Parwaj was a programme in which songs were based only on instruments, where I could showcase my talent.
Does your family support your hobby?
My husband Ajit, who is chartered accountant is my backbone, without whom I could never have thought of achieving my dreams. My mother Shreelekha Kaikini, my children and grandchildren are my inspiration. They always feel very happy for me. My daughter-in-law Juee used to encourage me to take part in reality shows, but I felt it was next to impossible to perform alone. When I got an opportunity, I did, and now I am quite comfortable performing solo.
How does it feel to be successful and sought after?
It feels great to be successful today as I was earlier just a housewife, a mother and a grandma. Now I feel I am something more than that and feel proud of the fact that I could do something unusual. I feel happy when the accolades come.
A note about percussion
Percussion is commonly referred to as “the backbone” or “the heartbeat” of a musical ensemble, often working A in close collaboration with bass instruments. In almost every style of music, percussion plays a pivotal role. In military marching bands and pipes and drums, it is the beat of the bass drum that keeps the soldiers in step and at a regular speed, and it is the snare that provides that crisp, decisive air to the tune of a regiment. In classic jazz, one almost immediately thinks of the distinctive rhythm of the hi-hats or the ride cymbal when the word “swing” is spoken. In more recent popular music culture, it is almost impossible to name three or four rock, hip-hop, rap, funk or even soul charts or songs that do not have some sort of percussive beat keeping the tune in time.
Do you perform outside Nagpur and Vidarbha?
Yes, I have performed in Gondia with Anuradha Paudwal, at Yavatmal, Amravati with Swapnil Bandodkar, Geet Ramayan at Sholapur, ETV bhajan spardha at Pandharpur, at Akkalkot and Bilaspur with Swarali group, at Pune with Sur Sangam and Bharat Ranga Kala Sanstha. I wish to perform in big cities with celebrity artists like Asha Bhosle, Shankar Mahadevan, A.R.Rahman and others. I hope that someday this dream will come true.
What are your future plans?
I aspire to be a perfect percussionist. Ajit and I are pursuing our tabla classes and I am also learning congo, bongo and tumba.
Do you teach students to play these instruments?
No! I am still a student. It needs a lot of concentration, knowledge of rhythm and practice to master this art. One needs to perfect the art before teaching others. Even if one beat goes wrong, the sound can be jarring to the ears and will be easily noticed, as it is these instruments that enhance music.
Do you have any other hobbies besides music?
I am interested in computers and I have also done proof checking jobs. I have done multimedia designing courses and love to design E-greeting cards and send it to my friends.