Anuradha Pal speaks to Prerna Sharma about creating India's first women percussion-based vocal and instrumental fusion band, Stree Shakti
It was a special evening for music connoisseurs, as it’s not every day that one gets to be a part of concert by a renowned musician like Anuradha Pal. A Mumbai-based tabla prodigy and percussionist performed here with the band members of Stree Shakti by Anuradha Pal — India’s first women’s percussion band. We chatted with her before the performance to know more about her music.
Anuradha is the founder and music director of two distinct fusion bands, Stree Shakti by Anuradha Pal and Recharge, and her mission is to reach out to as many women as possible and empower them through her music. “Indian music industry is male-dominated. Whenever, women want to do something on their own, they are never appreciated. While, in the West they are motivated at every step. I want women to shed their veils and show their talent to the world. There is no doubt that women are as good as men, the only problem is that our society doesn’t accept this fact,” said Pal.
It is perhaps difficult to list all of Anuradha’s achievements in one go! She was trained under legends like the late Ustad Allah Rakha and Zakir Hussain. She is an internationally acclaimed tabla soloist and has accompanied top Indian classical, African, jazz and world musicians. Over the years, she has participated in major festivals in the UK, USA, Europe. She also holds the distinction of being the only Indian woman musician to perform at the renowned WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) festival in the UK. Reminiscing her best moments she said, “That was the most prestigious moment of my life. It is the second largest music festival and we performed in front of two lakh people. There are thousands of musicians who dream of performing there. I was also one of them.”
Talking about Stree Shakti by Anuradha Pal, she said, “It is an all-female percussion-based vocal and instrumental combination ensemble, which combines the best of the Hindustani and Carnatic styles. I formed Stree Shakti in 1996 in order to bring about awareness on discrimination against women and create opportunity and respect for them. We will perform Tala Vadya Kacheri, that is essentially rhythm-based. It will be a combination of Mridangam, Ghatam and Violin. I am playing with violin expert M Namrada and first time stage performers Ramiya and Vidya. They are talented, so I thought of promoting them.”
Playing tabla is quite a difficult job. While others just take it as a hobby, she is the first Indian woman to play it professionally. “The percussion field has traditionally always been male-oriented. Firstly, it is a physically demanding activity as it requires a lot of strength, stamina and mental agility. long hours of practice and years of training are also vital to be able to perform. Unfortunately, even now, women are discouraged and discriminated and are not given equal an opportunity.”
She enjoys the challenge and thrill of collaborations. When asked how difficult it was to establish herself in the industry, she said, “I had to make sure that I worked so hard that no one could ignore me. I trained hard to give my audiences and senior musicians something more in terms of musical offerings. Along with presenting tabla solos.”