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Born to musically inclined and
sympathetic parents, Bijaya
Vaidya never faced any
deterrence from his family--when
Vaidya taught himself the
guitar, with the aid of a book
and an audio-cassette, his
family recognized his talents
with stringed instruments and
helped him to get in touch with
Ms. Mamata Pradhan, an
accomplished sitar player. After
training with Ms. Pradhan, he
was directed to the tutelage of
Tara Bir Singh Tuladhar, the
renowned sitar maestro. After a
five-year long training from
Tuladhar, Vaidya enrolled at
the Prayag Sangeet Samiti Music
Academy in Allahabad, India,
whence he received his music
degrees. He holds a Master of
Music degree from Allahabad and
a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Tribhuvan University.
Although Vaidya doesn't like to
recount the misfortunate
division of Sur Sudha, he hopes
it is clear to people that Sur
Sudha, as a trio of dedicated
musicians that stole the hearts
of the Nepali people, doesn't
exist anymore. “The name belongs
to three people, not two,” he
asserts. Although he doesn't
disclose the exact reasons
behind the band's division, he
calls it a “long, dirty story,”
rife with betrayals from the
closest quarters and trusted
friends. When the two other
members of Sur Sudha took in a
substitute sitar player and
performed without Vaidya,
without giving him any prior
notice of the sudden change,
Vaidya called up his erstwhile
fellow band-members. The
telephonic conversation brought
about the division of the
significant musical group.
Vaidya, however, likes to
maintain a more positive outlook
on the matter--at least, he
says, now he is free to make the
music of his own choice. “Nepal
is a tapoban,” he says, “every
inch of the country is musical.”
He is engaged not only in making
beautiful music on the sitar,
but also on providing free music
classes to the inspired. He
divides his free time between
Musicdham Ashram--his music
class project--and his studio
where composes and records his
new work. Vaidya has a lot of
positive things to say about the
Nepali music industry, because
he has seen the entire range of
growth it has experienced in the
last twenty years. The
festivals, the culture, the
traditions and the people of
Nepal are constant inspirations
to Vaidya, and his soulful
strumming of the sitar reflects
the passion of the land that
permeates his veins.
“The Nepali music business is
growing,” says Vaidya, “but
there is still a long journey to
go. First of all, musical ethics
is important to develop.” Of
some of the less scrupulous
musicians in the industry, he
says--“they are good musicians,
but music shouldn't be made a
reason for politics. Musical
band is not a political party.
Work of musical band and
political parties are
different.” ...Edited by
Prawin |
