Home of Havaldars - A Magical World of Music

There's a defining moment in our lives when an accidental virtuous encounter  becomes a beautiful part of us forever. An experience that takes you through an exploratory journey that eventually leads to the exploration of self. This could be anything.. a technological invention, education of some sort or an introduction to a form of art.

In my case, I came across this experience in the year of 2015. 

I  consider  myself a grateful beneficiary of being born into a family that has a deep inclination to music. During one of her visits to the US, my aunt had talked about the Havaldars and the glory of their music. As luck would have it, just a few days after her visit, the Havaldar family were scheduled to perform at the Civic Center, a hop, skip and jump from where I live. On a beautiful Fall evening, I attended this concert with absolutely no expectations at all. When I entered the venue, the artists were in the process of tuning the tanpuras. 

The concert began with Raag Multani. A few minutes into aligning myself with this music, I  closed my eyes and let myself experience the bliss of Havaldars' music. As the two hours flew by, and with the completion of each song, was my sincere hope that, that would not be the last. 

In the course of that time, Havaldars sang Meera Bhajans, Dasara Padas, Vachanas in several raagas, that had the audience mesmerized. Dr. Havaldar, along with being a wonderful musician is also a great orator. He introduced us to the raagas, referenced them to movie songs , talked about his experiences relating to a certain composition.. all in all, there wasn't a single dull moment. Every person in the audience that day became a believer of music. That was the power  generated in that venue that day. This was my moment that gave me a purpose and identified my love for music.

Shortly after that, I became a disciple of Omkar Havaldar and needless to say, it has been a phenomenal journey.

Havaldars' music has an effortlessly built in harmony to it. When they take the stage, you'll see perfection in surs(notes), hand gestures that actually seem like a sur is coming alive, staying in a dreamy state, tossed in air, brought back again, carefully cajoled and sent back to Sa..it's Home. A definite mutual respect, admiration, appreciation for one another and a sense of complimenting and supplementing and the know how of when and how..all together taking the audience to a transcendental state.

A moment of mystic and magic!

The Family

Havaldar Family of musicians comprise of Dr. Havaldar, a legendary Hindustani Classical musician, his elder son and disciple Omkarnath Havaldar a leading vocalist, his younger son Kedarnath Havaldar  an accomplished Tabla player and Dr Havaldar’s nephew, Sameer Havaldar  a well-known Harmonium player. 

It is a tall order to articulate the beauty of Havaldars' music, one can best experience it to understand it's entirety. 

Like I did and continue to do. While learning and appreciating music is a definite objective, what I continually learn from my Guru is humility, respect, discipline and a will to accomplish anything you set your mind to achieving!