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German musician walks the city to explore Pune’s musical heritage | Pune News
Helena Rüegg, 64, a German bandoneon player, actress and writer came across a diverse variety of Indian traditional musical instruments at the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune while on a heritage walk designed especially for her by INTACH Pune to outline Pune’s musical history. She saw the Panchmukhi Vadya, which is a metal drum with five faces, named after the faces of Siva, used in the temples in South India. She appreciated the intricate design and ornamentation of a collection of yaz and veenas like Makar, Kurma, Kacchapi. She also saw a collection of Sarangi and the Taar Shehenai.
“I noticed some similarity across nations. People who wish to stay connected to their roots and explore forgotten cultures, wisdom and richness are taking up and learning old folk instruments.” said Rüegg.
Rüegg visited Pune on an invitation by Dr Chandrashekhar Phansalkar, a medical doctor by profession who is also actively involved in theatre. During her time here, she went on a musical heritage walk, designed by INTACH Pune.
“What struck me the most was the beautiful Pune Bharat Gayan Samaj, with all the photographs on the wall, the wisdom, the musicality of the place, I felt a connection with the atmosphere”. said Rüegg.
Supriya Mahabaleshwarkar, Co-convenor and Coordinator, INTACH Pune Chapter, designed this walk for the singer. “I have undergone basic training in Hindustani vocal music. I enjoy sharing this love for music especially in this culturally rich city of Pune. I had recently also curated a heritage walk on music for another artist – a pianist and researcher Judith Engels from Oxford University, who came to Pune last year,” said Mahabaleshwarkar.
During the walk, Rüegg visited important sites like Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, where she interacted with Suehanva Ranade, Director of the museum and Pune Bharat Gayan Samaj and vocalist Savani Datar. “We had very interesting discussions on different types of music and how they evolved. The walk’s narrative also focused on the range of music from folk songs to semi classical to natya sangeet and Hindustani classical music.” said Mahabaleshwarkar.
About this cultural exchange Rüegg said, “I am always travelling to discover things I don’t know and also to tell people about my culture too. These cultural exchanges are important as we can learn and inspire each other to go further. Knowing each other personally, establishing a relationship of care is the only possibility to avoid racism and wars”.
About the experience of this walk, Mahabaleshwarkar said, “Helena’s passion for her music and the bandoneon, a beautiful instrument. She explained the importance of this instrument for the people in Argentina. What also struck me was her openness to and appreciation of all types of music”.