Seen family’s third generation scion debuts with santoor

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, December 29

She’s a third generation scion of a family with a rich Punjabi gharana legacy and the first woman from her family to make it to 148th Shree Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan.

Tutored by her father whose sitar bears both Punjab and Etawah gharana tutelage, Jalandhar’s santoor prodigy Surpriya Seen (29) gave her performance at the sangeet sammelan on Friday. This is almost a decade after her father and brother presented sitar jugalbandi at the sangeet sammelan in 2016.

Surpriya’s grandfather Ustad Lachman Singh Seen was a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award winning tabla exponent of the Punjab gharna. Her father Pt Manu Seen, who walked in his father’s footsteps, was later tutored in the Etawah gharana traditions by sitar virtuoso Ustad Shahid Parwez. Her brother Rishabh Seen is also a talented sitar artiste.

Her grandfather played sitar at the sangeet sammelan in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Her father first played sitar in 1983 and has been frequent at the festival since then. Her brother too has given several performances at the sangeet sammelan.

Named Surpriya — lover of sur (Musical strains) — by her grandfather, she was brought up amidst a home reverberating with sitars and tablas. But it was santoor which caught her fancy. “And from day one, my father and grandfather fiercely backed my choice,” says Surpriya. An MBA from IIM, Delhi, Surpriya was a topper in her class and believed in a backup plan. However, it was at the IIM that she became certain that music was her only career.

She says, “My lecturers and dean were well versed in music. They told me that music was my calling and that’s where my destiny lay. After that, I was so certain that I didn’t even apply for placements and came straight back home after my internship to continue my education in classical music.”

When asked why only santoor? Surpriya said, “I was a little child when I heard the instrument being played by Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma. Since then I would say the santoor chose me. I told my music teacher at school that I wanted to learn play santoor, but he kept stalling. For years I didn’t tell at home and it was a secret dream. One fine day when I was in Class X, I told my father that I wanted to learn play santoor. When I came back from school that day, a santoor was lying at home.” Surpriya got formal music education from her father Pt Manu Seen. She’s a B-high radio artiste and among a few women musicians in India who play santoor.

Surpriya says, “My father is my formal guru. It’s due to his tutelage that my passion for learning to play Santoor got an encouragement. I feel fortunate about getting a chance to play the instrument at the sangeet sammelan today.”

Santoor is also spiritual for her. Surpriya says, “Santoor is associated with my spirit. For the first time, sticks were handed over to me by our spiritual Guru Mohan Das ji Maharaj. Santoor is called Shattantri Veena in Sanskrit due to its 100 strings. Tuning and playing them gives me peace.”