Renowned flautist Pandit Ronu Majumdar describes his relationship with flute as ‘that of the human body and soul.’ “I can’t even think of my life without my bansuri. I always pray to Lord Krishna that I should be able to play musical notes for as long as I live,” he says.

This Grammy nominee, despite his classical influences, is equally passionate about jazz and has performed beside Pandit Ravi Shankar, George Harrison and Ry Cooder. Bombay Jazz Tour, held in UK last week, embodied the fusion of Eastern and Western melodies, and had the Pandit playing with Saxophone virtuoso George Brooks and Guitarist Larry Coryell.

Excerpts from an interview with Pandit Majumdar on the eve of the event:

Comment on the beauty and universal appeal of fusion music. Your experience with it.

Fusion music possesses the beauty of blending two traditions in a magnificent way. It enhances the beauty of music. Over a period of time, fusion music has been accepted not just as a style but as a bridge that serves to bring together musical traditions.

Overall, the fusion music experience has been very good for me. It has helped me extend my boundaries as I have been able to experiment with several other things which were not possible with the pure form of the raga. Also, it is because of fusion music that I could meet all time music greats like Larry Coryell, Ry Cooder and others.

Your experience with George Harrison.

My experience with George has been very spiritual. My association with him is through my grand guru Pandit Ravi Shankar. The first time I met George was in the year 1989 when I played at his house. It was a LIVE concert and I was fascinated to see many stars together.

But, the great memory was when I played in the much appreciated album Chants of India and while doing this I stayed for almost 15 days with him and realised that he was not only a great lover of Indian music but also interested in Indian spirituality.

The growth of new age music and musicians in India.

New age music, which is relatively soothing and melodic, is growing.. At present, there are many full time classical musicians and purists who are inclined towards new age music. But the only fear I have is that aspiring artistes should explore this  genre only after learning the pure form sincerely.

Have you considered providing music to films?

I have played under music directors like R D Burman and Vishal Bhardwaj. But being a composer for Bollywood music is yet to happen. I’ve done one Marathi film (Salaam, the Salute). Besides this, I was the sole Indian composer for the IMAX film Mystic India along with Hollywood composer Sam Cardon.

Talent vs practice. Which one wins according to you?

There is always something such as god’s gift which is inborn in any person which leads him to do something different, something which is at a much higher level that it is in common people. Yet, for accomplishing it fully we can’t survive with just talent. It has to be nurtured.

You started off as a vocalist, then made flute your primary focus. What influenced that decision?

It was never that I started as singer and switched on to the flute. My father was of the opinion that no instrumentalist could be a complete musician without learning vocal music, therefore he took me to Pandit Laxman Prasad Jaipurwale with whom I  studied vocals along with my flute training.

Comment on the drama of musicians and their politics seen in the recent music contests on television.

Things seemed very different earlier when I had judged the Sa Re Ga Ma show several years back. It was purely a talent-driven show and now things have changed. The shows are dominated by SMS and votes. Many of the artistes are worried where this will lead us to.

How do you see classical music evolving vis-a-vis today’s youth?

Classical music is very secure in the hands of the youth of today and I have experienced this with my recent Spic Macay Concert in Pune where I performed with Shubha Mudgal, Arati Ankalikar and others. There, many teenagers approached me for learning pure, classical music. They have also realised that reality music shows on television are wholly commercial.

Your dream is...

My dream is very simple and it goes beyond classical music. I dream of India having an identity of its own, and not losing that identity to the rest of the world!