'Piano creates its own magic'

The list of achievers in Delhi University is ever growing, that too in fields you would never expect Indians to succeed in. Hasit Nanda, a student of Maharaja Agrasen College, recently won the second position in the prestigious Jarrod Radnich’s Pirates of the Caribbean Worldwide Piano Competition. He has won a cash prize in dollars, a certificate of excellence, and training from the master pianist himself, the fame an award it itself.

Hasit’s talent was discovered long back, but his formal training, started only last year. He informs Metrolife, “I was in playschool, only two-and-a-half-year-old then, when a piano teacher saw me play the instrument. She was teaching us the basics but I ended up playing a tune on the piano perfectly with both hands, without the help of any notes or past experience. She told my parents that I must continue with piano training.”

Hasit did, but with toy keyboards borrowed from friends and neighbours. He would play a professional keyboard in school, practice with toy keyboards at home and occasionally participate in a school competition and wow the judges there. However, hectic study schedules kept him away from joining any piano training institute.

It was only after he got admitted to college that he found time for his passion, “Just last year, I discovered the US-based piano prodigy Jarrod Radnich’s videos on YouTube. Pianos are considered old-world but Jarrod improvises songs on the piano to come up with amazing music. He has also started this online competition whereby contestants have to imitate his rendition of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme music and post videos on Youtube.”

Hasit posted his video in July and before he knew it, he had cleared the first round and was asked to upload one more. This time, he nailed it, “Only three Indians, including me, participated in the contest and only I made it to the top ten and finally the second position. It feels great especially the fact that now I’ll be trained by my idol Radnich himself.”

In just one year’s training at a local institute, Hasit has passed four grades out of eight in piano training and plans to complete Masters in the subject. He says, “I love piano for the fact that it is such a diverse instrument. It can play any style of music. The roaring bass of a Grand Piano and the brilliantly hammered keys makes it possible for a Pianist to play a score in a full orchestral way. No other instrument can do that.”

“I can take a simple piece of music and make it magnificent by putting my own emotion into it and improvising it in my own style, which can make people cry, make them smile, give them goosebumps and even cause anxiety and almost a sense of fear. Piano creates its own magic.”