Chitrangana Agle Reshwal is the only pakhawaj player in India. The pakhawaj is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, which makes spirited bass sounds.



Chitrangana Agle Reshwal, based in Indore, is the only female pakhawaj soloist and accompanist in Indian classical music. She recently presented her skills at the annual Darbar Festival that also featured artistes such as Ustad Shujaat Khan and Rajesh Prasanna.



“The world, including many pakhawaj players, has declared that playing instruments such as the pakhawaj and the mridangam is entirely about physical strength. It’s not. It is about technique and the passion you have for the instrument,” says the 35-year-old Reshwal. She recalls how she was told off by her family when, mesmerised by the echoes of the pakhawaj in her house, she asked to be trained in the instrument. So much so, that she was introduced to kathak and told to take up more feminine instruments such as the sitar and the veena. “What was surprising was that all the male members of my family had played the pakhawaj for six generations,” says Reshwal.



Then 10 years old, she had set her heart on mastering the pakhawaj. Reshwal was fascinated by the aural quality of her family instrument and did not give up. She would secretly listen to her brothers’ lessons as her purist father, Pandit Ambadas Pant Agle of the Nana Panse gharana, would discuss the ropes of playing the instrument.



“I used to listen and remember what he taught my brothers and try to play the same notes in their absence. One day, my father returned a little early and heard the pakhawaj being played in our music room. He thought it was my brother doing his riyaaz. After he figured out it was me, he gave in and began teaching me alongside my brothers,” says Reshwal, whose name is also registered in the Limca Book of World Records.



Conventions and customs gave in to talent soon and Reshwal was sent to Baba Alauddin Khan Academy, where she trained under the famous pakhawaji Raja Chhatrapati Singh, for five years. “Guruji was from Kudausingh gharana that is known for complicated rhythms that require more dexterity. The baaj (playing style) of my gharana is sweeter as compared to that of my guru’s,” says Reshwal, who decided to blend the two styles for performance purposes. Also, she does not play the instrument while accompanying dhrupad and dhamar instruments only. She recently collaborated with a Brazilian band during a gig in the US and adds that she would like to experiment with various kinds of percussion instruments.



However, Reshwal is not very pleased with being the only female pakhawaj player today. “I am training a few girls, who should be ready to perform in a few years time. I also want to tell the purists that there is no difference in the sound when a woman plays it,” says Reshwal, who will perform in Delhi in November 2012.