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A Pathway to Knowledge
a movement away from the perception of cultural bodies as primar-
ily language- or linguistic-based, where the body translates into sym-
bols and signs only.^7 Learning to be a tabla player requires concentra-
tion on sound and image, and on feeling “correct” movements in the
body. As Stoller ( 1995 ) advocates in his recent work on embodiment
and spirit possession among the Hauka in West Africa, we need to
return to our senses as anthropologists rather than continue to create
disembodied accounts that are disconnected from the lives of the peo-
ple we study. Sensing ethnography, or, in this case, sensing tabla, ne-
cessitates an exploration of the highly prized anthropological method
of participant observation.
Clearly, the question of going native must be set aside in ethno-
graphic encounters and experiences where phenomena like dream-
ing tabla and visions are commonplace. My intent was never to be-
come “Indian”; instead, my objective was simply to become a tabla
player and further my knowledge of Hindustani music in India and
the global community. And as Tedlock reminds us, “Fieldwork is not
simply a union card but the center of our intellectual and emotional
lives, we are, if not ‘going native,’ at least becoming bicultural” (B.
Tedlock 1991 , 82 ).
Notes
1. Ustad Allah Rakha Khan’s status in the world of Hindustani music rose in North
America in the 1960 s when he was the tabla accompanist for Pandit Ravi Shankar (sitar
maestro). Prior to this, Ustad Allah Rakha Khan’s popularity as a musician, both as a tabla
soloist and accompanist, was rising substantially in the Indian subcontinent. Ustad Allah
Rakha Khan as a master of the Punjab gharana is credited with many developments in the
world of tabla music. There are six school or styles of tabla, each originating under a spe-
cific guru or master echoing the place or region in which the masters lived and taught. The
Punjab gharana, originally located in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan and under
the guidance of Ustad Kader Bux, was passed on to Ustad Allah Rakha Khan and then on
to his son Ustad Zakir Hussain and others.
2. I am deeply grateful to the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute for their financial support
and assistance in India during my doctoral research.
3. All those who know him in the music industry commonly refer to Ustad Allah Rakha
Khan as Abbaji, a Muslim kin term that means “father.” The suffix, -ji, indicates respect.
In this article, -ji is added to the names of my teachers. It is not uncommon among musi-
cians and respectful audience members to refer to the masters as guruji or ustadji, or to say
the master’s name with -ji appended.
