Brothers in music

Brothers Shivanand Maharaj and Narindra Maharaj of Mohess Road have both excelled in music and vocals and are directors of the reputable   Shiv Sangeet School of Music of Penal. Recently they hosted their annual concert at the Centre Pointe Mall in Chaguanas entitled “Suhana Safar” (A musical journey). Shivanand and Narindra just needed a tabla player and percussionist to provide the complicated rhythms for the songs they delivered at this concert. The two were at their best doing several popular tunes and held their audience spell-bound.

Shivanand who is an English teacher at Barrackpore Senior Comprehensive School is master at the harmonium and the violin while Narindra who holds a Bachelor Degree in Computer Technology  masters the trumpet and the flutes. Narindra works at BWIA’s head office at Piarco. Shivanand shot in the limelight when he won the Proton Motor Car on TV 6’s Tarang programme in 2000. The brothers teach music and vocal classes at three venues where hundreds of students attend. Shivanand who holds a diploma in music and vocal from the Bharatya Vidya Sansthaan,  dedicates his time to training young people. It didn’t take Narindra very long to join in with his brother to reach the growing number of students who enrolled for classes.

Commenting on the teaching of music he said, “Music helps the child to develop from a holistic point of view. It also gives the child confidence to deal with life’s problems,” he said. Narindra also creates his own flutes from bamboo stalks and PVC pipes. He keeps experimenting with notes on the flute to come up with the religious music sound of India and has been very successful in duplicating the music sound. He has a collection of 28 flutes which he takes with him for nightly performances.

He said he chooses a lighter flute for folk music and the heavier ones for classical music. One of Narindra’s best pieces remains the tune “Chalte Chalte” on the trumpet. His rendition of the religious tune,  “Yashomatie Maiya Se” on the flute in also very  good. The brothers recently performed before huge audiences in Jamaica for  Indian Arrival Day celebrations there. They have worked together in providing music for the highly acclaimed CD by Shakuntala Jangbahadoor entitled Koiee. This CD is now being marketed in many countries of the world. The brothers will be working towards recording their own CD in the near future.