Musical instruments like the sitar and the tabla have been popular with foreigners for a long time. However, an unlikely Indian classical instrument that has caught the fancy of firangs lately is the sarangi. 

In recent years, many foreigners interested in Indian music have been coming to the country to learn the instrument. Sarangi exponent Kamal Sabri tells us that he has several foreign students under his tutelage. "I have been teaching several foreign students how to play the sarangi, most of whom have come in touch with me through my international performances," says the musician, who has performed solo concerts in Switzerland, Norway, Italy and China. Sabri says that the development has got a lot to do with the changed perception about the instrument. "Traditionally, the sarangi was viewed as something which is played on sad occasions, but that stereotype has been broken. At many of my concerts, youngsters came thinking that they would get to hear boring tunes, but they ended up leaving impressed," says Sabri. 

Mohammad Shafique, a Norway resident, has been learning to play the sarangi from Sabri for the last five years. Shafique is originally from Pakistan and moved to Norway 25 years ago. So, he knew about the instrument, but it was only at a concert that he developed a keen interest in the way it is played. "I first heard Ustad Sabriji in MELA festival in Oslo. I became quite interested in the instrument and started attending Ustad saab's concerts. Then one day in 2007, I decided to start learning the sarangi, and we did a traditional ceremony in Oslo whereUstad Sabriji took me under his tutelage." 

Another of Sabri's students, Brian D'Oliveira from Canada, found out about the sarangi on the internet, and realized its potential. "I realized that though it has the quintessential sound of Indian music, it could also be used in many different musical contexts. So far, I have used it to create exotic orchestral pieces and sound effects that no one has ever heard of. While creating music for my latest project Papo & Yo, which is a videogame, I used some sarangi tunes," he says. Brian, who started learning from Sabri in 2011, will be coming to India in December. So far, he has had lessons on Skype and on occasional meetings with Sabri when he visits Canada for his concerts. 

However, for Haldis Offermann, the love affair with the sarangi began as early as 1992 when she first visited India. Haldis, who has been playing the piano since she was five and the cello since the age of seven, heard the sarangi on a cassette, and even bought one to take back home to Finland. "In the autumn of 1992, I started my studies on Ethnomusicology at the University of Helsinki. My second subject was Indian Culture and Language. I was so interested to know more about the sarangi, but there was no information about it," she recalls, and says that it was only in 1997 that she met Sabri in Helsinki. "He had a concert where he was accompanied by his father and his younger tabla-playing brother. I was so fascinated that I waited backstage till after the concert to talk to Sabri. I told him my 'story' and he told me that when he would come the next time, he could teach me something on the sarangi," she says. 

Later, when Sabri visited Finland, he taught Haldis the basics of playing the instrument. The sarangi has even helped her in her career, that of a music therapist. "In my work of a music therapist, I use not just western instruments, but also non-western ones. Indian music, especially that of the sarangi, formed my understanding of North Indian music," she says.