In the world of rhythm and music, there are a few individuals who transcend the boundaries and become true masters of their craft. This foreword is dedicated to one such exceptional percussionist whose beats and rhythms have the power to stir the soul and ignite the spirit whom we lovingly know as Pandit Anup Ghosh. An artiste of international stature, Pt. ji is not only an excellent performer but a well-informed subject matter expert as well.

Besides learning from great gurus, he has showcased his creativity at multiple platforms. Therefore, I'm sure this book will share insightful knowledge about Farrukhabad Gharana of Tabla. It is also worth mentioning that this book has not been written by a common person in music like me, but by a learned artist of this artform. That's why it has special importance Ustad Ahmad Jan Thirkawa Khan Sahib believed that since the Farrukhabad gharana's tabla did not include the bols of other Ghan or Avnadya instruments, therefore Farrukhabad baaj is a pure baaj of the tabla. Today the number of tabla players from Farrukhabad and Banaras Gharana is maximum.

I feel great privilege in presenting this work to the readers of Indian Music specially Instrumental Music-Tabla. There have been lot many books on Indian Instrumental Music - Tabla earlier, but very few are written specially on particular Tabla Gharana Farrukhabad.

It was a great dilemma for me to start writing this book since I am not at all associated with a College or an University, I am a performer and teacher, teaches Guru-Sishya Parampara to my young students. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my wife Anita Ghosh who inspired me to concentrate on this work.

Whatsever I have tried to convey in this book, I always kept various aspects, development and specialities of Farrrukhabad Gharana along with some rare compositions my Guruji taught me. I would feel extremely satisfied if my purpose of this work helps the students, musicians and other readers who are keen to know the various aspects of the Tabla of Farrukhabad Gharana.

Tabla has developed as Solo instrument only lately. Even today, many musicians are reluctant to consider it as a musical instrument. Neither are they inclined to learn more about it, preferring to make themselves aware of only those Taals and Thekas that are useful to them. Tabla has its own language - grammer, aesthetics, prose, poetry viz: Uthaan, Suruwaat, Peshkar, Kaida, Chalan, Paran, Gat, Rela, Tukra and Chakkardar which use to present with some syllables with Tabla languages.

In this book, it has been my effort to highlight Farrukhabad Gharana-it's evolution, history, development and propagation all over the country, specialities of this Gharana, reason of it's popularity and contributions of the great maestros to popularize this Gharana.

As an author I have tried my best and shall keep on trying so because it is only about the specific Gharana or School of Tabla.

I hope I will, after having the requisite feedback from my readers and critics, try to do much better in the days to come.

I hereby acknowledge, very happily, the help given to me by Pandit Vijay Shankar Mishra famous music critic, musicologist and Tabla Artist for his proper guidance and suggestions to write this book.

I also take pleasure in expressing my gratitude to the following:

My senior Guru Bhai eminent Tabla Player Pt. Shyam Sundar Bose for his valuable suggesions.

My Guru Bhai renowned Tabla Player Pt. Dilip Mukherjee for notating some rare compositions provided in this book.

My Guru Bhai Shri Sanjeev Sarkar for his assistance during the live interview sessions at Kolkata.

My disciple Shri Ashish Sharma for his technical assistance.

My great follower, like my son Shri Prateek Guha for doing the bulk of computer-related jobs and art related work.

Shri Madan Sachdeva of Kanishka Publisher and Distributors for accepting to publish this book.