KHELEN THOCKCHOM
Sharma (left) at his residence with a customer. A Telegraph picture
Imphal, March 18: When A.R. Rahman walked on stage to accept the Oscars last year, an Imphal flute-maker swelled in pride that a little part of him had travelled from tiny Manipur to glamorous Los Angeles.
Flutes made by Brahamacharimayum Kiranjit Sharma are played by Rahman’s flautist Navin, as they are by other great Indian flautists.
Though not a household name in his own state, 36-year-old Sharma is well known among flautists, from the legendary Hariprasad Chaurasiya to Ronu Majumdar to Rahman.
“When Rahman won the Oscars, I was very happy. Because Navin is using my flute and my feeling was like I myself have won an Oscar,” Sharma, popularly known as B.K., said.
The flute-maker now dreams of making it to the Guinness World Records — by making the longest and smallest bamboo flutes which can be played.
“It is just to extend my knowledge and expertise in something which has been not been attempted by anyone else,” he said today.
Preparing to appear for the final examinations for a Masters degree in visual arts in Assam University, Sharma not only makes flutes, but also plays the instrument.
“I started making bamboo flutes when I found flutes available in Manipur could not satisfy me. When other flautists used my instrument they asked me from where I had got it. Then gradually I became a flute-maker,” Kiranjit said.
He was once a member of Manipur’s well-known band called Mahabharat.
The second son of B. Rajmani Sharma, a priest of Imphal East’s Brahamapur Nahabam locality and Tombisana Devi, he learnt playing flute from a local guru, H. Apabi, an artiste of the All India Radio, Imphal station.
Having begun making flutes in 1990, he is now the head of B.K. Flute Industries and his products are exported to Singapore and the US.
He uses two species of bamboo grown in the hills of Manipur, locally called khok and nat.
This bamboo species are rarely found in other parts of the world and it is the use of these bamboo species that his flutes are regarded as one of the best. The prices range from Rs 150 to Rs 10,000.
A Manipuri flautist, R.K. Bikramjit, who is now based in Pune, helped popularise Sharma’s flute among Indian gurus.
A multi-faceted person, Kiranjit also runs a factory of cosmetics.
“Now I am planning to make the smallest and the longest bamboo flute. These would be professional flutes, which means they can be played like any other flute,” he said.
He has already chiselled the first folding bamboo flute, adjustable to any kind of weather.
“The scale of the flute can be changed because of weather conditions. This folding flute is adjustable to any kind of weather,” he said.
