February 1! The budget day! Till the cows come home, the entire discussion everywhere, on the roads, on the radio, on the internet, on the t.v. channels to youtube groups is about what would cost more, the eternal grouse that travels times.
This year though, despite its being Feb First, in the evening, I could calmly crawl in to the spaces between better 'notes', and curl my back to worries about dirty monies. Maya Angelou would sure forgive me my take on her famous quote.
The occasion was the "Swar Utsav", an evening of simply superb music, orchestrated by the "Sapthak" ensemble in Bangalore, in association with the Pune based "Mitra Foundation".
The first of its kind, the "Swar Utsav", which initiated the Mitra renditions this year, was a sheer celebration of music, what with the life time achievement award being given to flautist Pandit Nityanand Haldipur, a disciple of the great Annapurna Devi.
The evening performance was a mix of the vocal and the instrumental. The evening began with Dhananjay Hegde singing the Bhimpalas. This disciple of the Kirana-Atrauli gharanas made the evening meditative with "ab to badi der" and "lagan lagi". His "Yaman" made the longing pulsating in the evening absolutely poignant.
He was accompanied most lyrically on the harmonium by Suyog Kundalkar, while Pranav Gurav's tabla complimented them both most ably.
Though the break was too long, what with the air conditioners making it truly wintry, the wait was worth it because what followed after the break was 'sense'-ationally superb. Rakesh Chaursia's "Jog" made the auditory abilities of the audience surfeit with superb sur's.
While his disciple, Ms Joshi, ably proved what it is to be trained by a 'guru', Ojas Dhadiya's tabla complemented n complimented the magic genuine jugalbandi of sur n tal can create. I felt real sorry to have to leave with the "Hamsadhwani" just flute-ing in.
I cannot thank my colleague, Rajeshree Gokhale Madam, the compere of the evening, for the invite. Absolutely looking forward to many such mesmerizing memories, Ma'am!
Pratima@What truly created the 'mahaul' of the 'mehfil' was the cute fact that both the artists, masterful as they were, refused to take themselves too very seriously. While Hegdeji reminded us of our shaky footsteps in to classical music before he began his majestic "Yaman", Rakesh Chaurasia's fun filled raillery made his superb rendition of the classical absolutely en-'light'-ening!
Quote of the day: "One good thing about music is," asserts Bob Marley, "when it hits you, it causes no pain."
Word of the day: melody Indian classical music is melodious, not symphonic, it is always argued. 'Melody', the principal part in harmonized music, is an aspect of musical composition concerned with the arrangement of single notes to form a satisfying sequence. So says the dictionary, while artists en-'live'-n it.
Let us learn grammar: Let us not to the melody of music add our daily dose of grammar, okay? We can break that rhythm for a day, right?
N.B.: a blog by Pratima Padmaja-Ramchandra Agnihotri, Pune
