The four-day centenary celebrations of Pt. Vinay Chandra Maudgalya, the Founder Principal of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (GMV), that had taken off with the celebratory Vadya Vrinda (orchestra) and Vrinda-Gaan (choir) by the junior and senior group of well-trained students of GMV presenting lovely compositions of Bhai ji, concluded with a magical violin recital by Dr. N. Rajam who was assisted by her disciple and granddaughter Nandini Shankar on violin and Ud. Akram Khan on tabla. The concluding evening had also opened with a group of students presenting the choicest compositions of Bhai ji, like the Dhrupad in Bhimpalasi, “Koyaliya bole amavan ki dalariya..” in Tilak Kamod, “Chalo kokila Madhumas aaya…” in Desh, and the “Mangal Gaan” in Yaman.
The distinctive sound of Dr. N. Rajam’s violin, transparent and very personal, at once reminds of the sonorous voice of her Guru Pt. Onkar Nath Thakur, full of hurt and yearning! The soul stirring sound of her violin intrigued, delighted and surrounded the listeners throughout the concert, right from the very first ‘Sur-Lagaav’ (statement) of the alaap in the timely raga Yaman that seized the consciousness of audiences packed to capacity in the Sannidhi Sabhagar at the GMV. The raga, dealt in Gayaki Ang, opened with a Bada Khayal like composition set to vilambit Ek-tala. The leisurely vistar (elaboration) of the evening raga with controlled pacing and rich phrasing, dripped with tenderness and nostalgia. After traversing through the swaras of sthayi and antara (the two parts of the composition), the showers of variety of taans were enthusiastically reciprocated by Nandini. The restrained, admirable sangat of tabla was a lesson for many intrusive accompanists.
The old time favourite chhota khayal, “Piya ki najariya, jadu bhari…” in Teentala offered rhythmic delight to Akram Khan also, who till then abstained from indulging himself. Nandini regaled the audience with her sprightly mischievous repartees to Akram. This was followed with a drut Teentala composition that turned the treat to Tantrakari Ang, concluding it with a jet speed Jhala that maintained total tunefulness. Akram’s crisp ‘Na dhin dhin na’, reflecting the myriad hues of the fast Jhala, also kept the clarity till the end.
The next raga was Jaijaiwanti, where the introductory alaap was followed with the popular bandish ‘More mandir ab lain nahn aaye….”. Rajam has a way with the lyrics, making them personal and true. The pathos of the Komal Gandhar for instance, translating the agony of the second line “kaun si bhool bhai mori”, would wrench the hearts of those familiar with the composition being played. This raga also had the delicate grace and striking virtuosity in their hide & seek with the rhythm. The Bandishi Thumri in Khamaj “na manungi…..” and the concluding Bhairavi Bhajan “Jogi mat ja…” immortalised by her Guru Pt. Omkarnath Thakur, completed the engrossing repertoire that rang in the ears felicitously.
The Kunwar Shyam Mahotsav
The admirable balance of Sahitya and Sangeet comprising melody, rhythm and the devotional lyrics in the amazing compositions of Kunwar Shyam is perhaps the secret of their popularity amongst the practitioners of Hindustani music. Goswami Shri Lal ji, popularly known by his pseudonym ‘Kunwar Shyam’, composed hundreds of compositions in different ragas and talas, on the Shrigara Bhakti of Radha Krishna ranging from Hori, Rasa, Sanjhi, Varsha Ritu and Virah.
The Kunwar Shyam Mahotsav was organised at the IIC by the descendants of his family to bring this treasure of Hindustani classical music; to music lovers. His grand son Chitresh Goswami has also created a website which contains a large corpus of Kunwar Shyam compositions with some audio recordings too. The invited vocalists presenting the Kunwar Shyam compositions this evening, were Ud. Iqbal Ahmed Khan from Dilli Gharana, Jnaneshwara Naik from Goa and Anirban Bhattacharya, disciple of Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty.
Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan
Jnaneshwar Sharma from Goa opened the evening with the popular Kunwar Shyam composition in Bihag, “Dekho mori rang mein bhigoye dari…”. The second one was in raga Desh where the ‘Sam’ came stealthily on the second alphabet of the Bandish in “Darat mope rang dekho bar bar..”, taking the tabla player for a ride who would mistake it to be on ‘Da’ instead of ‘Ra’, in the word Darat. Naik could have sung some rare compositions instead of concluding with the oft heard Basant one, “Phagwa brij dekhan ko chalo ri…” which is sung by everyone.
Anirban welcomed and felt fortunate to be singing in front of Pt. Birju Maharaj from whom he confessed to have learnt a number of compositions, before singing the Kunwar Shyam compositions in Pilu and Bihag. He concluded with the most popular one in Sur-Malhar “Badarwa barsan ko aaye…”
Ud. Iqbal Ahmed Khan informed the audience that originally from Mathura-Vrindavan, Kunwar Shyam’s father settled in old Delhi in late 19th century. He also remembered the days when he would pay ‘Haziri’, a visit to offer musical tribute at the Kunwar Shyam temple of Bihari ji in old Delhi and reiterated “the Dilli Gharana has close connections with this rich legacy, almost as a part of our own gharana. My Ustads Chand Khan and Bundu Khan propagated the Kunwar Shyam compositions in a big way. I received this treasure from them only.”
Accompanied on tabla by Babar Latif, on harmonium by Zakir Dholpuri and with two of his disciples Anis Khan and Vivek Prajapati for vocal support, Ud. Iqbal Ahmed Khan presented an attractive bouquet of Kunwar Shyam compositions. The alliteration drew attention in the very first composition that went “Kaisi tu karat mose chhed ber ber, Panghat pe nit nit mag gher gher…”. Then came the popular Bageshri bandish, “Apni garaj pakad lini bainyan mori…(set to drut Ektala. The two Bahar compositions sung by many musicians came next in “Dar dar paat paat phuli ajab Bahar” and “Sakal ban gagan pawan chalat purvai….” .
Khan Saheb created the visual imagery of the thundering clouds in the Malhar composition of Kunwar Shyam, “Umad ghumad garaj garaj badarwa aaye….” with his impressive rendering laced with heavy gamakas. Then there was a Hori in the typical Kafi before the concluding ‘Dorangi’ Bhairavi, which had the dual shades of Rishabh, Gandhar, Madhyam, Dhaivat and Nishad in “Jaun tope vari, na maro bhar pichkari…”. Khan Saheb signed off with the promise that his own and the services of his gharana will always be there to preserve and propagate the precious compositions of Kunwar Shyam.
