Initiated, ideated and designed by Kaushiki Chakraborty, daughter and disciple of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, “Sakhi” recently debuted in Kolkata at Kala Mandir by introducing a happily creative ‘all women Indian classical music band’. Led by Kaushiki, the band named Sakhi includes six performing artistes including Nandini Shankar (violin), Debopriya Chatterjee Ranadive (flute), Bhakti Deshpande (Kathak), Savani Talwalkar (tabla) and Mahima Upadhyay (pakhawaj).
This is neither a unique idea nor a first of its kind but perhaps for the first time this group of six, whose members have already carved a niche for themselves in their respective arenas of vocal, instruments and dance, is trying to understand from a female perspective the diverse culture of India through all its traditional musical forms. This is a country whose society was founded in ancient Vedic spirit with the highest respect for the matriarch. Mother was considered, and still is, the ‘first guru’ who initiates her child into arts and the relevant culture. Most of the six sakhis, including Kaushiki, are initially trained by their mothers (or grandmother — as in the case of Nandini, who is the granddaughter of N. Rajam). But the modern-day struggles and triumphs of women — with female foeticide on one side and power wielding women National leaders on the other — tell several different tales of woes or sky-rocketing conquest.
“In Sakhi, we try to include all, down the ages. The tale we tell is of the relevance and perspective of the Indian girl that has been experienced for centuries now but never really told musically,” says Kaushiki. “The common girl-next-door, by this time, has, in general, become shy and timid, hesitant to have an opinion, and sometimes too weak to fight the battle of her own identity in the modern society. Sakhi promises to translate all these characteristics of the Indian girl with love and positivity, musically.”
As is evident from the word ‘Sakhi’, the identity of this clutch of beautiful intellectuals, they are hopelessly romantic, wary of the word ‘empowered’; and believe in the beauty of their feminine charm which happens to be the most powerful weapon of womankind. In that respect, the initiative has turned out to be a celebration of different aspects of womanhood by focusing on Meera, Saraswati, Kali, Kamali, Durga — even on tawaif-s. Some traditional, some especially composed bandish-s, kavitt-s, thumri-s, tillana, bhajan, etc. have woven the storyline based on ragas like Saraswati, Durga, etc.
‘Though our percussion jugalbandi (between Savani and Mahima) represents a battle against the prejudices and regressive social norms, we are not against men. Our loved ones are men, and we deeply respect our gurus who are men too. It is their blessing that even before its premiere in Kolkata, Sakhi has already caught the fancy of connoisseurs the world over and is scheduled to put up shows in NCPA, Mumbai, Holland and USA. We are very happy for what we are as we realise that to be able to pursue any art is a special gift from god. Sakhi is an open forum of likeminded girls, celebrating our blessings,” signs off Kaushiki cheerfully.
