With a striped jamakkalam spread on the floor and a portrait of Goddess Saraswati hung on the wall behind, the stage is set for the kutcheri. But one rarely hears the Sitar and the Tabla in a typical Carnatic kutcheri. In this one-of-its-kind Jugalbandi, Hindustani and Carnatic musicians strung up some mellifluous music on the Veena and the Sitar last week at the Rani Lady Meiyammai Aachi Tamil Music College, Raja Muthiah Mandram.
The star attraction of the concert was Pandit Rabindranarayan Goswami, an ace Sitar player from Varanasi, who played some soul-stirring ragas on the Sitar. A lanky man in his late sixties, sporting a khadi kurta and pyjamas, Goswami ji as he is known, is a Sitar player for over half-a-century now. “Sitar to Hindustani music is what Veena is to Carnatic music. Both the instruments are just modified versions of each other. The difference is in the making – the Veena is made of a single wood, while Sitar is made from a variety of wood,” says Rabrindranarayan.
“This is an exercise to understand each of the music traditions better and pave way for more research. I believe this Jugalbandi is a healthy exchange of ideas for music lovers and students from both the genres and will help them to appreciate the difference between Carnatic and Hindustani music,” says Dr.V.A.Vidya, Founder CEO and Academic Director of Chella Meenakshi Centre for Educational Research and Services, who coordinated the concert.
Though widely travelled, it was Rabindranarayan’s first visit to Madurai. “It was my first time that I played alongside Carnatic instrumentalists. I believe both the music traditions have much in common and more collaboration should be encouraged between the two,” he says. “I have mostly performed in Kerala in South India. But, I have always wondered how it would be to perform with Carnatic music. It was absolutely pleasurable to listen to the Veena and match the ragas with the Sitar.” He learnt to play the Sitar from his aunt. “I have been playing since the age of 16 and have never compromised on my music for the sake of money. To sell music for money is not professionalism. Classical music is something that’s pure and food for the soul.”
He believes that until the time when Sangita Ratnakara was written, Hindustani and Carnatic music were same. “Later, when the north of India saw many invasions, the music there got influenced by Sufi and other music forms. That’s how the music split into two. While playing the sitar and the veena, you can’t really differentiate much. The ragas are almost the same.”
During the Jugalbandi, Dr.S.Mallika, Principal of the college, played Hindolam, Amrita Varshini and Bhairavi ragas on the Veena and she was accompanied by V. Sundareswaran, artiste with the All India Radio, on the Murdangam. The corresponding Hindustani ragas of Malkaush, Amrita Varshini and Sindhu Bhairavi were played on the Sitar by Rabindranarayan, accompanied by Rahul Pophali on the Tabla. Flute performance by Hari Prasad Paudyal preceded the jugalbandi.
Rabindranarayan is a senior research fellow at the Yale University and his research is on sources of Indian ragas from Church Choir music. “I am in the process of deriving new ragas from Church music, which I plan to bring out in the form of a CD,” he says. “Music is one field where there are no shortcuts to success. Young aspiring music students should realise that practice and hard work is the only way up.”
