Yours, mine and ours
Jayanthi Kumaresh and her Indian National Orchestra created music that brought home the truth that music was a great unifier.
One by one, they came, dressed in white and took their places. Fourteen musicians who were going to transport Coimbatore’s music lovers to another plane. The second concert of The Hindu Friday Review Music Fest was brought by Jayanthi Kumaresh who said, “We have a National cricket team. So, why not a National orchestra?”
Kumaresh formed the Indian National Orchestra from musicians across the country, created compositions for the orchestra based on Hindustani and Carnatic ragas and proved that there was more unity in music than the world dreamed of.
Each composition celebrated the Nation’s definitive symbols, its pride.
A prayer to Ganesha in Raaga Gambir Natai began the performance. The ghatam, mridangam, tabla, the sitars, violins, veenai, flutes, morsing and the vocals meshed together harmoniously.
Next, it was a paean to the lotus, the national flower, in Raaga Kaanada or Sahaana, set to jhap taal.
A tribute to Ganga began, treading softly, treading lightly. Ganga sets off from her source as a delicate stream. She meanders gently through before gathering momentum and pace and works herself into a fury as she roars ahead before calming down once again and merging with the ocean. Kumaresh urged the audience to close their eyes and take that journey with Ganga. The jhala on the sitar, the mellifluous notes of the flutes, the plaintive violins and the grand tones of the veena took us right to the banks of the river from her source to her final destination.
The mridangam thundrered its presence, joined by the ghatam, chenda and the tabla, and heralded the composition, Himalayan Heights in Raaga Haricharan or Lalit.
The sweet Behaag ushered in the concluding piece of the concert. Kumaresh explained how the composition incorporated all of India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, used elements of folk music so intrinsic to people across our land and conveyed that despite difference in languages, traditions and beliefs, India was one undisputed whole. The composition that began with Behaag ended with Sindhu Bhairavi. The sounds the musicians created were of bird calls, the flute of cowherds, the tinkling of rivers and the rustle of forests…all beautiful India. The finale was the unforgettable Mile sur mera tumhaara, recalling stalwarts such as Bhimsen Joshi and M. Balamuralikrishna we have all grown up watching on Doordarshan.
Metal in a mundu!
My palms are pink and smarting from the crazy clapping. My ears continue to ring with all that heavy metal and psychedelic dots still dance in front of my eyes. Blame it all on Thaikkudam Bridge.
The eclectic band from Kerala, named after a bridge near Kochi, and its exuberant members had Coimbatore on its feet as they played a pulsating mish-mash of melody, death metal and rock on Sunday night. They wowed the crowd, mainly comprising youngsters, and how!
The sheer energy on stage made it hard to take one’s eyes off the performers. They sang, they danced and they headbanged and the audience just loved it. It was a show unlike what the city has ever seen before. The band burst with frenzied energy and played like people possessed till the very last number.
When Govind Menon played an interlude on the violin, it left many breathless. His cousin and the heartthrob of the band, Siddharth Menon was suitably welcomed with loud hoots.
Bass guitarist Vian Fernandez was a showstopper, with his flamboyant playing and Bohemian dressing. He kept engaging the crowd, and made fans for life when he said he loved Coimbatore’s audience.
With Appozhum Paranjille, Peethambaran Menon (Govind’s father), wearing a black veshti, showed why old is indeed gold, even if it is in a rock band! What a voice and what audience connect!
People unfamiliar with the band’s repertoire were left awestruck by the infectious music — there was Metallica (Nothing Else Matters), MJ (Just Beat It), Ilaiyaraaja (Thendral Vandhu Theendum… and Ilangaathu Veesudhe), Kailash Kher (Teri Deewani), A.R. Rahman (New York Nagaram) and a Malayalam medley too.
Those who knew the band’s signature tunes had the time of their lives, singing and dancing to Nostalgia.
The crowd went wild when they performed Budtammeez Dil and the grand finale was their pulsating Fish Rock. They made a place for themselves in the heart of every fish-loving person present there.
After all, who can resist the lure of Aila Mathi…?
Web: >www.thehindu.com/novemberfest
Tickets: >http://thne.ws/novfest-tkts
Facebook: >Friday Review November Fest 2014
Twitter: >@frnovfest
