The Ravi Shankar Foundation (RSF) in California and the Ravi Shankar Centre (RSC) in New Delhi, also known as RIMPA (Ravi Shankar Institute of Music & Performing Arts), have been established to collect, document and archive the vast works of Pt. Ravi Shankar fragmented all over. The annual RIMPA Festival of Music & Dance was originally initiated by Pt. Ravi Shankar himself, to promote art and culture by inviting the upcoming as well as established artists to perform at the Centre and showcase their talent.
Despite the chill of the open air seating arrangement, there was a sizeable number of enthusiastic audiences on the inaugural evening, that opened with a Hindustani vocal recital by Sawani Mudgal.
The gifted daughter and disciple of Pt. Madhup Mudgal, Sawani was initiated into music from an early childhood at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. A gold medallist in M.A. Music from Khairagarh University, Sawani started rigorous training in music under her guru and father at the age of 12 and is seen now accompanying him in concerts at home and abroad.
Accompanied this evening on tabla by Khadga Singh and on harmonium by Chetan Nigam, Sawani opened her vocal recital with raga Chhayanat. The traditional bada khayal “Nevar ki jhankaar….” set to vilambit Jhoomra Tala, dealt with the raga systematically and in great detail. Sawani gave a sense of novelty by opting for “Pyari Ladli karat batiyaan….” set to drut Ek-tala for her chhota khayal instead of the oft heard Teentala composition “Jhanana jhanana jhan paayal baaje…”. Although composed by the same composer, this was certainly an intelligent choice offering a sense of wonder.
Her second raga was Basant, the most popular raga of the spring season, where she also chose the most popular bandish, “Phagwa Brij dekhan ko chalo ri…” adorned with the scintillating sargam and akaar taans symbolising the myriad shades of flowers and the colours of Phagwa, the festival of colours. The second composition, “Rang kesariya tero paaga….” felt repetitive because of the same notation of the mukhda (the opening phrase) as the previous bandish, which she could have easily avoided.
This was followed by a nostalgic dadra in Gara “Jiya mein laagi aan-baan…” immortalized by Gauhar Jaan, where the Antara (second half of the composition) would go double the tempo of the Dadra Tala, this Dadra (form) was set to. Although there was no time for the Thumri type leisurely treatment but the lilting gait of the Dadra was enhanced beautifully by the accompanying artists on Tabla and Harmonium. Sawani concluded with a quick series of lively Hori and Rasiya like “Rasiya ko naar banao ri….”, “Aao ri avo tum….” and “Kanhaiya sang Hori…” that took her concert to its climax.
The sitar-shehnai duet by Gaurav Majumdar and Sanjeev Shankar respectively, was the second attraction of the inaugural evening. Both of them born in musical families and initiated by their respective fathers, Gaurav by Shri Dulal Majumdar and Sanjeev by Pt. Daya Shankar the acclaimed shehnai player of Benaras gharana, were groomed further under the tutelage of Pt. Ravi Shankar. For their main raga, they chose raga Mohan Kauns that Pt. Ravi Shankar had created as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his tragic death at the behest of AIR. Pandit ji took the swaras Ga Ni Dha from Gandhi and created this pathos-filled raga. They were ably accompanied on tabla by Hindole Majumdar.
Soothing Shehnai
After the opening phrase by Gaurav on sitar, the penetrating sur of shehnai gave the first knock on the hearts of the discerning audiences. They both took a turn during the detailed alap-jod and jhala, which was followed by an impressive round of tabla by Hindole. The composition was set to Rupak Tala of seven beats cycle in medium tempo. They both worked on the raga as desired but the built-in mike of sitar was sharp enough to catch even the undesired elements which could be avoided with a normal mike. Shehnai came as a soothing balm.
The concluding piece in Mishra Pilu was expected to be short and sweet, because it was already late for the cold night and the third group of percussionists in Bickram Ghosh, with his drums of India, were still waiting in the wings for his turn; but it came out to be a full-fledged rendering of raga Pilu with the masitkhani and razakhani gat compositions. By the time Bickram could get the stage many of his admirers had left. Bickram Ghosh on tabla, Suresh Vaidyanathan on ghatam, Gopal Burman on shrikhol and Sumod Sreedharan on mridangam were brilliant as ever.
