Amidst the recent Guru Purnima messages and photos flooding the arena of social media, one felt much was lost in the din and glitter of what otherwise is a very personal and private occasion.
Abhyas – an association of arts and culture provided rasikas with the much needed respite by organising the 6th Natnaagar Festival in remembrance of their Guru, the grand man of Kathak late Pt. Shambhu Maharaj. With the chief guests including Padma Vibhushan awardee Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan and ace critic Sunil Kothari remembering with much fondness their gurus and lives as disciples, the festival featured Odissi by Guru Madhavi Mudgal, Kathak by Daniel Freddy and Rahul Pawar (students of Guru Vaswati Sen), and Bharatanatyam by Vidushi Rama Vaidyanathan.
One was able to witness the Odissi recital in its full glory. Madhavi Mudgal began her recital with a mangalacharan dedicated to Lord Shiva. Sambhav Lalat ... extracted from the 13th century text “Sangeet Ratnakar”, delved into the duality- non duality concept of Shiva and Shakti. One had heard this composition in shuddh Hindustani style by the renowned vocalist Jitendra Abhisheki which the dancer had modulated in her personal lyrical manner.
Next in line was Jhinjhoti Pallavi, a composition by Pt. Madhup Mudgal. Intertwined with sculptural freezes of the alasya kanyas, Madhavi Mudgal, belying her age, beautifully executed the entire pallavi.The pallavi itself quite complex musically had various jati patterns interwoven with the Jhinjhoti raga executed by the orchestra with much finesse.
Recalling how Shambhu Maharaj had seen Mudgal dance as a kid, promising to give her a ‘gold medal’, the dancer chose to render a dadra by Begum Akhtar as a tribute to both the legends who were doyens of the Lucknawi style of performing arts. Treading the much charted waters of the nayika requesting the koyaliya to go to her lord with her message and bring him soon, the Odissi stalwart found herself at ease executing the khayal piece in Odissi style, owing to her years of training and performance career as a Kathak artiste.
The danseuse aptly chose to draw curtains on her poetically executed evening on Guru Purnima by rendering the much loved ashtapadi of her Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra in raga Bhairavi: “Yahi Madhava Yahi Keshava” echoing through the hall, leaving the rasikas unquenched in their thirst for more….
