On the occasion of its golden jubilee, Kaladharmi presented “Aarohi-2018: Celebrating the Gharana Heritage”, a three-day music festival, to salute the legends of Hindustani classical music - Pt. Pannalal Ghosh, Ud Nissar Hussain Khan, Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra and Ud. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and to celebrate the heritage of their gharana. After presenting last year the torchbearers of nine Gharanas namely Kirana, Lucknow, Maihar, Banaras, Gwalior, Jaipur, Senia-Bangash and acknowledging the Dewas Gharana of Pt. Kumar Gandharva, whose distinct style is palpable in many vocalists today, Kaladharmi presented two well-established gharanas – the Patiala and the Rampur Sahaswan while introducing two more gharanas represented by the unmistakable flute style of the late Pt. Pannalal Ghosh and the Rajshahi-Shahjahanpur Gharana reflected in the sarod style of Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra.
Push to flute
It was a welcome effort of Kaladharmi and its founder trustee Rita Ganguly to acknowledge the contribution of Pt. Pannalal Ghosh, who uplifted the flute to the prestigious status of classical music from being just an insignificant folk instrument. A special seminar “The Divine Flute” on Borishal Ghosh Gharana was organised on the inaugural day, where the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Vishwas Kulkarni, a disciple of K.L. Ginde and Pt. V.G.Karnad, and a man of science as well as music, being one of the senior most scientists of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. Pt. Nayan Ghosh and Dr. Keshav Ginde were the speakers at the seminar chaired by Dr. Bharat Gupta, who was also conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The seminar also had a film screening of Pt. Pannalal Ghosh and a flute recital by Sudip Chatterjee that underlined the technique of the Borishal Ghosh Gharana.
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The second evening was a homage to the Borishal Ghosh and Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana with performances by the torchbearers of both the gharanas. After the screening of a short film on Pt. Pannalal Ghosh convincingly conjured up by Pt. Nayan Ghosh, the young Ishaan Ghosh lighted the torch of his gharana and took the stage with his tabla solo, pertaining to the particular baaj and technique of his gharana. The senior Sarangi-player Kamal Khan was there to provide him lehera in Teentala. Opening with a reposeful alaap like peshkar, he proceeded to the qayada ¨Dheek dhina tirkit dheena...¨ with its umpteen variations, the electrifying rela and choicest tukdas of seniors like Masit Khan, Ud. Amir Hussain Khan and his own Dada-Guru Pt. Nikhil Ghosh.
Rupak Kulkarni on flute represented the melodic aspect of the Borishal Ghosh Gharana after Ishaan represented its rhythmic aspect on tabla. Rupak’s father was trained under Pt. Pannalal Ghosh. Rupak is also trained in khayal gayaki under Padmavati Shaligram, so he opened with raga Purva Kalyan in Khayal Ang with an introductory alap and the vilambit khayal set to slow Ek-tTala proceeding towards tantrakari ang, the instrumental technique in the drut gat ending with jhala. Ud. Akram Khan on tabla provided him adequate support.
Young Ghulam Niyaz Hussain Khan, the grandson of Ud. Nissar Hussain Khan, lighted the torch of Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana and gave a heartening account of his training in the restrained rendering of the timely raga Bihag. The systematic progression of the alap-barhat and the crystal clear taans spoke not only of his authentic taalim but also the rigorous riyaz.
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Gharana’s features
The celebration of Rajshahi-Shahjahanpur Gharana got its authentic representation in the sonorous sarod by Pt. Narendra Nath Dhar. Since his father Nemai Chand Dhar was one of the senior most disciples of Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra, Narendra Nath got the rare privilege to learn sarod under Pt. Maitra right from his childhood. He showcased all the significant features of his gharana in the given time.
The alap-jod in raga Shyam Kalyan adhered to the techniques of been ang taught by his guru. The reposeful alap was followed by jod that had all the intricacies of old Been ka Baaj such as ladi-lapet, lad-gunthaav and ladant with specific bols of sarod, which has disappeared from the concert scene with most of the sarodias playing sarod in sitar style.
Both the slow and medium tempo compositions in Teentala that he played in raga Shyam-Kalyan, were composed by Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra only and he treated them with their deserving finesse with a feel for the magic of sound and silence. Durjay Bhaumik matched the meticulous flair and poise of the sarod with his understated tabla. Dhar wanted to play a gat-mala, a garland of his guru’s compositions, in the melodious ragas of Kafi Thaat like Zila, Gara, Kafi, Sidura et al but he was denied due to the paucity of time. Hence the audience were deprived of this unique treat.
The three-day festival concluded with a homage to Patiala gharana with Pt. Shantanu Bhattacharya lighting the torch of the gharana and rendering raga Kaunsi Kanhada with unmistakeable stamp of Patiala Gayaki. Shantanu is trained under Pt. Prasun Banerjee, disciple of the one and only Ud. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Hence he presented the Bada Khayal set to vilambit Jhoomra and the following chhota khayal with the same resource and splendour. Here again he had to leave without offering the delicious dessert with one of Khan Sahebs unforgettable thumris.