The veena (instrument of Goddess Saraswati) and the “venu” (flute, of Lord Krishna) are coming together in a jugalbandi presented by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) on 7th June at IGNCA Auditorium. Pandit Ronu Majumdar of the Senia Maihar gharanaand Vidushi Jayanthi Kumaresh, the sixth generation representative of an unbroken line of musicians from Tygaraja Swami, have played together many times over the last ten years. Both are masters of their instruments, with the clearly discernible ability to adapt their presentations to absorb techniques and patterns of music alien to their instruments and musical genres, resulting in a seamless and coherent performance.
Hindustani and Carnatic jugalbandis are becoming increasingly popular nowadays, despite the obvious difficulties and differences in presentation. Despite protestations to the contrary, the origin of Carnatic and Hindustani music is the same; along the way each has developed its own path, with different ragas, different ways of presentation, and different approaches to “taal”. Jayanthi Kumaresh agrees with this, “Earlier, in India there was one single music system, and several invasions and influences have created two different styles of music.”
Apart from raga differences, the method of deconstruction of the raga, different styles of embellishment, different format of presentation, “taal” differences — all these are hurdles that impose restrictions on the performers, resulting in only a few select artists venturing into this territory.
Creative hurdles
A jugalbandi in any case imposes huge creative hurdles on the performers, with having to give space to the others thought processes; the additional difference of genre is an added problem. A good jugalbandi should showcase a mutual synergy between the artists, neither should try to upstage the other, or demonstrate incompatible instrument techniques. The mutual respect for each other as artists should come through in their playing; there should also be totally equal participation by both, and an effort to embellish the other’s creative thought, to mutually make music.
According to Kumaresh, , “veena, venu and mridangam are all instruments that have been mentioned in our scriptures. We now combine these with the lovely tone of tabla, to bring in a unique flavour. Arjun Kumar who will be playing the mridangam is a renowned artist; we are both looking forward to performing with the great Abhijeet ji (Pt Abhijeet Bannerji will be on tabla). Ronu ji, of course, is very open minded about collaborating with all genres; his experience in playing jugalbandis is also abundant. Plus, he is a wonderful team player, and looks forward to doing something new each time. We will be playing traditional ragas common to both systems, and will highlight the essential “gamaka” (oscillation of a note) differences in both styles; how the same note can sound different by changing the ornamentation.” Of course Jayanthi’s instrument presents the obvious technical difficulties of being unwieldy, still fashioned today, much as it was around 350 years ago. In the words of her Guru, late Vidwan S Balachander, “Veena is God’s instrument, but you have to practice like a demon.”
Ronu Majumdar
Pt. Ronu Majumdar is equally excited about the concert. Analysing the difficulties of jugalbandi with a Carnatic artist, he says, “To play any jugalbandi, one needs to sacrifice one’s ego. More than your own satisfaction on stage, as a player, you have to make your co-artist happy. You have to ensure your co-artist is comfortable on stage with you. This applies to all instruments, be it a veena, sitar, violin, or a vocalist — the mind has to match. Both Jayanthiji and I play in the same scale, on pitch “E”, so it’s easy for both of us, with no scale modifications required. I remember the first time we played together was in Delhi, at a Banyan Tree concert, around 10 years ago. I will admit Carnatic jugalbandis are difficult; one has to have knowledge of the system; it’s not enough to respect your co-artist. Even in the “laya” aspect, one has to know how the “Tani avartanam” (percussion interaction) progresses. I have been fortunate to learn a little Carnatic music myself, as Pt Vijay Raghav Rao ji, one of my Gurus, was himself a Telugu , and I have played innumerable jugalbandis with Carnatic musicians, vocal as well as instrumental. From the late Balmurali ji, to Bombay Jayashri, the great Kadri Gopalnath on saxophone, to violinists of the calibre of Mysore Manjunath, Ganesh and Kumaresh ji, it has been so enriching. I am looking forward to this concert.”
