Drenched with the blessings of rain-gods, Nehru Park reverberated with the ringing voice of Pandit Ravi Shankar singing “He Nath, hum par kripa keejiye/ Duur kar andhkar, jnan ka aalok dijiye…”, his own composition in the sonorous swaras of raga Yaman. It was the background score for a short biopic on his life and music that heralded ‘Smaran’: Celebrating 100 years of the Bharat Ratna. Organised by the SRF Foundation with SPIC MACAY and RIMPA (the Ravi Shankar Institute of Music & Performing Arts), the two-day centenary celebration had just begun with the auspicious ‘Mangal-Vadya’ shehnai by Sanjeev and Ashwini Shankar, his youngest disciples playing raga Madhuvanti, that the rains resumed fiercely and the rest of the performances had to be postponed.
“Smaran” was preponed to 3 p.m. the next day and it was perfect time for Bhimpalasi, the melodious afternoon raga one rarely gets opportunity to listen to, but Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya chose the regular Charukeshi for their duet on Mohan Veena and Santoor. The two senior disciples of Pt. Ravi Shankar took turns to elaborate the raga with Alap-Jod Jhala and two compositions in slow and medium Teentala. The imaginative use of the two tablas tuned to the lower and the upper Shadja got Bickram Ghosh instant applause in his opening uthaan itself. The amiable mukhda (opening phrase) of the drut gat, opening with a fast taan and resting on a melodious meend (oscillation) of Mandra Dhaivat for a surprising sam , was remarkable. There was an alluring alaap in raga Desh prefacing the concluding Vande Mataram enhanced by the Bhajaneek theka of Bickram on his broad-faced tabla that sounded like a Pakhawaj.
Echo effect
Begum Parveen Sultana fondly remembered Pt. Ravi Shankar whom she addressed ‘Kaka-Babu’ (uncle) and how he relished her cooking. She also shared an anecdote when he obliged her husband Dilshad Khan by playing raga Bihari in a concert on his request. Accompanied on harmonium by Vinay Mishra and on tabla by Akram Khan, Parveen opened with raga Madhuvanti, perhaps, unaware of the fact that the raga was already played on the Shehnai earlier. Her slow and medium tempo khayals were adorned with the usual ornamentations including her signature echo effect before she concluded with a Meera bhajan.
The sitar and sarod duet by Shubhendra Rao and Partho Sarathy with Bickram on tabla sounded like a heartfelt homage with Gangeshwari, a raga created by their Guru Pt. Ravi Shankar. Keeping in mind his love for rare and challenging talas, they presented the slow composition in Char-Taal Ki Sawari with a time cycle of 11 beats followed by the faster composition set to drut Ek-tala of 12 beats cycle and maintained it marvellously till the jet-speed jhala without taking refuge in the customary Teentala for convenience sake.
Vidushi Ashwini Bhide expressed her adoration for Pt. Ravi Shankar, accepting that without being under his direct tutelage, she has soaked in sankaras (impressions) from his music. She echoed her feelings through the composition “Eri Aali bhaag jage…..” in raga Jhinjhoti. Thinking of his penchant for different talas, she presented a Dhamar in raga Lalit-Pancham invoking Basant Ritu, with decisive design and detail. The intricate variety of ‘Bol-Baant’ dividing the 14 beats of Dhamar Tala also underlined the remarkable difference in her treatment of Dhamar with Bol-Taans and the following khayal “Khelan aye Shyam mose Hori…” with aakar and sargam taans, despite the tender touches of the twin-Madhyam of Lalit in both the compositions of Lalit-Pancham. The concluding dadra “Sakal Brij dhoom machi…” enhanced by the romantic touches of harmonium by Vinay Mishra and the Banarasi Laggi on tabla by Vinod Lele completed her well-conceived concert that vouched for her fierce integrity and power of inheritance.
“Smaran” reached its climax with the melodious flute recital by Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia inspired by the wit and vigour of Ud. Zakir Hussain on tabla. His soul-stirring Bihag with aalap and a couple of compositions set to Rupak and Teentala and the concluding dhun in the romantic raga Pilu, was ably supported by disciples Shuchismita and Vivek Sonar on flute. The lilting gait of the dadra augmented by the charismatic inputs of Zakir, left the audience enthralled. It was after a long time that one found Pandit Chaurasia in such high spirits.
