The India International Centre (IIC) heralds the festive season with IIC Experience, its annual festival of arts, encapsulating the vision and rich experience of the Centre with the diversity of music and dance performances, art exhibitions, film screenings and cuisines. The five-day festival is a celebration when the Centre comes alive decorated with floral rangolis, shimmering diyas and diverse programmes. This year, the Centre also offered a musical tribute to the late Gana-Saraswati Kishori Amonkar with a Hindustani vocal recital by her senior-most dedicated disciple Nandini Bedekar, in collaboration with the Raza Foundation.
The passing away of the indomitable musician and thinker Vidushi Kishori Amonkar has left an irreplaceable void in the world of the Hindustani music. When Amonkar sang, people waited not merely to listen to her sing, but also what and how she sang. For in her art there was always a great searching and discovering going on at the same time. She sang the raga with a new awareness each time, hence there was always a sense of wonder in her music. She could sing what she believed in! This changed the pith and substance of her music in a certain sense.
Nandini, on behest of her father, was initiated into the Hindustani classical music by Amonkar and was groomed by her for 35 long years till she passed away early this April. No wonder, Nandini has assimilated her Guru’s gayaki style with a keen understanding. Her vocal recital at the Fountain lawns of the IIC, brought back the melodious memory of Amonkar’s last concert in March end this year, when she had assisted her late Guru in presenting the same raga at the Kamani Auditorium.
It was once again the serene evening raga Puriya-Dhanashri and Nandini presented it with the same constraint. Music lovers were offered sense of wonder, guessing the actual raga; till she revealed the pivotal ‘Pancham’ that disclosed the long awaited secret.
As per the Jaipur Gayaki convention, Nandini opened with a Bada Khayal set to vilambit Teen-Tala and indulged in detailed Aalapi, revealing the interiors of the raga from Mandra to Madhya Saptak through the gradual progression of swaras till she reached the Tar Shadja. After meandering through the upper octave she returned back to the mukhda and started the rhythmic aakar taans in ‘Barabar ki Laya’, gradually proceeding to faster taan-patterns. The popular Chhota khayal “payaliya jhankar…” in the medium tempo Teen-Tala followed suit thereafter, with a spray of crystal clear taans.
Contrast that enthrals
The lively Kedar was a welcome contrast after the detailed delivery of her main raga. The slow Teentala composition was followed by the traditional Drut Ek-tala Bandish “chatur sughar Balma….” that delighted the audience. Nandini had the admirable accompaniment in Dr. Vinay Mishra on harmonium and Pt. Vinod Lele on tabla. Both were remarkable in the sense that notwithstanding their seniority as experienced musician accompanists, they never intruded to show their own skills and adhered to the mandatory etiquette of confining themselves to the limits of vistar by the young vocalist.
