Anubhav-2021, held from June 21 to 27, concluded with an overnight concert enabling hundreds of rasikas to come online for a sumptuous treat of classical music and dance. SPIC MACAY introduced the Anubhav series as the virtual ‘avatar’ of its international convention last year when the pre-scheduled Inter-Con at IIT Kanpur could not be held due to Covid-19. The virtual Anubhav series offered students across the globe a holistic experience of Indian art and culture.
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia opened the overnight concert with a mesmerising Yaman. Known for treating his raags like a deity, imparting a spiritual aura to its delineation strictly in accordance with tradition, his reposeful alaap-jod-jhala created a tranquil ambience. The medium tempo composition in Rupak taal of seven beats time cycle was followed by a brisk bandish in dhrut Teentaal, where each progressive swara follows an intriguing gait (vakra gati ) when moving towards the taar gandhar and then reverting to pancham before reaching the sam on gandhar. This also provided a shorter mukhada for the swift jhala reaching a crescendo with Pt. Ravindra Yavgal’s brilliant tabla accompaniment.
Pt. Venkatesh Kumar
Pt. Venkatesh Kumar, who performed next, presented an engrossing Bihag and a graceful Kaunsi Kanhada in his robust voice. The purity of the raags and their structure were maintained when rendering the traditional khayals set to Vilambit Ektaal and the Teentaal, through the alap, barhat, boltaans and akar taans. The concluding thumri in Khamaj struck a happier, romantic note, after the sombre renderings of the earlier raags, coming through clearly in the harmonium playing of Guru Prasad Hegde and the unobtrusive tabla by Keshav Joshi.
It was heartening to see Pt. Sajan Mishra being personally hosted by Dr. Kiran Seth, the founder of SPIC MACAY. He was perhaps performing for the first time after the demise of his brother Pt. Rajan Mishra. “We always sang together and look at the irony, here I am offering him ‘shraddhanjali’.
Accompanied on the tabla by Akram Khan, on the harmonium by Sumit Mishra, and with son Swaransh and grandson Arunansh providing vocal support, he opened the midnight concert with the intensely poignant Malkauns - ‘Jinke man Ram viraaje…’, with its ‘sam’ oscillating on the komal dhaivat of the mandra saptak, portraying his emotional state.
Pt. Sajan Mishra
The chhota khayal, ‘Mag rokat dheeth langarawa’ in Teentaal was followed by a Dhrut Ektaal composition. It was created impromptu by Pt. Rajan Mishra when he heard the horn of a truck sounding like ‘sa ga ma dha’ of Malkauns, recalled Pt. Sajan. The bandish had taans adorned with this musical phrase.
Young Swaransh came as a pleasant surprise. His sonorous voice conveyed the essence of the Mishra Bandhus’ music. Arunanshu also showed the ability to take the family legacy forward. They assisted Pt. Sajan in singing sargam and akar taans in the raag Megh compositions, before Pt. Sajan Mishra concluded with the Tulasidas bhajan, ‘Main na jiyun bin Ram’, that left many teary-eyed.
The invigorating Koodiyattam presentation of ‘Balivadham’ by Guru Margi Madhu Chakyar assisted by his powerful orchestra kept the viewers wide awake at 2 a.m. The storyline from Bhasa’s Sanskrit play is based on the well-known sequence when, challenged by Sugriva for a wrestling contest, Bali is angry and upset. His wife Thara forbids him from accepting it but he ignores her advice. Boasting of his strength, Bali asks Thara to go inside and leaves to fight Sugreeva.
Guru Margi Madhu, the seasoned Koodiyattam exponent, was of course impressive as Bali, but Dr. Indu was no less convincing as Thara, the magnificent queen of Kishkinda. Thara’s intelligence, courage and devotion for her husband were effectively conveyed by Indu through her nunacedabhinaya.
The orchestra comprising Kalamandalam Manikandan on the mizhavu, Kalanilayam Rajan on the edakya, and Anjana Chakyar on the thalam, enhanced the emotional impact of the play.
Ustad Shahid Parvez’s Charukeshi was generous in conception with an expansive alap-jod-jhala adorned with an elongated meend of 4-5 notes from a single fret and the oscillating mandra gamakas. His Rupak taal gat was a rhythmic delight. It switched from a seven to eight beat cycle and then to ati-dhrut (faster) Teentaal composition, culminating in the immaculately tuneful jhala played with superb command.
The wee hours of the Indian morning suited him for a live interaction from Arizona, U.S. with a SPIC MACAY volunteer, who requested him to play a bhajan because it was the Brahma muhurta in India. He obliged (after taking time to tune his tarab, the resonance strings to Khamaj) with ‘Vaishnav jan to…’, with the romantic touches of Thumri ang.
Ustad Waifuddin Dagar provided a befitting finale with his meditative alap, dhrupad and dhamar in raag Ahir Bhairav, assisted on the pakhawaj by Pt. Mohan Shyam Sharma. The rare Bhairavi Sadra of Baiju Bawra, ‘Tu hi Brahma tu hi Vishnu…‘, set to Jhaptaal paved the path for the concluding Devi Stuti in Bharavi. It came as a ‘Purnahuti’ with an inner restraint as the ustad let it submerge in the mystical drone of the tanpura.
The Delhi-based writer is a Hindustani music critic
