The 7th International Convention of Spic Macay, in association with Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), concluded with a night-long concert, opening with the sonorous santoor by Pt. Shivkumar Sharma on 8th evening and culminating with the tranquil Dhrupad recital by Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, next morning. The delectable Hindustani vocal by Vidushi Prabha Atre, the intense Koodiyattam performance by Vidushi Kapila Venu and the compact and mutually integrated Carnatic violin duet by Vidwan Lalgudi GJR Krishnan & Vudushi Vijayalakshmi were the other attractions of the sumptuous overnight feast.
Regaling with ragas
Pt. Shivkumar Sharma heralded the night-long concert with one of the most melodious evening ragas of Khamaj Thaat, Jhinhoti but before that he shared his long association with the SM right from its inception. “Nobody had earlier thought of a concept and initiative like this, when Dr. Kiran Seth took the pioneering step of redeeming our forgotten heritage and culture in which music plays an important role. He took a resolve to inculcate an awareness and a sense of belonging amongst our youth, who lured by the Rock and Pop music, were getting averse to their own classical and folk traditions. And we all joined hands in realising his dream.”
Introducing the raga and the proceeding of his concert, he explained the importance of alaap-jod in creating the mood of the raga and requested the young audiences not to bother about understanding it but just listen and enjoy the music. Surprisingly, the alaap lasted just 10 minutes and the jod-jhala another five minutes.May be, he didn’t want to test the patience of the younger audiences with his usual contemplative alaap and the endearing inwardness.
This was followed with a Madhya-Vilambit composition set to Jhap-tala. His reflective technical virtuosity, kept scale and proportion with striking layakaris that pirouetted on the rhythm with quiet aplomb. Inspired by him, Ram Kumar Mishra played on tabla, a Tisra Jati rhythmic work accurately fitting into the Khand-Jati Chhand of the jhaptal gat being played on santoor, i.e. equally dividing the fractions of 12 matra units to exactly fit into the 10 beats cycle of jhaptal. This admirable precision got him an approving glance by the maestro and an instant applause from the discerning audience.
The second bandish of the main raga was a medium-paced composition of subtle delicacy and beauty in the lyrical addha theka of teen-tala that gradually proceeded towards another composition in drut teentala leading to the jhala, a riot of wit and virtuosity but not at the cost of his pitch-perfect tunefulness. Pt. Shivkumar Sharma also obliged with the delicious dessert, fulfilling the request for a Pahadi Dhun which had the flavour of Dogri folk songs and flashes of the superhit film-songs of ‘Silsila’, that he directed with the pseudonym ‘Shivahari’, along with Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia.
Prabha Atre
Vidushi Prabha Atre took the stage there after accompanied by Vinod Lele on tabla, Siddheshwar Bicholkar on harmonium and her senior disciple Ashwini Modak who provided her an ideal vocal support, as and when required.
Initiating the young audience, she first spoke about the vital and minimum information about music like the melody and rhythm and how Hindustani musicians express their thoughts through statements comprising the swaras of the raga; she opened her concert with the timely raga Jog. The 87-year-old apologised for the initial hiccups and attributed it to age, but in no time warmed up and mesmerised the audience with her extraordinary aesthetic sensibility, presenting her own compositions in the main raga and the following Bageshree, adorned with a variety of sargam and aakar taans. On request, she also obliged with her popular Dadra, ‘Jamuna kinare…” before concluding with raga Kaushik-Ranjani, her own creation with compositions in Rupak and Teentala, culminating into a Tarana in Drut Ektala.
Diverse genres
Teejan Bai
Apart from other memorable evening concerts by the stalwarts of Hindustani and Carnatic music, there was also Gurmat Sangeet by Bhai Manohar Singh, quwwali by Warsi Brothers and Pandavani Gayan by the Padma Vibhushan awardee Teejan Bai who presented Krishna-Arjun samvad in her own inimitable Pandawani folk style from Chhattisgarh. Watching her sing with her tambura that became the mace of the mighty worrier Bhim, when she enacted his valour during Duhshasan-Vadha, it was difficult to believe it was the same Teejan Bai who needed the support of two volunteers to climb the stage!
