Multiple musical genres, several styles, many moods, and varied languages — ‘Yatra: A Journey Within’ was a richly aesthetic confluence curated and presented by Carnatic mu sicians Bombay Jayashri Ramnath and Abhishek Raghuram. Their performance with five accompanists at Ravindra Bharathi was the opening programme of the three-day The Hindu November Festival, 2018, in the city.
Besides the two renowned vocalists, the Yatra ensemble included Murad Ali on the sarangi, Ravichandra Kulur on the flute, Praveen D Rao on the keyboard and harmonium, Ojas Adhiya playing the tabla and Anantha R Krishnan on the mridangam. The instrumental music blended beautifully with the vocals and each instrument also received space for brief solos at various points in the concert.
Murad Ali on sarangi at ‘Yatra a Journey Within’
Yatra’s homage to the rich mosaic of Indian musical traditions started off with the gentle and somewhat melancholic strains of the sarangi, followed by Subramaniam Bharati's Enda Neramum . Next came Jitendra Abhisheki’s well-known Marathi composition, Tejonidhi Lohagol which is a pean to the Sun God and his divine effulgence. We have heard it often with Lalit raga and here Kalyani and Panthuvarali flowed in.
Padams followed, or rather excerpts from them, each seguing into the other. Kshetrayya’s masterly creation Ososi Naa Madi (Mukhari) was an ideal choice for the first one, after which the vocalists moved on to Panimati (Ahiri) and finally the padam beginning Thaliruboniro better known as Aligithe (Huseni).
Ananth R Krishnan on mridangam
After the languorous padams, it was time for a change of pace with a very brisk Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma renderd in Nand raga rather than the Madhyamavathi or Shree we are accustomed to hearing it in. It was an exuberant rendition and the flute, keyboard, tabla, mridangam and sarangi all contributed to the joyous mood evoked by this song in which the goddess of prosperity is invoked and invited. This was an innovation by Abhishek Raghuram, we were told.
The main piece of the evening Kamala Vadane Kanjalochani Devi was an experimental piece that was composed by Raghuram, as Jayashri later revealed. It was preceded by a brief explanation by Murad Ali on the significance of the ragas Malhar and Bahar. That was a good hint of things to come — a Carnatic-style composition with Hindustani classical-music flavours.
Ravichandra Kulur on flute
The opening saw Jayashri in her element. We heard the soothing, gentle-textured, bhava-laden rendition that has won her countless admirers. Sangathis and swaras sparkled and danced as Abhishek Raghuram soon joined in giving a Hindustani music touch at many points and especially during the neraval which often resembled taans. Kamala Vadane culminated in a dazzling crescendo, and the style and nature were both Carnatic and Hindustani.
The percussionists who had been playing a competent though subdued role till now, came into their own. The spirited tani avartanam and sawal-jawab between Ojas Adhiya on the tabla and Anantha R Krishnan on the mridangam drew deserving applause from the audience.
A male and female voice performing a Carnatic music concert together presents a big challenge of shruti management but both artistes handled this with elan. Actually, the combination of Jayashri and Raghuram was as interesting as it was delightful. Jayashri’s music is known for its gentle, meditative style while the hugely talented Raghuram tends to be flamboyant and hence they complemented each other perfectly.
Praveen D Rao on keyboard at ‘Yatra a Journey Within’
An exquisite tillana of Lalgudi Jayaraman, Dheem Thanatha came towards the end with the words ‘Mangalakara Mahadeva Shankara’ presumably providing the mangalam element which is mandatory at the end of a traditional Carnatic music concert. Yatra’s finale had a patriotic note with Vanda Mataram rendered as a short and sweet piece.
Indeed, Yatra was all about pluralism and presented a rich tapestry of various Indian music forms. Vocalists formed the lead but Yatra also gave the instrumentalists from diverse backgrounds sufficient room to showcase their individual traditions even while making them a seamless part of the overall narrative. This musical journey or adventure if you would like to call it so, was also evidently conceived to have as pan-Indian an appeal as possible. And it worked well on all levels .
