The 62nd Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Joshi Music festival, ended last Sunday. A 4 day 3.00 pm to 10.00 pm, musical treat for those who find a bliss in listening to Indian (to be precise North Indian or better known as Hindustani) classical music. I had bought the 4 day 'Bhartiya Baithak'(Means sitting cross legged on the floor with mat, instead of chairs) Pass, though could go only on the weekend due to office on other days.
It is always a great feeling visiting Sawai Gandharva festival. Along with the musical treat, I get to see lot of middle class maharashtrian families, and even yougsters who are probably like me, atleast in this department! People coming in such a large number, and that too, for Hindustani classical, is unbelievable for even me, because I was used to seeing plenty of empty seats in a classical music concert! And hence, then I felt better, knowing that I am not the only one left alone of my species in today's world, where classical music, that too Indian classical, is not considered 'cool', where a Guitar is considered to have more prospects of winning heart of a girl, than a 'Sitar'. :-))
Ofcourse when I used the word 'today's world' , I meant the world around me, the thriving IT industry.. those people in a t-shirt & a 3/4th with their company id-card hanging by their neck..typical scene in Pimple Saudagar - favourite place of IT people to stay, the MBA executives and general folk around me.. But as I read on internet and witnessed in the festival too, that Western world is taking a lot of interest in our music and its popularity is increasing day by day there. By the way, I too work in IT industry and I stay in Pimple Saudagar. :-)
Anyways, let me not waste anymore time in coming to the details of the festival.
Saturday afternoon 3.30 pm, as I am entering the New English School ground, the open-air venue for the festival, I can hear a formidable voice humming a known raag. And once I take my seat, I am sure that it is the Raag 'Bhimpalasi' and the guy is singing some Patiyala gharana bandish. Now please don't think that I am a learned musician, and that's why I know about this. It is because I have the same bandish by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of Patiyala gharana with me, and have listened to it many times, so the style and notes sounded familiar to me and hence my conclusion.
This was a young Ramakant Gaikwad, and he was singing with such emotional content, that connected the audience immediately. After this, he also sang another bandish 'Ja Ja re apne Mandirwa' in the same afternoon raag, and again, I have the same bandish sung by Pt Rajan Sajan Mishra of Banaras. But he sang it a bit differently, and that's the beauty of Indian classical music, the same raag, same set of musical notes, can be represented differently by different artists, as per their own imagination and temperament, within the fixed set of rules and boundary. And each presentation can be a unique experience for the listeners!
Ramakant, ended it with the much famed thumri of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, 'Yaad Piya ki Aye' , in raag Kaushik Dhwani, also known as 'Binna Shadja'. It was not exactly the way I would have liked it, missing those crisp and clear taans of Bade Ghulam Ali, but still it was beautiful rendition with brining out the 'bhav' of the raag & also the lyrics, and that's what made the audience to chant 'once more'!
I must say that the anchor, Anand Deshmukh, who has been anchoring the Sawai gandharva festival since last 25 odd years, is one of the best anchors I have ever seen in music concerts. Very Polite, and very knowledgeable, and knows the pulse of audience very well. He sensed the mood and agreed with audience showering praise for the young man's display of artistry, and then very smartly apologized for the lack of time, and moved forward in inviting the next set of artists.
I also got to listen to the 'Rudra Veena' recital by Ustad Bahauddin Dagar, of the famed Dagar family of Dhrupad musicians. As I got it from wikipedia, he represents the 20th generation of the Dagar lineage dating back to 16th century. Rudra Veena is an ancient Indian classical string instrument, with two large round resonators at two ends of it. Very few people learn & play it nowadays, and it was a unique experience to listen to Raag Patdeep on this instrument, and I liked it when the Rhythem kicked in, with Pakhawaj being played by Manik Munde. But the initial alaap in the lower octave notes was a bit boring, as the sound gets very low, making it hard to follow.
I didn't stay further, as I had some other tasks to finish, so by 7.00 pm I left the show only to come back on Sunday evening at 3.00 pm again.
Sunday evening started with again a young violinist, Ambi Subramanium, son of the famous violinist L. Subramanium (Husband of Kavita Krishnamurthy). Since I joined late, I am not sure which ragam (as they call it in Caranatic classical music. For the uninitiated, it is the south Indian classical music, and again it has a long history & tradition of its own.), he was playing, but it sounded a happy & soothing raag.
His jugalbandi with the 'Mrudangam',and 'Morsing', a tiny instrument that can not be seen, as it hides in the hands and mouth of the performer, was wonderful. More information about this tiny instrument can be found on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morsing
After this, he played the raag Dharmavati, whose equivalent in Hindustani classical is the raag Madhuvanti.
It is a beautifully sweet sounding raag with a bit sad emotions, and I have the records of Ustad Salamat /Nazakat Ali and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, so I was very familiar with this raag. I just loved the way he played it, gradually starting with alaap and bringing out the emotions with his improvisations,and automatically I said 'wah kya baat hai'! Indeed there is some connection with raag and the time of the day when it is sung/played. The late afternoon had become so still & melancholy started creeping in, due to the notes of this afternoon raag.The guy indeed has great talent and sure his father, who was present in the audience, must be feeling proud of him.
After the violin recital, Meeta Pandit of Gwalior gharana came on stage, but I didn't like her singing, lacking that control over notes. So I just came out of the 'Pandal' and strolled down the stalls, selling food varieties and music CDs, books & so on, bought few MP3s, had 'Ukdi che Modak' & 'Sabudana Wada' as snacks and just strolled down here & there, observing people and enjoying the atmosphere. I was amazed to see people having such interest in classical music, and as I said before, I felt good about it.
Again, I could not stay till the end, as I had some other work, and missed on the last recital of the Dr. Prabha Atre of Kirana Gharana who is now 84 year old, and still looks elegant with all white hair and a matching silk saari. May be next year...
I hope to visit next year, and year after that, and so on.....as this is the only place to find people like me and hence to feel better!!
It is always a great feeling visiting Sawai Gandharva festival. Along with the musical treat, I get to see lot of middle class maharashtrian families, and even yougsters who are probably like me, atleast in this department! People coming in such a large number, and that too, for Hindustani classical, is unbelievable for even me, because I was used to seeing plenty of empty seats in a classical music concert! And hence, then I felt better, knowing that I am not the only one left alone of my species in today's world, where classical music, that too Indian classical, is not considered 'cool', where a Guitar is considered to have more prospects of winning heart of a girl, than a 'Sitar'. :-))
Ofcourse when I used the word 'today's world' , I meant the world around me, the thriving IT industry.. those people in a t-shirt & a 3/4th with their company id-card hanging by their neck..typical scene in Pimple Saudagar - favourite place of IT people to stay, the MBA executives and general folk around me.. But as I read on internet and witnessed in the festival too, that Western world is taking a lot of interest in our music and its popularity is increasing day by day there. By the way, I too work in IT industry and I stay in Pimple Saudagar. :-)
Anyways, let me not waste anymore time in coming to the details of the festival.
Saturday afternoon 3.30 pm, as I am entering the New English School ground, the open-air venue for the festival, I can hear a formidable voice humming a known raag. And once I take my seat, I am sure that it is the Raag 'Bhimpalasi' and the guy is singing some Patiyala gharana bandish. Now please don't think that I am a learned musician, and that's why I know about this. It is because I have the same bandish by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of Patiyala gharana with me, and have listened to it many times, so the style and notes sounded familiar to me and hence my conclusion.
This was a young Ramakant Gaikwad, and he was singing with such emotional content, that connected the audience immediately. After this, he also sang another bandish 'Ja Ja re apne Mandirwa' in the same afternoon raag, and again, I have the same bandish sung by Pt Rajan Sajan Mishra of Banaras. But he sang it a bit differently, and that's the beauty of Indian classical music, the same raag, same set of musical notes, can be represented differently by different artists, as per their own imagination and temperament, within the fixed set of rules and boundary. And each presentation can be a unique experience for the listeners!
Ramakant, ended it with the much famed thumri of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, 'Yaad Piya ki Aye' , in raag Kaushik Dhwani, also known as 'Binna Shadja'. It was not exactly the way I would have liked it, missing those crisp and clear taans of Bade Ghulam Ali, but still it was beautiful rendition with brining out the 'bhav' of the raag & also the lyrics, and that's what made the audience to chant 'once more'!
I must say that the anchor, Anand Deshmukh, who has been anchoring the Sawai gandharva festival since last 25 odd years, is one of the best anchors I have ever seen in music concerts. Very Polite, and very knowledgeable, and knows the pulse of audience very well. He sensed the mood and agreed with audience showering praise for the young man's display of artistry, and then very smartly apologized for the lack of time, and moved forward in inviting the next set of artists.
I also got to listen to the 'Rudra Veena' recital by Ustad Bahauddin Dagar, of the famed Dagar family of Dhrupad musicians. As I got it from wikipedia, he represents the 20th generation of the Dagar lineage dating back to 16th century. Rudra Veena is an ancient Indian classical string instrument, with two large round resonators at two ends of it. Very few people learn & play it nowadays, and it was a unique experience to listen to Raag Patdeep on this instrument, and I liked it when the Rhythem kicked in, with Pakhawaj being played by Manik Munde. But the initial alaap in the lower octave notes was a bit boring, as the sound gets very low, making it hard to follow.
I didn't stay further, as I had some other tasks to finish, so by 7.00 pm I left the show only to come back on Sunday evening at 3.00 pm again.
Sunday evening started with again a young violinist, Ambi Subramanium, son of the famous violinist L. Subramanium (Husband of Kavita Krishnamurthy). Since I joined late, I am not sure which ragam (as they call it in Caranatic classical music. For the uninitiated, it is the south Indian classical music, and again it has a long history & tradition of its own.), he was playing, but it sounded a happy & soothing raag.
His jugalbandi with the 'Mrudangam',and 'Morsing', a tiny instrument that can not be seen, as it hides in the hands and mouth of the performer, was wonderful. More information about this tiny instrument can be found on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morsing
After this, he played the raag Dharmavati, whose equivalent in Hindustani classical is the raag Madhuvanti.
It is a beautifully sweet sounding raag with a bit sad emotions, and I have the records of Ustad Salamat /Nazakat Ali and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, so I was very familiar with this raag. I just loved the way he played it, gradually starting with alaap and bringing out the emotions with his improvisations,and automatically I said 'wah kya baat hai'! Indeed there is some connection with raag and the time of the day when it is sung/played. The late afternoon had become so still & melancholy started creeping in, due to the notes of this afternoon raag.The guy indeed has great talent and sure his father, who was present in the audience, must be feeling proud of him.
After the violin recital, Meeta Pandit of Gwalior gharana came on stage, but I didn't like her singing, lacking that control over notes. So I just came out of the 'Pandal' and strolled down the stalls, selling food varieties and music CDs, books & so on, bought few MP3s, had 'Ukdi che Modak' & 'Sabudana Wada' as snacks and just strolled down here & there, observing people and enjoying the atmosphere. I was amazed to see people having such interest in classical music, and as I said before, I felt good about it.
Again, I could not stay till the end, as I had some other work, and missed on the last recital of the Dr. Prabha Atre of Kirana Gharana who is now 84 year old, and still looks elegant with all white hair and a matching silk saari. May be next year...
I hope to visit next year, and year after that, and so on.....as this is the only place to find people like me and hence to feel better!!
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