Soul
Spa – A Musical Rejuvenation
Living in a city like Mumbai
has its perks good connectivity , secure environment and a vibrant cultural scene. The city has been host to
many musical events promoted by specialized NGO’s and backed by top of the line
corporate houses. One such organization is the Banyan Tree .
Banyan
Tree is the brainchild of Mahesh
Babu and his wife Nandini Mahesh , both of whom are acclaimed musicians
themselves. Banyan Tree was founded out the passion to preserve, nurture
,promote and propagate rich heritage of performing arts of India. Banyan Tree was born out of the passion to
preserve, nurture, promote and propagate the rich heritage of the performing
arts of India. Beyond treating the performing arts as mere entertainment, each
event is also an opportunity to create an awareness of the rich heritage, of
the ancient wisdom that has continued to survive despite all odds. This
awareness led to the creation of several national festivals of performing arts.
The genres covered in these are the enchanting spectrum of Indian culture come
alive i.e. Indian classical vocals and Instrumental (both the north and south
Indian streams), Indian classical dance forms, authentic folk music from across
the country, folk dance forms, theater, dance-drama, multi-media productions,
dance ballets, Sufi music, ghazals, devotional music, innovative thematic
presentations, world music ensembles, as well as on rare occasions Bollywood
music. We conceive, design and present events in all these genres. Innovative
themes, backed by well researched content and crisp world class presentations
make for memorable events cherished by audiences much after they are over.
Naturally, they are not just
able to bring the best out of the artists but even inspire them with innovative
ideas which help the artist out do themselves. With an industry experience of
two decades, the duo has excellent rapport with over 2000 performing artists
across genres, linguistic groups and cultural backgrounds, who regularly
perform for various events of Banyan Tree across the country and beyond
One such event is the Teen Prahar – A unique musical experience.
Teen Prahar, literally means three quadrants. As per the Hindustani classical
music tradition the 24 hours of the day are divided into 8 quadrants of 3 hours
each and there are specific ragas for each of the periods. There are certain
melodies that appeal to us more in the early hours of the morning, while others
cater to the mystique of the twilight hours. Hence the time cycle of ragas. In
the present day scenario where most of the concerts take place in the night,
Teen Prahar is an endeavor to cover at least 3 quadrants so that the music
lovers get to enjoy ragas which are not common on the night concert platforms.
Originally started as a
day-long festival a decade ago, Teen Prahar is now a 5 hour festival that is
presented in 2 cities Mumbai and Delhi. Essentially, it is a platform to
encourage the best of young, lesser known talents as well as rare, near extinct
instruments, forms and styles. It also features maestros in the making and one
maestro for the finale of the evening.
We were fortunate enough
that this special program was to held in Nehru Centre at Worli, I didn’t want
to miss this opportunity and experience to hear our Classical Maestros live on
stage. It was an evening program at the ground floor auditorium at Nehru Centre
from 5pm to 10pm. I had booked the tickets for me and Kashmira well in advance
, as such programs tend to get house full.As we walked into the auditorium we
were zapped , the hall with seating of 500 was packed to capacity. Mjsic lovers
from all walks of life be it Senior managers of Corporate houses , young
college going girls and boys , married couple like us and few senior citizens
and even senior citizen couples had arrived from far coners of the city of
Mumbai and neighbouring sub-urban areas of Thane , Kalyan , Dombivili and Dahisar.
The evening was opened by
the performance of Pt.Harsh Narayan on
his Sarangi. Grandson of legendary Pt.Ram
Narayan who brought this string instrument to the forefront as a solo
instrument and performed solo across India and abroad. Untill then Sarangi was
used as an accompaniment to Vocal classical or Ghazal performances. It was his
dedication and hard work that got Sarangi its due respect and recognition. Pt
Harsh Narayan now takes this legacy forward and performed perfectly , gave a
scintillating and melodious performance.The audience were awestruck at the deft
handling of this string instrument by the young maestro in the making. A big
round of applause went up in the air at the end of the performance.
The next performance was of
Vocal singing by Pt.Rahul Deshpande
again a well know name in the musical world , grandson of legend Pt.Vasant Rao Deshpande the famous Khayal
singer and one who had made the Marathi Musical “Katiyaar Kaljat Ghusli” famous 2 decades ago by essaying the role
of Khan Sahab live on stage. Now Pt. Rahul Deshpande has carried forward the legacy
and was the voice behind Actor Sachin Pilgaonkar’s Khan Sahab in the Marathi
Movie “Katiyaar Kaljat Ghusli” released a year back.
Since it was an evening
program Rahul Deshpande chose the Raag – Shri to start the performance . For
Drut – fast tempo he sang in Raag – Kedar Gandharva. The bandishes were sung
with great melody and modulation (murkiyan) and with such ease that we in the
audience were enthralled and engulfed in the magical world. Hearing him sing
with our eyes closed ,we were literally transported to a different world
altogether. Whenever he took special Alaap’s or Murkiyan unknowingly a loud Wah Wah went up in the air from the
audience. He also responded to the appreciation with a nod of his head and
continued to mesmerize the crowd. To culminate his performance he sang a
melodious Nirguni Bhajan. The words were in Hindi and it was an ode to Hari or
Krishna . Such melodious bhajan . Hearing this it was as if everyone in the
audience was getting connected to the Higher Power of Lord Krishna himself.
Every one stood up to give a big round of applause to the young singer .
The organizers then had a
small thanks giving ceremony where the singer and his sathi’s were felicitated
with a bouquet of flowers. Once this small break was over the program continued
with the next performance. Now it was the turn of Pt. Rahul Sharma son of
Maestro Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and a specialist on Santoor. He started with brief
introduction of what he was going to play and also thanked Banyan Tree for
promoting Indian Classical music among the general masses. He started his
performance on Raag Jhinjhoti an evening Raga which is famous for its melody
and serenity. When the specially-shaped mallets (mezrab) hit the strings
, it creates such a great sound , a sound which tugs at your heart and creates
a sufiana atmosphere. Close your eyes and you can feel the as if you are in
Kashmir enjoying the music on the banks of the calm and serene Dal lake .
Lightly floating on the house boats and getting connected to the nature around.
Later the maestro interacted with the audience asking whether everyone was
enjoying the music.When asked would you like to hear some more –the audience
shouted Once more…. To this he asked one of the folk singers from Rajasthan
sitting in the 1st row to come up on the stage and perform with him.
The folk singer was Kachara Khan and senior vocalist in his 60’s wear
traditional Rajashthani Dhoti –Kurta and that colorful turban. The performance
was awe inspiring with Rajasthani folk , deft play on the Santoor and
accompanied by the rhythm on the Tabla. The voice of singer literally gave
goose bumps to me. Such clarity and ruggedness and a mesmerizing music when
combined with the soft but melodious Santoor sounds. They got a well deserved
standing ovation.
Then there was a brief
percussion session called Rhythm Delight with a Jugalbandi between Indian drums
and Western Drums . The Indian instruments were the Pakhwaj (famous drupad dhol , with one side
wide as a Dagga and the other side narrow as the table ) played by the well
acclaimed Pt.Bhawani Shankar ,Khadtal (simple Rajashthani instrument made of
two strips of wood) palyed by Devu Khan , with another folk player on the Dholak
. The western drums were played by a new Brazilian lady drummer KarinaCollis.
The rhythm’s played were fast paced and heart throbbing. A totally energetic
performance.
To conclude the night the
stage was set for a final performance by Shujaat Husain Khan ,one
of the greatest North Indian classical musicians of his generation. He belongs
to the Imdad Khan gharana of the sitar and his style of playing sitar is well known
as the gayaki ang, is imitative of the subtleties of the human voice.Shujaat Khan's musical pedigree extends seven
generations. He is the son and disciple of the great sitarist Ustad Vilayat
Khan, guru to the great sitarist and legend Pt.Ravi Shankar.
He started by acknowledging
the patience of the Mumbai audience for sitting the last 5 hours and staying
back late into the night and the crowd appreciated with a thunderous applause.
The maestro played the raag Rageshri starting with slow tempo and gradually
reaching crescendo as if the maestros
fingers were imbibed with lightning. Such energy , such melody , such magical
performance. The maestro ended his performance with a tumhri played on his
sitar. But the people were still hungry for music and when after the standing
ovation someone in the audience demanded a once more and a special Ghazal.. The
maestro respected the wish and enthralled us all by an even awesome
performances. He sang a famous nazam Piya Ghar Aaye….to a soothing and rich
baritone of a voice.
When finally the event ended
it was 11 pm but as we walked past the
gates of the auditorium our ears were still ringing with the lilting melody and
our hearts were beating to the rhythm of the tabla.The evening made us forget
all the stress and worries of our daily routine. Giving our body , mind and
soul a well-deserved refreshment and rejuvenation.
To
think of it I suggest all of us should visit such a musical event once in a
while for an R&R usually associated with a Spa….A Spa for the Soul ….. What
say you ……
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