The Swami Haridas Tansen Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav has been and still continues to be a labour of love for the Padma Bhushan Awardee Uma Sharma, who wants to bring Indian music and culture close to the hearts of present generation youth, who she believes, are totally unaware of its beauty and values. The four-day festival was brought to Delhi by the passionate Kathak danseuse from Vrindavan; where it was originally held at Nidhivan, the birth place of Swami Haridas. She renamed it as Swami Haridas-Tansen Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav inviting the traditionally trained reputed artistes. One of the most popular classical music festivals of Capital, it pulls the largest crowds on all four days, leaving the jam-packed Shankarlal Hall of the Modern School overflowing with true music lovers prepared to enjoy its daily late nights.
The 18th edition of Swami Haridas-Tansen Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav, presented jointly by Uma Sharma´s Bharatiya Sangeet Sadan, the Shri Ram Centre and HCL in association with Modern School, opened as usual with the Kathak performance by the ever exuberant Uma Sharma and her disciples. The festival that concluded with the sonorous sarod recital by Ud Amjad Ali Khan featured maestros of Hindustani classical music like Begum Parveen Sultana, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pt. Chhannulal Mishra, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ud. Ashish Khan, Ud. Shujaat Khan, Gundecha Brothers Pt. Bikram Ghosh and Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash.
One of the most outstanding performances of this year’s festival was the melodious Mali-Gauda by Dr. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande. The elegant stoicism of a perfect transmission and a tightly trained focus on pitch are the inbuilt quality of this radiant representative of the Jaipur Gayaki, known for attempting the most challenging and rare Jod ragas, her gharana is known for.
This time she specially chose raga Mali-Gauda, a crucial combination of the difficult evening ragas Puria and Gauri, because of the festival’s association with revered names like Swami Haridas and Tansen.
The most striking feature of her seamless rendering was the totally invisible ‘jod’ (joining of the two ragas), this ‘jod- raga’ was comprised of. There was not even too much of restless taiyari to rob listeners of its grandeur while sailing through both the component ragas, but just enough to enrich the whole design.
Uncanny lilt
The other incredible aspect of her unique rendition was the unusual use of addha theka for the traditional bada khayal set to vilambit or slow Teen-tala. It added an uncanny lilt to the Bada Khayal which is conventionally sung literally in slow Teentala. Even the chhota khayal was a traditional composition but both the compositions were delivered with her signature stamp, complete with all the ingredients of her gharana-specific gayaki. Vinay Mishra accompanied her on harmonium in a slow understated fashion adding an occasional echo that enriched the raga. Vinod Lele on tabla had a taut and capable control. The praiseworthy vocal support by three of her brilliant disciples, Shivani, Shweta and Ashu Prem, did their guru proud.
Bickram Ghosh, the ace tabla player and composer, offered a concise version of his much acclaimed “Drums of India”. The intricacies and excitement of Indian drum traditions were immaculately showcased in his percussion ensemble with V. Suresh on ghatam, Gopal Barman on shri-khol and B. Rajesh on morsing. Burman is known for his competence in kirtan and shri khol, but the simple clay pot spoke multiple languages in the hands of V. Suresh and the tiny little morsing, played with mouth, resounded in myriad hues when the foursome played a scintillating Matta Tala of nine-beat cycle.
The crisp padhant or reciting of the mnemonic by Bikram, dividing the nine beats in two equal halves of four and half beats in the Sawari ang, could be called Matta Tala ki Sawari, galloping to ‘sam’ with ample aplomb. Even the added attraction of the tuneful ‘aas’ (reverberation) of the percussion instruments, left the audience enthralled.
Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma’s santoor was as mesmerising as ever. Offering the audience New Year greetings, he urged them to just ‘feel’ the music without bothering to understanding it.
“Aap Sangeet ko bas mehsoos karen, samajhane ki koshish na karen to jeevan mein saumyata aur sukh aayega.”
There is no other means that is so good for your mental, emotional and physical health. He played a detailed alap-jod and jhala in raga Charukeshi followed by the slow composition set to Jhap-Tala of 10-beat cycle. The gradual alaap-barhat of the raga soothed the senses. His expertise to play with rhythm and the gift of touching the hearts with total tunefulness, are his signature qualities that make him an exceptional artiste. The drut gat in Teentala reaching the climax of a tuneful jhala even in fastest speed, made his performance complete with thundering applause. Accepting it humbly, he said, “Music is a kind of thing which doesn't happen with effort but with the blessings of the Almighty.”
Impromptu performance
The vocal recital by Pt. Chhannulal Mishra opened with his favourite Sanskrit shloka, “Naham vasami Vaikunthe, Yoginam hridaye na cha...”, in the typical ‘Pravachan’ style that continued throughout his captivating performance. The dual-treat for the audience came in the concluding dadra, ‘Rangi sari gulabi chunariya Re….’, when Uma joined him with an impromptu Kathak bhava.
