20 replies to this topic

[vAtraT]

Very personal notes of a Hindustani snacker.

The 54th Sawai Gandharva began the day before yesterday with a mild sense of disappointment for me for the lack of a lot of glitterati kalaakaars.  Very quickly, however, the talent of the relative tyros held me in awe – as it almost invariably does.

The first day saw the talent of

- Shailesh Bhagwat, chela of the late great BK (Raga Hanskinkini on shehnai – “panghat dhoon”)

- Meena Phatarphekar, granddaughter of Saraswatibai Rane
Yaman Kalyan – “salona re baalamaa” (vi.), “mangal gaavo” (dru.)
Mishra Khamaj thumri “ab ke saavan ghar aavo”
(I was bowled over by the Yaman Kalyan, my companion remained unmoved)

- Dilshad / Saabir Khan, two young guys with heavenly magic in their sarangi fingers
Raga Madhuvanti, then a Mishra Piloo thumri (“pata raakho naa raakho”)
I’ll bet those kids came into this world with fingers fully ready to wreak unspeakable beauty on even uneducated ears.  (My Ghati religion usually forbids me to enjoy instrumental music.)

- Shashwati Mandal, another young upstart proving “Bujurg—Shujurg!”
Raga Saraswati (“aaye darbaar”, “jaage re bhaag”), followed by a Panjabi Tappa in Sohoni (“bhaave sohaavaNaa mukhDaa”) and then a Meera bhajan (“saavariyaan re”).

- Ustad Raashid Khan, parts of whose performance, IMO, matched some of his best ever, and unlike some of his recent performances, including those in the U. S. on his latest tour.
He sang Bihag (“moraa mana haraleeno”, “surajana baalamavaa”, “aalee ree alabelee”).  His subsequent Jog got kinda washed out due to a recent bout with upper respiratory bugs.  “aaja raadhaa brij ko chalee” in Bhairavee was okay, if a bit bin-there-done-that.

A special treat for the audience was the short visit of the Great Man himself.  They drove his car almost on to the stage and he spoke a few words, weakly.

The infrastructure bandobast was even more orderly than last year.  There were toilet STALLS with DOORS and even FLUSHING possible after the soo-soo – though I didn’t dare to employ my finger to press the requisite spot.  This seems to be an ongoing trend.

An ongoing trend, too, was the grace and hospitality of AS Punekars and their extended families toward an undeserving Yankie.


Day Two:

Started with Goa’s own Kamlakar Naik (Rag Barwa – biram rahe / baaje mori paayaliyaa, Rag Ramgauri – sapaneme daras dikhaa gayo preetam) singing on his birthday.

Padma Deshpande, granddaughter-in-law of Sawai-G, then followed (in her style mildly reminiscent of the head nodding of Ray Charles!) with Shudh Kalyan (tum bin kaun khabariya) and then a naaTyasangeet piece ‘roopbalee to narashaardool’.

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma held forth next and played Rasikapriya for almost a hundred minutes and held the audience in rapture.

But it was Kaushiki Chakravarti’s precocious magic that made my day.  This ravishing beauty of 25 sang Rageshree just for me.  Oh, the other 12 thousand people were there sat and listened equally mantramugdha all right, but it was clear who she was trying to woo.  Well, I’m going to have her baby, if that’s any indication of whether she succeeded or not.  Mark my words – she’s going to reign as the supreme donna among female Hindustani singers for decades soon.  What power in such a small frame – and what unaffected confidence!

Pandit Jasraj ended the day beginning with Jayjaywanti, for which I didn’t stay.  PJ always ends up impressing me with his low octave tans and his total control of the performance due to his experience, but the start-up requires a level of patience I didn’t have yesterday.  While he sang to the Hindu gods, this little piggy walked all the way home looking for a bloody auto rickshaw at ANY price.  Kaushiki accompanied me.  Well, her resonant voice did, anyway.

[arnab]

vAtraT, on Dec 8 2006, 09:48 PM, said:

A special treat for the audience was the short visit of the Great Man himself.  They drove his car almost on to the stage and he spoke a few words, weakly.

was it a red maruti? anyway, i can't believe that jai malhar spoke weakly.

[hibiscus]

Whatrat, you didn't flush?

[Mukta Sunit]

Thanks Vat. Am all ears about what you have to say about my favorite Mr. Rahul Deshpande.

[vAtraT]

Just back from a briefer visit to the maNDap, and took in Rahul's Marwa.  My first exposure to Rahul.  The Native Son with the well-known grandpa got applause before he even began, and I know now why.  That sound box has the flexibility of rubber bands.  He was absolutely amazing, MS!  More later.

[Mukta Sunit]

Thanks Vat. You made my day dude. (I will be getting the Video recording of this rendition , I just heard from Pune ).

[frangipani]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Vatrat! I am hoping to pick up a copy of the recording next week myself. I have to listen carefully to this Rahul Deshpande.

I am not starting a separate thread for this one, but I went to listen to Ulhas Kashalkar last night. Mamallan, if you're reading this, I thought of you during the concert, I think you would have enjoyed it very much. It was too brief, though. A quick khyal in Marwa and then a tarana in Desh. Neatly packaged for the winter tourist and chatterati audience at Kamani.(There was a great photo op where, midway through the performance when I glanced back, I spied a whole row of young backpackers fast asleep, all faces gently turned left.) It was barely 50 minutes, sandwiched between an incredibly bad sitarist who went off the very first twang and a kathak performance by Shovana Narayan where the pakhawaj and the vocalist were in a serious decibel duel. But his voice was in full form and he sang the Marwa beautifully. Also, to my pleasant surprise, the young sarangiya accompanying him was very good, very good indeed.

[Trips]

hibiscus, on Dec 9 2006, 04:38 AM, said:

Whatrat, you didn't flush?

  
That is about the only line from this post that did not go whooosh over my head. The other being vAt is having her baby.

Edited by Trips, 13 December 2006 - 11:42 PM.

[frangipani]

Today's Sakal newspaper had a few articles on the Sawai festival, especially Amjad Ali Khan's recital.

http://esakal.com/es.../847E73069C.htm

There are three of them, one by Amjad Ali Khan explaining the new raga he played, another criticising his creation and development of the raga, and a third piece. Interesting reading.

[Jai Malhar]

i was at sawai last night. it was v good. i started with sabudana khichdi, slowly savouring every bit. why does khitchdi taste so good at sawai always? maybe something to do with eating it standing under an open sky. then i had some thalipeeth, which was so-so, not hot enough. then i had some very good bhel and then i had some tea. then some guy with a mike kept distracting me with his singing, it was hard to concentrate on the food. so i took a break from eating.

[frangipani]

<<envy>>
How was Bhuvanesh Komkali? Hope you are listening to Savani Shende this evening!
    - stuck in Kolkata.
<</serious envy>>

[shrikar]

JM - DO NOT make us envy you with all the delectable eats you were probably forced into!

<< SERIOUS ENVY >> in spades.

BTW - what and where is sawai ?

Was the tea , the masala kind ?

Your immediate response would be much appreciated.

Peace.

[Baiju Bavra]

vAtraT, on Dec 9 2006, 10:18 AM, said:

Very personal notes of a Hindustani snacker.

The 54th Sawai Gandharva began the day before yesterday with a mild sense of disappointment for me for the lack of a lot of glitterati kalaakaars.  Very quickly, however, the talent of the relative tyros held me in awe – as it almost invariably does.

- Dilshad / Saabir Khan, two young guys with heavenly magic in their sarangi fingers
Raga Madhuvanti, then a Mishra Piloo thumri (“pata raakho naa raakho”)
I’ll bet those kids came into this world with fingers fully ready to wreak unspeakable beauty on even uneducated ears.  (My Ghati religion usually forbids me to enjoy instrumental music.)

Reminds me of a character in Marathi Natak Katyar Kaljat Ghusali. In there one character claimed that when he was born, instead of crying, he sang the aroha avaroha of Yaman Kalyan.

Quote

Pandit Jasraj ended the day beginning with Jayjaywanti, for which I didn’t stay.  PJ always ends up impressing me with his low octave tans and his total control of the performance due to his experience, but the start-up requires a level of patience I didn’t have yesterday.  While he sang to the Hindu gods, this little piggy walked all the way home looking for a bloody auto rickshaw at ANY price.  Kaushiki accompanied me.  Well, her resonant voice did, anyway.

Did Jasraj sing his favorite bhajan, 'Mata Kalika'? It is a beautiful bhajan in Raag Adana, and that is his favorite.

shrikar, on Dec 11 2010, 05:31 AM, said:

JM - DO NOT make us envy you with all the delectable eats you were probably forced into!

<< SERIOUS ENVY >> in spades.

BTW - what and where is sawai ?

Peace.

Are you referring to ‘sawai’ in sawai Gandharva? Well, sawai Gandharva is just his name (a pen name, actually).

Edited by Baiju Bavra, 11 December 2010 - 05:55 AM.

[Jai Malhar]

last night i had some excellent sheera. unfortunately, i'd already had dinner by the time i reached there. i think jasraj was singing some other bhajan. i had taken in a bottle of brandy as an hearing aid. everybody knows music sounds much better with a bit of alcohol in your bloodstream, but i think i overdid it and don't remember much of what happened, but the sheera has stayed in my memory as an outstanding piece of work!

shrikar, sawai is a music festival started by bhimsen in honor of his guru. in pune around this time of the year. it is held in the grounds of a school.

Edited by Jai Malhar, 11 December 2010 - 08:40 AM.

[Baiju Bavra]

Jai Malhar, on Dec 11 2010, 08:31 AM, said:

last night i had some excellent sheera. unfortunately, i'd already had dinner by the time i reached there. i think jasraj was singing some other bhajan. i had taken in a bottle of brandy as an hearing aid. everybody knows music sounds much better with a bit of alcohol in your bloodstream, but i think i overdid it and don't remember much of what happened, but the sheera has stayed in my memory as an outstanding piece of work!

shrikar, sawai is a music festival started by bhimsen in honor of his guru. in pune around this time of the year. it is held in the grounds of a school.

To a classical music concert, it may have been more appropriate to take a bottle of Somarus with you (rather than brandy).

[Avy]

Jai Malhar, on Dec 11 2010, 08:31 AM, said:

last night i had some excellent sheera.

I also had some sheera, but in Goa. Just after attending a job interview I felt enormously fatigued. I began to worry why : whether I have lost too much weight recently. So after getting out of the interview I stopped at a restaurant and stuffed my face with goad sheera and some sweet milky chai (sugar overload), but now I know there is nothing wrong with my stamina despite weight loss. That one instance was mental not physical fatigue.  Sorry: sawai saab for the digression.

[Jai Malhar]

last night, i had sabudana khichadi again and then sabudana vada and some puran-poLi and three different kinds of laadoos (i asked for their names, but they were too busy to reply).

people often don't associate me with cunning (erroneously), but i waited patiently (affecting a nonchalance) until a fresh batch of sabudana vadas arrived from the tava. then i jumped quickly ahead of the slow old lady with the shawl and grabbed two piping hot vadas.

i was not satisfied with the tea, so i had a 'pecial cha' in the eatery outside. not a bad evening, i would say.

[shrikar]

JM - aside from all your culinary adventures - I have a few questions.

Did this years edition have people like Ganapati Bhat - Parmeshwar Hegde - Dhananjay Hegde - Saniya Patankar - Aarti Nayak ( who incidentally, is a pretty good singer of one of your fav genre's - the Tappa )?

Did Bhimanna grace any evening?

Anybody in particular that made your evening something to cherish?

I am looking forward to the next years concerts - I have decided to accept your entreaties and grace your humble abode with my presence - mind you it will not be longer than a month,maybe five weeks - hate to disappoint you!

If you have no objections , I will film your trampling over little old ladies to get to the TD - this will be incorporated into an instructional video for American Football.

Be well.

Peace.

[Jai Malhar]

i go to sawai mostly to eat khichadi and sheera. seriously. it just agrees with me.

sawai is not a very pleasant listening experience. there are always too many people moving around like idiots, chattering away, or yelling into their mobiles.

occasionally, there are some bits of magic. maybe 2/3 years ago, bhimsen sang for a bit aided by his students. he is now very old and tired, but it was pure magic. girija devi last year was memorable too.

[Jai Malhar]

it's that time of the year. unfortunately, i;m not in pune.

http://en.wikipedia....ecember_2011.29

not a bad line-up. i like the carnatic inclusions - we need more carnatic stuff in pune. my pecial cha shop closed down though, a sad sad event.

[shrikar]

Some of the names are unknown to me,of the ones performing I'd love to have heard Malini Rajurkar esp.her tappa.
I bet you are kicking yourself for missing out on Jasraj!
Pardon my ignorance - what is Udipi dance?
Little old ladies standing in orderly lines for sabudana vada's are safe this year?

Peace.