Dusk to dawn musical fare

Kathakali, Carnatic and Hindustani vocal and instrumental music my eminent musicians; students of UoH enjoyed the overnight musical concert at Yamini 2013

Arundhuti Banerjee

It was a celebration of creative expression following the traditional path of classical dance and music on the eve of Independence Day, as SPIC MACY organised an overnight concert titled 'Yamini-2013' for the students and music connoisseur of the city at University of Hyderabad (UoH). The evening had started with a Kathakali performance by Shri Kottakkal Chandrasekharan & group where they present a mythological piece based on Ravan-Rambha episode. The dancers’ colourful presentation with graceful stage presence and live music amazed the young audience as performers received a huge round of applause at the end of their performance.

It was followed by a Carnatic music performance by Malladi Brothers and a Hindustani classical guitar performance by Dr Kamala Shankar. When Shri Manda Ananthakrishna mesmerised the audience with his flute performance on patriot tunes like Vande Mataram or ‘Raghupati Raghav’, Dr Ashwini Bhide Deshpande concluded the progremme with her spiritual Bhajan, ‘Shiva Shiva’ in the morning. Since SPIC MACY arranging such events over many decades with the purpose of promoting and reaching out to the younger audience with the classical music and dance, guest performers like Dr Kamala Shankar or Dr Ashwini Bhide Despande talked about their instrument and singing respectively.

Dr. Kamala Shankar had started her performance with raga Bhimpalasi recital followed by a thumri, kajri and concluded with Vandemataram. But before performing, she introduced her instrument and talked about her instrument Shankar Guitar. It was an string instrument that look similar to lap steel guitar or Hawaiianguitar .

Coming from Jaipur Atrauli gharana, renowned Hindustani vocalist Dr Ashwini Birde Despande had begun with the morning raga Lalit. She also presented a special raga called ‘Bivabati’. “It is the combination of three morning raga- Ahir Bhairav, Bibhas and Bairagi which is also known as Revati in Carnatic raga,” shared the artist while tuning her Tanpura before her performance. Though we often get to see that young classical musicians or singers are using electronic Tanpura, she prefers to use acoustic Tanpura as she developed a relation with the instrument over a period of time.

“ Tanpura is not only a support system of a vocalist, it is more than that, one should discover it with practice,” she said. To answer the question of patience and dedication of today’s generation she said, “For a singer or musician, Classical music is not only about practicing the form but to understand what it can offer to us. Once you understand the depth of the music, you won’t get distracted from the genre. It is a matter of patience and time that one has to pay.”