News Paper Review: Guru Purnima Event Jul 2017

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The disciples of the Vilayatkhani tradition gave a rich offering of music to the legendaryUstad Vilayat Khan, at a two-day event in Mumbai last week

Tradition means several things. It also has several layers. Let’s take one of its strands, for instance. There is a guru and a disciple. The guru has a guru, and the disciple is also a guru. It continues thus. In these innumerable levels of gurus and disciples, if there is one common emotion that binds all of them, it is the reverence to that source of tradition which is often embodied in a divinely gifted human being. Last week in Mumbai, nearly 50 practitioners of the Imdadkhani Gharana of sitar – gathered to pay tribute to the legend, Ustad Vilayat Khan, who best represented this school. Led by one of his finest disciples, and guru to many, Pt. Arvind Parikh, the two-day event marking Guru Purnima, yet again reinstated that the journey of tradition is dynamic, infused with plural expressions.

Not everyone who performed on this occasion played the sitar, like the great maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan. In the spirit of great traditions, it was articulated on surbahar, rudraveena, shehnai, violin and vocal, apart from a majority of sitarists. These musicians and students who had gathered, came not only from various parts of the country, but also from as far as London.

“I came from a different school of music, but Ustad Vilayat Khan showered much affection on me. He allayed my apprehensions by teaching me several compositions of his gharana. In fact, his large heartedness has few parallels, he used to even cook for me,” remembered Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, leading vocalist of the country.

Haider Khan -- opening all channels of memory and gratitude – began with a meditative Bilaskhani Todi. The pleasing tone of his shehnai, the long, introspective pauses, the reflective nature of his music totally shorn of frivolous embellishments, was not merely a glorious start but also a befitting tribute to the maestro. Ashwin Dalvi too, on the surbahar, played one of the most reflective Alaiya Bilaval. From mandra to ati mandra, exploring in slow motion, he plumbed the depths of the raga. His meend dominated recital tugged the hearts of the connoisseur, revealing the intense engagement he had with his art. Sundar Nath’s exposition of the mellifluous Bhairav was neat, with a clear conception of the raga. All stages – the alap, jod and jhala – were developed competently, giving a clear indication that he had promises in store.

When the 13-year-old chubby Danish Khan came on stage one really wondered what he could do with a difficult instrument like the sitar. But with the swagger of an Ustad, and a cherubic innocence, he quickly took control of Yaman. His energy, enthusiasm and loving playfulness left no doubts that he was an Ustad in the making. Varad Bhosle, all of 21, is exceptionally talented. His effortless bearing and confidence over his idiom produced a vivacious Piloo. With an unshaken inner concentration, he could render a striking alap as well as play interpretative phrases with the tabla accompaniment. Varad indeed knows his music well. So much so that even Ustad Shahid Parvez who was present in the audience couldn’t conceal his appreciation for him.

The strength of Harpreet’s vocal rendition was his leisurely, unhurried approach. He sang Patdeep like an ardent student with the aspirations of becoming a maestro. “Yaad Piya Ki Aaye”, the thumri made immortal by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan saab, was rendered soulfully by him. Years of sustained passion gives music a rare maturity. Maruti Patil (Kalavathi), Rafat Khan Niyazi (Pooriya) and Rajeev Janardhan – with more than 25 years of association with sitar – elevated the whole event to another level. They played with exceptional insight and maturity. While Kalavathi was a bit patchy, Pooriya, with superb jhaala, was impassioned and beautiful. Rajeev Janardhan played an extraordinary Gunjikauns, pursuing the raga in its microtones. His tonal control elicited a completeness of emotions, making it a memorable rendition.

What exactly is a raga? Is it a cluster of notes that is bound by shastra , or is it an evocation of emotions as well? While it is both, there are moments in the life of a musician when emotion takes precedence over shastra . And as the great Kumar Gandharva once remarked about a foreign ‘gandhara’ that entered his rendition, “What can I do, it asked me to take me in!”, one can debate if the elucidation of the two ‘madhyams’ in Shuddh Sarang turned out in pristine perfection each time. Well, it almost seems beside the point. Bhupal Panshikar wove a richly imaginative Shuddh Sarang that was enhanced by his inspired playing. The manner in which he could hold conversation with the raga, and interpret it in all aspects of the rendition was a lasting experience. Gunkali Bhosle too, in her thoughtful narrative of Gujri Todi created a “mahaul”, which made it difficult to move on to the next performance. If the heart doesn’t sing, the sitar cannot sing either. In fact, in almost all his performances, Ustad Vilayat Khan would uncontrollably burst into song. In Sharada Mushti’s rendition of Desh on rudraveena and Madhura Karambelkar’s delineation of Bhinna Shadaj (Rageshri ang), one could ‘see’ and ‘hear’ them sing. Sharada gave a different dimension to Desh – deep and evocative: it was however Madhura’s humility towards the raga and the struggle to make it her own that truly made it rasanubhava . She was handling a complex raga that seemed to flow in all kinds of directions, but Madhura was not willing to make it an exercise in technique. She was deeply involved; and in every moment of her journey –the joys, struggles and pitfalls – she made sure the sahrudaya was with her. No mastery of technique or virtuosity could match the profound Yaman that Mehboob Nadeem (London) created. Trained under great masters and also from a family of musicians, he rendered a soul stirring Yaman. Ramprapanna Bhattacharya, who has made a name for himself in the field of music, dazzled with his skill and control over the instrument. The exceptional talent that he is, he displayed his mastery in his rendition of Shuddh Kalyan. But somehow, there was more to felicity than to the soul in his rendition.

Music is forever a work in progress. There is finality neither in terms of aesthetics nor technique. One was witness to many stages of work in the two days of innumerable performances. Nevertheless in this chain of gratitude, what is high, what is low? It is only in offering that one receives.