Of rain drops and dark clouds

ahmedabad: for the amdavadi connoisseurs of hindustani classical music, who would like to understand the style better, it was a rare opportunity indeed! on sunday,, sony music brought two classical musicians from maharashtra for a lecture-demonstration concert at crossword. the occasion: launch of sony nad's double cassette, meghna. the concert which revolved around the theme of the ragas of the malhar family, had the audience swaying to the enthralling interpretation of the nuances of the ragas presented by vocalist pandit satyasheel deshpande and pandit satish vyas on the santoor. they were ably supported by young tabla player, kishore pandey. hindustani classical music has a special association with nature. not only is each raga given a particular time-frame, but also there are certain melodies which are season-specific. the malhar ragas, for instance, are dedicated to the rainy season. the monsoon season has always been a favourite with both poets and musicians. needless to say, there is a vast repertoire of compositions depicting the season's varied aspects which draw a parallel between these aspects and human emotions. the 19 malhar ragas mainly delve into the various stages of love from union to separation. the musicians mainly chose popular varieties of the malhar: megh, miyan ki malhar, sur malhar, gaud malhar and from the popular compositions like karim nam tero in miyan ki malhar to a folk song in gaud malhar to a dadra popularised by begum akhtar, they brought to light the different moods of the monsoon melodies. the tempo of the compositions ranged from medium paced jhaptaal of 10 beats and ektaal of 12 beats to fast-paced teentaal of 16 beats and dadra of six beats. taking their turns, the instrumentalist and the vocalist interspersed the recital with interesting anecdotes. perhaps the most exciting aspect of the concert was the concluding compositions in a rarely heard, ramdasi malhar. asked why such rare melodies are usually not part of concerts and lecture-demonstrations, pandit satyasheel deshpande, one of the most well-known disciples of pandit kumar gandharva remarked, "the audience generally prefers to listen to something they are familiar with and hence, the musicians also play safe." having recently returned from a trip abroad, pandit satish vyas was appreciative of the amdavadi audience. "we were apprehensive to begin with, but after receiving such appreciation from the audience, we want to come here frequently," he said. being the son of renowned vocalist, pandit c r vyas and the senior-most disciple of pandit shiv kumar sharma, does put a pressure on him, feels pandit vyas. "it is a constant challenge to live up to their names," he says. pandit vyas who had started learning the instrument quite late at the age of 22 feels that despite the 'craze' of mtv, today's youth is very much interested in classical music. "however, classical music has always had a niche audience and continues to have so." pandit deshpande who has also done playback for a song in the film lekin with asha bhosle, feels that mass media like cinema and television can play vital roles in generating interest in classical music among the youngsters. "there are many youngsters who are dedicated to classical music and hence, the future of classical music is safe," he adds. and for those who are interested in classical music, the two musicians have this advice: "classical music is not grammar and permutation-combination of notes and beats, it is a spiritual journey of an individual. it is an oral tradition which each musician interprets in his or her own way," they say.