Music lovers in Thrissur are used to Hindustani recitals, mostly by North Indian musicians. However, Shatkala Govinda Marar Sangeethotsav at K. T. Mohammed Smaraka Auditorium featured two Hindustani recitals by two Malayalis – Manjari and Gayatri.
Manjari
She opened with rag Mian Ki Malhar, befitting for a late evening concert. Her creativity was discernible in a short alaap that evoked the mood of the raga in which many a Malayalam film song has been tuned in. In the vilambit Ek Taal, she started exploring the nuances of the raga in the mandra sthayi. She scaled the upper octaves effortlessly. The sruti alignment was so perfect that her voice merged wholly with the tanpura, especially during the prolonged stay on the upper shadja.
While the texture of the voice was typical of a seasoned Hindustani vocalist, the modulations and movements smacked of the mood of the raga that was evocative of rains and winds. The transition to drut in teen Taal was smooth. Intermittent flow of swaras in quick succession was marked with rhythmic precision. The denouement with a soft landing was appealing. Support from Swapnil Bhise (tabla) and Berni Ignatius (harmonium) was laudable.
She anchored mainly on ghazals in the second half of her concert. She explained the meaning of the sahithya so that the audience could enjoy the meaning of the numbers too.
‘Ranjish hi sahi’, penned by Ahamada Faraza, was on the pain of separation of lovers as well as a longing for reunion. It said, ‘If it is grief, so be it. But come to break my heart again’. ‘Abke hum bichade’, also by the same lyricist, conveyed ‘This time we part; we may meet in our dreams’. Momim Khan Momin’s lines ‘Woh jo hume thume quarar tha’ implied ‘the deal that was there between me and you; you may not remember it’. The last number, sung at the request of the audience, was perhaps an indication of how her listeners enjoyed the recital. The lines by Fayyaz Hashmi, ‘Aaj jaane ki zidd na karo’ rather aptly meant ‘please don’t insist on leaving today’.
Gayatri
On the second day, she enthralled the audience with various genres of Hindustani music apart from the classical style. Gayatri took up Behag for elaboration and the bandish was ‘Kawan dhang tora’. Melodic niceties of the raga, which is common to both Hindustani and Carnatic streams, emerged with the short alaap. While the vilambit was in Ek Taal, drut was rendered in teen Taal. The bewitching melodic contents of the raga found expression in her sancharas. Gayatri maintained the quality of the voice in the falsetto register as well. Also, swaras rendered in sam, often offbeat, demonstrated an astute sense of rhythm.
Gayatri thereafter took a Kajri in misra Tilak Kamod. Kajri is a semi-classical form of music widely prevalent in Utter Pradesh and Bihar. Kajris describe the longing of a maiden for her lover as the monsoon clouds populate the skies. The raga, which embraces all Suddha notes except rishabha that is komal, was impressive.
Although a morning raga, she chose Gujri Todi, one of the many variants of Todi, to sing an Abhang of Gnaneswar, one of the poet-saints of Maharashtra. A devotional poem, Abhang flows continuously without interruption as suggested by its very name. She added that she was presenting it for the first time albeit its time stricture. Soon followed a Thumri composed by Shobha Gurtu in misra Maand.
Before winding up with a Meera Bhajan in Bhairavi with which Hindustani recitals are concluded customarily, she also sang ‘Deena dayalo Rama’ and ‘Enthe nee Kanna’ that won her the State Film award in 2003. She was accompanied on the tabla by Sagar and Berni on the harmonium.
The two concerts are enough indication of the growing popularity of the lighter side of Hindustani music. However, the onus of establishing the pristine classical style is on the musicians themselves. This becomes more significant when the organiser had announced the recitals as ‘Hindustani Classical’.
The festival was organised by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.
