The aesthetic ambience of ‘Bhanukula’, the residence of Pandit Kumar Gandharva at Dewas, was imbued with the fragrance of his all pervading memories when the Kumar Gandharva Pratishthan, Dewas organised ‘Anhad’, a tribute to mark his 25th death anniversary.
The main attraction of the inaugural evening was the rare video recording of a musical Mehfil of Kumar Gandharva where he had presented a bewitching Bageshri with the compositions “Mori Aali…” and the mesmerising “Tesul ban phule…”. The inaugural session was addressed by Mahesh Elkunchwar who shared how he fell under the magical spell of Kumar Gandharva’s music and the way it changed his perspective towards responding to music. The Gandharva Choir conducted by Pandit Madhup Mudgal presented a bouquet of varied compositions from Swasti-Vachan with mantras of Rigveda to Dhrupad, dhamar, sargam, Chaturang, Phag, Rabindra Sangeet, and folk songs to the concluding Bhairavi.
Special composition
The morning session next day opened with a vibrant vocal recital by Kalapini Komkali, the disciple and gifted daughter of Kumar Gandharva. The day being also the Makar Sankranti, she opened with a special composition of Kumar Gandharva inspired by a poem of poet Rahul Barpute on Sankranti Parva. Opening with an invocation to Sun God based on the swaras of Ahir Bhairav, she continued with a Bandish in Ramkali. The next composition in Desi was randomly composed by Kumar Gandharva for a friend reminding him of his promise to visit him “aaj ka bulaawa hai…”. The soul stirring outpouring of her emotions in “Hum pardesi panchhi Baba…” brought tears to many eyes. She concluded with a couple of Malavi folk songs, so dear to Kumar Gandharva that he created many Dhun Umag ragas inspired by these folk melodies. This was followed with a panel discussion conducted by Sanjay Patel with participants like Udayan Vajpeyi, Purushottam Agrawal, Ravi Date, Satyasheel Deshpande and Ashok Vajpeyi; who shared their memories and thoughts related to Kumar Gandharva.
Kalapini Komkali
The concluding session on the second evening opened with an impressive tabla solo by opened with an impressive tabla solo by Pandit Yogesh Shamsi, the renowned tabla maestro and disciple of Ustad Allah Rakha Khan Saheb, with the melodious Lehera on harmonium by Tanmay Deochake. Initiated into classical music by his musician father Pandit Dinkar Kaikini, Yogesh had earlier learnt tabla under Taranath Rao and after the demise of his Guru Ustad Allarakha Khan, he has also collected some rare compositions of Punjab Gharana from Sushil Jain. There is lyrical quality in his tabla that has bestowed him with a special musicality and an uncanny sense of rhythm. This was evident from the very beginning when his opening Peshkara in a Vilambit Teentala went on for several rounds like a detailed aalap before coming to the ‘Sam’.
Rich repertoire
He played the choicest compositions from his rich repertoire that evening comprising Qayeda of Luv & Kinar with the mnemonics Tin and Na, the varieties of Relas, the Tistra jati Qayeda of Khan Saheb with the Thit bol, the Rav Rela before he came to the medium tempo and played the Sankeern Jati Paran and some Chakkardar Tihais, concluding with the Drut Laya, the fast tempo with captivating Tukdas, the Ateen and Anagat, The Farmaishi (on demand) Relas of Ustad Amir Hussain Khan, Ustad Nizamuddin Khan and many more intricate numbers before concluding with his Ustad’s rare compositions. The discerning audience of Dewas applauded each and every nuance of his rare tabla and gave him a standing ovation.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, accompanied on tabla by Mithilesh Jha and Anuvrat Chatterji concluded, ‘Anhad’ with his sarod recital. Opening with his own creation raga Ganesh Kalyan in Kaherwa and Drut Ektala, he played aalap in Jhinjhoti followed by the Jhaptal gat composition in raga Malkauns and a tarana in the same raga/tala, concluding with a couple of drut or fast compositions and jhala. Khamaj came as a welcome desert where instead of the normal thumri, he played a Masitkhani Gat in Teentala followed with Bihari with shades of Des and Tilak Kamod before continuing with the folk tunes of Bengal and Assam that concluded with “Ekla Chalo re…”
The two-day event was inaugurated by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, who announced that a museum would be set up in Dewas to showcase the life and legacy of Kumar Gandharva, apart from a road to be named after him and his statue to be installed in Dewas.
