Mellifluous music to celebrate monsoon

Banyan Tree presented an evening of monsoon melodies titled ‘Barkha Ritu’ at Ravindra Bharathi. The evening started with a Hindustani vocal recital by Sanjeev Abhyankar, one of the leading disciples of music veteran Pandit Jasraj. Sanjeev started his recital with a composition ‘Piharava Aja Hu Na Aaaye’ in Raga Megh set to seven beat ‘Rupak’ Taal.

This was followed by a composition ‘Dar Laage Mohe Damini Ko’ set to sixteen beat ‘Teentaal’. The next composition was ‘Umada Ghumada Ghaana Garaje’ set to twelve beat ‘Ektaal.’ He then sang ‘Aayore Badara Kaare Kaare’ in Raga Gaud Malhar and concluded with a composition in Ektaal.

Sanjeev’s rendition of the ‘Bol Taan’ and ‘Sargam Taan’ were a treat to the ears of all listeners and brought shades of the sounds of ‘cloud bursts’ in the auditorium. He was given a very good accompaniment on the Tabla by Rohit Majumdar and on the Harmonium by Tanmay Deochake.

The next recital was by the legend of Santoor Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma who began the night with Raga Mia Ki Malhar.The ‘Alaap’, ‘Jod’ and ‘Jhala’ in this Raga created the mood of the monsoon along with excellent rhythm patterns on the Tabla by Yogesh Samsi.The programme concluded with a folk tune set to Dadra Taal bringing in the sounds from the hilly regions of North India.

By:Jaywant Naidu