The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Notes from a wet evening

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 29, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Notes from a wet evening

Staff Reporter

Drizzle did not discourage people from listening to stalwarts

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Enthralling: Sikander Khan Langa, Atta Mohamed Langa and Asin Khan Langa performing at the Visions of India concert in Bangalore on Saturday.

BANGALORE: It drizzled an unceasing and annoying rain. The notorious Bangalore traffic crawled slower than usual. You had to watch your step in case you stepped into the numerous little puddles at Palace Grounds. Dampener? You bet. But not for long because Purna Das Baul Samrat and Dipyendu Das set the tone for the evening.

Thereafter, as Carnatic music maestro M. Balamuralikrishna’s rendition of “Vaatapi Ganapathim Bhaje” resonated in the makeshift auditorium at Gayathri Vihar and the drizzle turned into a torrent, the audience at the Visions of India concert on Saturday began their journey through the sounds of India.

While Pankaj Udhas’s melodious “Chitti Aayi Hai” brought to mind images of soldiers in distant lands away from loved ones, the full-throated Sufi music of the Wadali brothers, Puranchand and Pyarelal, evoked images of the Punjab countryside dotted with dargahs and green sunny fields.

But the mere strains of Bollywood from Kavita Krishnamurti who sang “Hawa Hawaii” from Mr. India to “Mera Piya Ghar Aaya” in Yaarana and “Dhola Re” from Devdas, turned the sober, meditative audience into a whistling and excited multitude.

Folk music was robustly represented by Rajasthan with Sikander Khan Langa, Atta Mohamed Langa and Asin Khan Langa.

The highlight

And then came the most powerful performance of the evening, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those present, as the legendary Hindustani vocalist Gangubhai Hangal left everyone awestruck by the sheer force of her voice. Her 95-year-old lungs showed very little effort rendering the raga. As the doyenne was helped off the stage, she received a standing ovation for several minutes.

“This was the first time I had listened to her. Her voice was so stunning it left me with goose-bumps all over,” said an ecstatic Veena V., a homemaker. “We really hoped we could have heard more of her,” said Radha S., a software professional.

Percussion beats

Signalling the start of the percussion symphony, the sound of the kombu split the air as the conductor of the orchestra, violinist L. Subramaniam, and the percussion artistes rendered a thoroughly delightful performance. A melange of sounds from the chenda, tabla, dholak, tavil, mridangam and other instruments had the audience spellbound.

The concert ended with the artistes coming together to perform segments from their areas of mastery. As the galaxy of musical performers stood in front of the audience at the end of the show, you could not help but bow down to them for presenting you with an outstanding evening.

As Gururaj V., a member of the audience, put it: “We came for good music and we thoroughly enjoyed the two and a half hours of brilliance.”

The concert was a fund-raiser for the Comprehensive Trauma Consortium Sanjeevini.

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