Punjab unplugged
MANJARI SINHA
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The Amritsar Heritage Festival brought about everything Punjab has to offer and more.
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THE MAESTRO Mohan veena exponent Pandit Vishva Mohan Bhatt Photo: Mahesh Harilal
To celebrate the spiritual and cultural heritage of Amritsar, The Amritsar Heritage Society in collaboration with The Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and supported by Punjab Government, organised "The Amritsar Heritage Festival" this past week with great fanfare and enthusiasm. The inaugural procession comprised Bhangra, Giddha, Gatka troupes, horses and elephants along with the beautiful jhankies depicting Punjabi culture. The cultural programmes included shabad kirtan, theatre, music and dance et al.
The music also had a wide variety from folk to classical and from sufiana quawwali to pop. Sonal Mansingh danced with Rajasthani folk music presented by Rehmat Khan Langa and troupe. Sher Miandad came from Pakistan to present sufiana quawwali and ghazal. His grandfather was born in Jalandhar and both his father and grandfather were Dargahi quawwals who sang at the Dargah of Shekh Farid in Pak Pattan. He started with the traditional Quaul, a famous composition of Hazrat Amir Khusro, "Man Kunto Maula... " but, on popular demand, he switched over to Punjabi sufiana kalam of Shekh Farid and Bulle Shah thereafter. Sher Miandad seems quite fond of singing sargam paltas in between his performance to impress people with his knowledge of classical music without realising that Sa Re Ga Ma are not meaningless alphabets. They are names of swaras and represent a certain musical note. There is no sense in singing Pa Ni Ni Ni if you don't reach the swara sthaan (particular frequency) of Pancham and Nishad!
Father and son
Vishva Mohan Bhatt on his Mohan Veena and his son and disciple Salil Bhatt on his Satvik Veena, as they call their instruments, played raga Maru Bihag the next day. Both the instruments complemented each other, while Vishva Mohan played a swar sangati in Madhya saptak, Salil followed it in the corresponding Mandra. The leisurely aalap jod created the tuneful atmosphere of the raga but the subsequent jhala became chaotic because of the out-of-tune Satvik veena and the awfully loud volume. Both, the vilambit and drut gats (compositions) were set to teen taal, in slow and faster tempo correspondingly.
Ram Kumar Mishra supporting on tabla, impressed the discerning audience right from his initial Utthaan that was applauded joyously. Even his simple "Na dhin dhin na" added charm to the compositions played by the duo. The drut gat was adorned with quicksilver taans that Vishva Mohan and Salil played by turn just after catching the same. Jhaala again was a disaster because of the out-of-tune instruments and unbearable amplification.
Parveen Sultana and her admirers had to wait another 15 minutes for her turn to perform, hence Vishva Mohan went on to sing a Rajasthani Maand as a concluding (surprise) item.
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