Chaste renderings
JITENDRA PRATAP
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Devaki Pandit, who sang in New Delhi the other day, deserves credit for choosing ragas with proven values.
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The versatility of Devaki is reflected in the manner in which she moulds her voice to suit different genres of music.
Devaki Pandit's recent vocal recital in New Delhi was a welcome treat. Devaki deserves to be complimented for rendering ragas of good old proven values. The dusk-time melody of raga Puriya Dhanashri was the most appropriate one to commence her recital of the evening. She impressed for her excellent handling of the `vakra' (the criss-cross movements) of the raga's notes. The slow 12-beat Ek tala composition "Baalam re" was developed with methodical alap-badhat, besides bold and varied taan patterns with utmost tunefulness. The mid-tempo 16-beat Teen tala composition "Saanjh mere ghar aavo" was well embellished with scores of fast and varied taan patterns with clarity.
Well-handled
Devaki continued her recital with yet another raga of proven values, namely, the raga Shankara which is rarely heard these days. The 10-beat mid-tempo Jhap tala composition "Anahat naad" was a delightfully handled piece of music with leisurely elaborated phrasings. The late Pandit Jitendra Abhiseki's composition "Jataajut Ganga kinaare", set to mid-tempo Ek tala, was given a befitting handling with well-deployed variations in a leisurely manner. The penultimate rendering in raga Sawani was a welcome item, although it had wee shades of the mid-night raga Jaijaiwanti. Devaki concluded her recital of the evening with a soulfully rendered bhajan in raga Bhairavi.
First public performance
Born in Mumbai Devaki Pandit was brought up in a family that revered the power of music. Having observed the talent in their daughter, her parents nurtured her love for music right from her infanthood. She received initial training in music from her mother, Usha Pandit. At the tender age of nine Devaki gave her first public performance. She continued receiving further training from other stalwarts in the field of music like Pandit Vasantrao Kulkarni, Kishori Amonkar, the late Pandit Jitendra Abhiseki. At present she is under the tutelage of Pandit Babanrao Haldankar. Devaki is the first recipient of the prestigious Kesarbai Kerkar Award and that also for two consecutive years. In 2002 she received the Mewati Gharana Award and in 2004 the Aditya Birla Kalakiran Puraskar. The versatility of Devaki as a singer is reflected in the manner in which she moulds her voice to suit different genres of music.
At her recital, which was part of the India Habitat Centre's HCL Concert Series, Jairam Poddar on the harmonium and Utpal Dutt on the tabla provided good accompaniment. .
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