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Rain of rhythms

The gifted duo Pandit Chhannulal Mishra and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.

A distinctive feature of Hindustani raga system is the traditional association of individual ragas with particular hours of the day and night, and also particular seasons. It has got such an integral connection with the mood and mental/emotional stat e of musicians and audience, that you just think of rains and certain ragas come to mind automatically. To celebrate the barkha ritu (season of rains), Banyan Tree Events of Mumbai presented Rains & Ragas at Kamani Auditorium this past week. The artistes were santoor exponent Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and vocalist Pandit Chhannulal Mishra.

When Shiv Kumar Sharma was told a large crowd was struggling outside the gates, he requested the organisers to let them in. Only after all of them were properly seated, he opened his recital with raga Mian Malhar, one of the most popular ragas of the rainy season. The creation of this raga is credited to Mian Tansen, one of the nine jewels of Emperor Akbar’s court. The mood of this raga is one of deep reflection which was thoroughly created during the alap-jod sequence before the veteran presented compositions set to slow Jhap tala and Teen tala respectively.

The detailed alap evoked the true sensibility of the raga from both its Kanhara and the Malhar ang. Even on an instrument like the santoor, he created the andolan (oscillation) of Komal Gandhar and Komal Nishad. The quality of his tone and technique remains unmatched. The intonation of his swaras and the impeccable understanding and grip of the traditional raga were impressive. His logically conceived swara sequences presented enough contrast when he juxtaposed swaras in the upper and lower octaves. The intriguing play of the twin Nishads was also evocative of the spirit of the monsoon raga. Yogesh Shamsi gave him perfect support on the tabla.

Shivkumar Sharma played Mian Malhar so beautifully that there was no need for him to succumb to the request for a dhun that had nothing to do with the theme of the festival and delayed the next artiste.

Late start

Pandit Chhannulal Mishra got his turn so late that he cited the Urdu couplet “Husn bekaar hai gar chaahane wala na hua.” Luckily, there were enough of his admirers to inspire him to give some of the best from his rich r epertoire of rain melodies comprising captivating compositions in raga Megh Malhar, Mian Malhar, Sur Malhar and Desh to Banarasi thumri, kajri and sawani.

He opened his recital with raga Megh Malhar, presenting two compositions — “Garjat aaye badarawa…” in slow Ek tala and “Barsat garaj…” set to fast Ek tala. The Mian Malhar composition depicted nature’s musicians where papiha sang the alap, dadur played the tabla, chakor played the sitar, while the peacock danced.

The compositions in Sur Malhar and Desh describing nature’s bounty during barkha ritu were followed by mesmerising thumris and kajris. Mehmood Dhaulpuri on the harmonium and Lalit Kumar Mishra on the tabla accompanied him with equal zest.

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