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Different act Thanjavur Kesavan (left) with ensemble members

It was a not-so-usual concert at a very unusual place. That’s because you don’t get to listen to a good percussion ensemble too often, and definitely not in a place like Tihar Jail, the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. The event titled Beat of the Drums heralded the beginning of the Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF), a cultural extravaganza organised by Prasiddha Foundation and the Forum for Art Beyond Borders, in association with the Government of NCT of Delhi and Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Government of India.

The title, Beat of the Drums, is invigorating, and made you inquisitive about what to expect. Going through the elaborate and tedious process of checking and frisking before one could reach the venue actually added to the mystery.

As you reached ward No 13, you saw over 1000 undertrials comfortably seated in a small open arena to watch the programme, amidst tight security. After the welcome by the Jail Superintendent, Rajiv Shukla, it was the turn of Arshiya Sethi, executive director of DIAF, to address the gathering. “On the eve of Human Rights Day, there’s isn’t a better place to have a concert,” she said.

The programme was kickstarted by a prayer recited by the inmates of Aasra, an NGO working with the prisoners. “Itni Shakti Hame Dena Data” was accompanied by tabla and harmonium.

The actual concert, a percussion ensemble by the well-known mridangam and nattuvangam artiste Thanjavur R. Keshavan, flagged off the outreach programmes that are being organised as part of DIAF. Accompanying him on stage was K. Ramamurthy on the ghatam and kanjira, Venkatesan on vocals, Shyamala Bhaskar on the veena, Gyan Singh on the tabla, Mahesh Chand on the octopad and Sangeet Nath on the keyboard.

The 45-minute show started with a Ganesh vandana, where veena took the lead, which was followed by the vocals and soon joined by the other instruments. The sound that all the instruments generated together was well synced and soulful. The next big piece was based on raga Madhuvanti. Here, every percussionist was given the chance to showcase his individual mastery. The way the group played around with the seven notes in the raga was interesting. The group ended the event with a short classical piece.

The lay audience couldn’t understand or enjoy the intricacies of the music, but every time the octopad came on, the pop-style beats were cheered with claps. “It has been an unusual experience for me, as I am performing here for the first time. We knew the audience would not enjoy pure classical music, and that’s why we decided to have the keyboard and octopad,” said Keshavan.

Sangeet Natak Academi Chairman Ram Nivas Mirdha, DGP V. K. Gupta and Prathibha Prahlad, the festival director, were the other dignitaries present.

MANGALA RAMAMOORTHY

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