Lingering music

Myself and a couple of friends strolled out on a beautiful Sunday evening with a chillness in the air that brought to my mind the fabled Bangalore climate of yesteryears, and for us just the climate for an ice cream. A few delightful scoops at Corner House later, we were on our meandering way trying to hit the vicinity of MG road to board a bus. We were due to be present at Jnana Jyothi Convention Centre, Central College campus the occasion being the “In praise of Vitthala, Abhangs by Aruna Sairam”.

It was to be my first live music concert of any genre or form. My appreciation for and limited knowledge of Carnatic music is completely attributed to my friend Saranya. I literally had no ear for music before I entered my engineering course, the best I could do was recognize the most popular tunes of Tamil Cine Music. I was afterall the genius who unabashedly hazarded Ganagaiamaran as a guess in a quiz when asked to identify the voice in a classic carnatic rendition by Balamurali Krishna. In the numerous mini-concerts we had in our hostel room, Sarani would sing to us and explain not just the nuances of the music, but also the lyrics when rendering Sanskrit or Telugu kirthis. Her favourite vocalist Aruna Sairam slowly became my favourite singer too for her lively renderings.

So that said, a concert by Aruna Sairam under the aegis of Novemberfest by The Hindu was a tempting proposition. The concert was on a Sunday evening. All seemed perfect, save one small glitch – Abhangs, sung in praise of Vitthala, the deity at Pandharpur in Maharashtra, were Marathi and my Marathi-knowledgeable friend was out of town on the concert date. Well, I of course know music is languageless, etc, but I usually prefer to understand atleast the theme of a song to appreciate it better. Nevertheless, I decided to go for it and I am extremely glad I did.

We landed at 7.15 pm on the dot and settled into our seats. The auditorium was three-fourths full and we looked like the only ones under forty there, not that we minded it.Given that the concerts lined up under Novemberfest ranged from Abhangs to Hindi Retro to African-Rock, the décor was contemporary and tastefully done. For the evening’s concert, a raised platform was setup in a semi-circle and the instruments in place. The audio by Bose was of course impeccable.

The instrumentalists who were to accompany the vocalist were introduced. The artistes manned instruments ranging from the regular gadham, mirdhangam, violin, tambura to some unconventional ones - a drum of sorts and some others I cannot identify by name. The star of the evening walked in draped in a blue and green Kanchipuram saree and folded her hands in a namaste bowing to the audience. Before she let her powerful voice sing the praises of Vitthala, she gave the audience an introduction to the varkari sampradaya, the pilgrimages to the Pandharpur and the devout, simple peasant men and women for whom devotion to Vitthala transcended everything else. Arunaji encouraged the audience to treat the evening not as a concert but as an experience and invited everyone to sing along, clap and dance if one felt like it.

Abhangs are a unique blend of folk and traditional devotional styles and Arunaji’s singing was in keeping with the style and spirit of the music. The renditions were lively and soulful. She moved from one song to the next with ease, interspersing them with anecdotes and insights into the culture and lives of the originators of this unique genre of music. As she spoke, her perfect diction was a delight to hear.

The songs were highly energetic and the high-energy performances seemed to only increase the enthusiasm of the performers and not once did Arunaji appear tired. About halfway through the concert, Arunaji and her instrumentalists requested lights in the audience section be turned on, so that the artistes could see the reaction of the audience and connect with them. She mentioned again what she has stated time and again in her concerts  - the audience were the source of energy for the performing artistes.

As the evening progressed, audience vied with each other to request songs close to their hearts. Arunaji cheerfully obliged and her trademark renditions of Maadu Mekkum kanne, Bhaktajana vatsale, etc filled the hall. We overran the concert schedule and requests still kept coming in. Arunaji finally had to entreat the audience to trust her judgement and let her go back to her original planned sequence for the final renditions to bring the evening to closure.

What I loved most about this concert was the range of songs – Abhangs by Sants Gyandev, Tukaram and others of course were the central theme, but also rendered were bhajan-type namasankeertham from south, a Meera bhajan, a rendition dedicated to Kolhapur Goddess Saraswathi and Bengali and Gujarathi songs.

A proper or more precise listing of the songs can be found here, so I will not list them here in detail. I would like to focus instead on the spirit behind the compilation of the song sequence. The journey to Pandharpur took a unique route, through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bengal and even Thirupathi. The sheer expanse of the Indian subcontinent covered by the renditions was a marvel in itself. Integration of a nation as multi-faceted as India can only be achieved and developed by an equally multi-faceted approach – democracy, arts, law, sports, etc need to come together. If there is a single thread or theme in the history of our country it is definitely the assimilation of cultures and traditions. We have always welcomed with open arms and generous hearts, the communalism that troubles us today is largely a “modern” manifestation. This rich history of cultural growth comes from people who studied and embraced without inhibition, languages, cultures and arts of people other than their own region or community. And it is this unique aspect that one seems to miss in our present times. How many of us would even know of Kohlapur or Gondhali folk if it wasn’t for this concert?

Music is indeed boundless and boundaryless; music brings people together. And we need people like Aruna Sairam to realize this power of music. And even more so in these troubled times, to show us how close we Indians really are to each other. For this alone, my salutations to Arunaji!

It has been over a couple of weeks since the concert, but the music and the atmosphere remain with me. An evening I will always remember…