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The lustre of hidden gems
MEENA BANERJEE
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A recent event revealed Pandit Birju Maharaj’s lesser known but equally mesmerising prowess as a singer.
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Baithak Pandit Birju Maharaj flanked by Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and Yogesh Samsi.
With bated breath a packed Kala Mandir waited for the Maharaja of Kathak to rise and dance because, despite the explicitly worded invitation promising a novel Bandish Baithak, Kathak and Pandit Birju Maharaj remain synonymous. The master too reiterat
ed that singing was an essential part of his grooming and he prays “to Nataraj to remain a ‘Nartak’ and nothing else.”
He belonged to the era that believed in “ek saadhey sab sadhey”. Very few know that Maharajji also excels as a tabla and pakhawaj player. He handles such diverse instruments like the harmonium and the sarod with innate ease and is a lyricist-composer and vocalist par excellence. Sangeet Kala Mandir unveiled this lesser known but equally mesmerising aspect of Maharajji’s personality on a grand scale. “This is my first full-fledged vocal recital before such a huge audience,” the septuagenarian maestro admitted with disarming candour, “I debuted as a teenage dancer in Kolkata. The city has a special place in my heart.”
Since such baithaks usually demand a ‘joda’, or two of a kind, the evening featured another charismatic vocalist of the present generation who traverses all the arenas of music with effortless ease. Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty shared the stage with Maharajji. Renowned tabla exponent Yogesh Samsi accompanied them.
Chakraborty commenced the evening with a superb Shiv stuti composed by Tansen in raga Poorvi set to Shool tala. The power-packed rendition was followed by a melodic landscape of a romantic sunset in the same raga composed by Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Maharajji began with the famous “Mohe chhero na Nand ke sunahu chhail”. During the course of the evening he shared some of the priceless lyrical compositions, like those woven around the word “Hari” with its countless connotations, or melodic thumris, with his mind-boggling play with rhythm.
Anecdotes
Several interesting anecdotes brimming with nostalgia dotted his renditions, as did the intrinsic, inimitable bhava. He reminisced how his uncle Shambhu Maharaj would tell him to sing to comprehend the emotions of the lyrics. He treated the audience to the unfurling of all the petals of the beautiful bandish that was partly filmed in “Devdas”.
Lured by this enviable ancestral treasure consisting of exquisite compositions, essentially for Kathak and composed by Kalka Bindadin Maharaj, Shambhu Maharaj and Maharajji himself, Chakrabarty picked up some jewels from his formidable collection. The soft shades of his Pilu, the intricate pattern of Hindol Bahar, the intriguing uthan of his Jhinjhoti and the taan-encrusted beauty of his Bihagda inspired Maharajji to present a suitable ‘joda’ in return. This give and take motivated the tabla to offer enjoyable accompaniment.
Together they closed the memorable two-hour session with a magnificent bhava-laden jhoola in Desh.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
