Pt Rajshekhar Mansoor of the Jaipur gharana presented a wonderful recital in Pune recently. Despite not understanding fine nuances of classic Hindustani fare, I was totally mesmerised by Panditji’s rendition of uncommon ragas. Compositions in Bhimpalas, Barari, Gouri and Basanti Kedar had us enthralled. A report cited Panditji as saying, ” the only thing a musician can do is to humbly and with dedication request the ragas to come to him. The ragas then decide whether they will come to the musician or not… No one can master them, we are learners and will remain so forever.”
Though Spic Macay works to introduce traditional Indian culture to our youth, majority of the audience was over 50!
Panditji’s devotion to the art shone through as he did not let poor organisation by Spic Macay and FTII bother him. I hope the organisers take note of their blunders.
Take care all!
