Ragas evoke the rains

SD Sharma

Chandigarh, August 4

The festive grandeur and emotive feel of the rainy season came alive at a live concert ‘Varsha Ritu Sangeet Sandhya’ organised by the Indian National Theatre (INT) in collaboration with the Durga Das Foundation at the Einstein Hall of Strawberry Fields High School-26 on Saturday.

To commensurate with the theme, eminent classical vocalist Anjana Nath chose to present the ‘malhaar’ series of ragas associated with the rainy season. The sparkling fountains and glittering light effects provided a perfect ambiance for the concert.

Vidushi Anjana Nath, foremost disciple of living legend Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, doyen of Patiala gharana, commenced her recital with raga ‘miyan malhaar’, created by celestial maestro Miyan Tan Sen with Vilambat composition ‘kariman naam tero’ followed by a drut khayaal ‘bolley re papihara’.

She further went on to dole out a composition ‘jhingurwa jhingran laagay’ in rare raga ‘meerabai ki malhaar’ before concluding with a ‘kajri’ in raga ‘maajh khamaj’.

Anjana Nath, an imaginative vocalist with a highly controlled trained voice, enraptured the audience with her luxuries of sur, lya, tal and eloquently executed bol and aakar sargams.

Vinay Mishra and Dr Paramjit Singh articulated the melody metre on harmonium and table, respectively as Gaurav and Khushpreet provided the drone on tanpuras.

INT president N Khosla IAS (retd.) expressed gratitude to Atul Khanna, director, Strawberry Fields High School, and INT secretary Vinita Gupta for giving a new dimension to the programme. Eminent classical vocalist Kashish Mittal, IAS, and senior artistes and city elite graced the function.