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| ARTS TRIBUNE | Friday, December 22, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Hill
culture brought alive Singing
in seven languages Harballabh Sangeet
Sammelan Singing
is my God: Anuradha
The games people play After watching the first episode of the much-hyped American programme Survivors, I have come to the conclusion that the average American, certainly the average American viewer, has simply not grown up and is still living in the cowboys vs injuns age.
by Suparna Saraswati As a well-known architect who also possesses a keenness for theatre, Aditya Prakash is no stranger to the city and it’s residents. But his avtar of a painter might come as a bit of a surprise to many. The IndusInd Bank Art Gallery recently held an exhibition of Prakash’s oils on canvas. |
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Hill culture brought
alive A
Artistes, dancers and singers gathered in Dehra Dun from far-flung areas of the new state. Clad in traditional clothes carrying music instruments such as dhol-dhamau, ransingha, turhi and masakbin they performed to the chants of Vedic mantras. The artistes from the Garhwal Sabha performed the Saraiyain dance followed by a ‘jhanki’ from Badrinath. Thereafter, the artistes from the Janjati Sanskritik Manch, Chamoli, performed to the tune of a folk song. Singers from the Himgiri Sanskritik Sansthan, Champavat, accompanied by the ‘jhankis’ of Shri Hemkund Saheb and Shri Kedarnath. The troupe from Kala Darpan, Uttarkashi, presented a folk dance from Bangaran and the famous Rasaun dances of Gangetic plains. Bhuvan Ram and his group from Jageshwar presented Cholia dance, a spectacular sword dance with the beat of traditional instruments. The group from Jaunsar Bawar danced along singing Raini ki
tan..., an auspicious dance performed with wooden poles decorated with Buras, a flower found predominently in the hills. Women from Kurmanchal Sanskriti and Kalyan Parishad represented the traditional touch wearing nathas (nose rings). The highlights of the second and third days were folk dances. The Chamoli Janjati Kalyan Samiti presented a folk dance depicting a tearful farewell to Nanda Devi on the occasion of Nanda Jat. This farewell song-cum-dance directed by Man Singh and his group greatly enthralled the audience. The other presentations were Cholia, Saraiyan, Pandav, Harul, Binar etc. Well-known singer Chandra Singh Rahi sent felicitations to the people of Uttaranchal on the fourth and fifth days through his famous song
Daru bola.... His Pahari jagars greatly regaled the audience. An upcoming singer Santosh Khetwal presented his best to traditional tunes. Kumaoni folk singer Heera Singh Rana presented a tributory song in the memory of those who died fighting for Uttaranchal, a separate state. Jagat Ram Verma presented folk songs of Jaunsar. During this week-long celebrations a seminar on educational scenario of Uttaranchal was also organised. Most of the participants stressed upon the need to strengthen the primary education system of the new state. |
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Singing in seven
languages SHE started singing as a small girl in her home town, Sathyamangalam, in Tamil Nadu near the Karnataka border. Now S. Saraswathy is married and has a six-year-old son. She lives with her husband and in-laws in Pondicherry. She teaches music at Kendriya Vidyalaya there. I met her in Pondy where I was visiting my daughter recently. My curiosity was aroused when I learnt that though she spoke very little Hindi, she sang Hindi songs with immense ease. It was Navaratra time. Saraswathy had, as they do in the South, arranged kolu dolls and images of gods on a seven-tier stand in her puja room. She invited us to have a look at them. Devout by nature, Saraswathy celebrates all festivals. At that time she makes traditional kolum decorations on the floor for beauty and auspiciousness. Her interest in singing continued all through her school days. After that she graduated in vocal music. She plays the veena as well. Later, she got her master’s degree in history. But music was, and is, her first passion. Soon she became a pupil of B.M. Sundaram, a musicologist. The guru is proud of her achievements. In 1986, Saraswathy got a gold medal for a light classical solo song. She has won some other prizes too. In 1987, she went to the USSR with other singers to take part in the Festival of India. She is a regular radio artiste. Apart from her mother-tongue Tamil, Saraswathy sings not only in Hindi but also some other Indian languages. Seven languages in all. “I am told that you do not know Hindi well, “I said. “Then how do you manage to sing Hindi songs?” “My guru sings in many languages,” she answered. “He told me how to go about it.’’ He would explain the meaning of a Hindi song and the mood in which it was sung. Then he sang it and she would sing after him. She practised it until she sang to his satisfaction. Saraswathy sang a few songs — or parts of them — for us. No clearing of the throat. No other preliminary. Just as, on alighting on a branch or a parapet, a bird begins to chirp effortlessly, so did she sing. All her songs were songs of devotion. First she sang in Tamil, then in Telugu and after that in Kannada and Malayalam. I did not follow the words of any. But I was all the time aware of the fluency of her singing and the tone of piety. Also the sweetness of her voice. After a while Saraswathy switched over to a Marathi bhajan. She also sang a snatch of the folk Lavni. After that a devotional song in Gujarati. She was as fluent and melodious as before. Lastly, she gave us a few samples of her Hindi singing. She began with the Meera bhajan,
Nand Nandan... as sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Both its tune and lyrics are rather difficult. But Saraswathy reproduced them faithfully. “Anything from Hindi films?” I asked. Immediately came the opening line of the “Guddi” song
Bole re papiha ra... which Vani Jairam has sung. “Actually I meant a popular kind of song,” I said. And Saraswathy came out with the “Kati Patang” song,
Na koi umang hai, na koi tarang hai.... She, however, does not go for the latest Bollywood tunes, nor has she tried the Punjabi pop. Among her favourite Tamil singers are S. Janaki and P. Sushila. Her favourite Hindi singers are Lata Mangeshkar, Anuradha Paudwal, Pankaj Udhas and Anup Jalota. What are her other interests? Cooking and going on outings. Her reading does not go beyond a few magazines. But she listens to music as much as she can. She has no airs. “What about singing for films?” “I would love to if there is an offer.” “Is that her ultimate aim?” “No,” she replied. “More than anything else I want to sing better and better and be a worthy disciple of my guru.” |
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Harballabh Sangeet
Sammelan THE stage is set for the 125th Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan to be held at the Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar from December 28 to 30. The show will feature eminent musicians of the Indian classical stream. This annual feature is held to promote and propagate the sense of music among the younger generation. The first strains of the three-day musical bonanza will begin as the sun sets on December 28 at the samadhi of Baba Harballabh.
The musical stars of the three evenings will include such names as Rajan-Sajan Mishra (vocal), Shiv Kumar Sharma (santur), Gundecha Bandhu (vocal), Mahavir Prasad (shehnai), Vishvamohan Bhatt (mohan veena), Ulhas Kashalkar (vocal), Prabha Annae (vocal), Meeta Pandit (vocal), Vishwajit Sarkar (sitar), Kalpini Kaumkali (vocal), Nivedita Singh (vocal), Krishna Maharaj (tabla), Ghulam M. Khan (vocal), Ram Narayan (sarangi), Kumar S. Moongi (vocal), Shujat Hussain Khan (sitar), Daanish Aslam Khan (sarod), Saeed Zafar Khan (sitar), Madhumita Ray (vocal), Brij Narayan (sarod), Bhure Khan (harmonium) and Mehmood Dhaulpuri (harmonium). |
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Singing is my God: Anuradha “I
owe my success to singing. I will be singing throughout my life. Singing is everything to me — my love, my passion and my God’’, proclaims Anuradha Paudwal, renowned playback singer of the country. She was talking to The Tribune, during a short visit to Ludhiana to perform at a Bhagwati jagran held at the College Road recently. Anuradha has been singing as a playback singer in the movies for the past 25 years, but her debut as a devotional singer came just by chance about 12 years back. She has experienced some memorable moments as a playback singer. She revealed that success had not come to her by chance. She had to struggle to get it. A very simple and docile Anuradha, who was wearing a bright orange-coloured saree, said, ‘‘It took me so many years and I have worked hard to get this position’’. She pointed out that one had to rely on directors, producers and artistes for playback singing, but devotional songs were different. One was generally independent while singing bhajans. She justified herself and said, ‘‘You get confidence when you have to sing on your own. And the result is also better. You get both appreciation and satisfaction’’. She has sung a number of songs recently for the film ‘‘Dhai Akshar Prem Ke’’. Her
son, Aditya, has also been composing for his mother. She has sung for a music video called ‘‘Ishq Hua’’, which was released about four months back. |
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Sight & Sound After
watching the first episode of the much-hyped American programme Survivors, I have come to the conclusion that the average American, certainly the average American viewer, has simply not grown up and is still living in the cowboys vs injuns age. Because Survivors is only (I am not sure I can even say) an adult version of the sort of obstacle races or summer camp exercises which boy scouts and the like go through in their adolescent years (light a fire without match-sticks, cross a suspension bridge, show team effort, one slip by an older woman can disqualify you and her). Only this time the head scout uses the occasion to throw in bits and pieces of psychology, the participants are of all ages, colours and professions and even if they are in the age range from the 20s to the 60s, they do at times tend to behave like petulant children. The clash of personalities is too simplistic to be exciting (we had the same problems in school excursions) and at the end of it all, I am sorry to say, it left me plain bored. Perhaps I am not American-orientated enough, but I similarly find Everybody Loves Raymond, Dharma (is that an Indian name?) and Greg, What-Not McBeal and the rest a crashing bore, so localised in situations, jokes and characters that I simply do not connect. I find it easier even to connect with heavy-handed,
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, which is saying a good deal, overdressed women and all. I refuse, to quote Mahatma Gandhi’s famous advice, to be blown off my feet by any of them. And it is a reflection on the poor state of our serials, that we have to watch such stuff on Star World and AXN. Star Plus flopped miserably after its desification until it came up with Kaun Banega Crorepati which, unlike Survivors, has at least questions within the reach of Indians (if rather heavily biased in favour of Hindu mythology). That is a game with lots of fun and entertainment, not to speak of the Big B, is not even a trade secret any more. Zee News has been trying very hard with its news content and has livened up, for instance, with a close peep at the Hrithik-Suzanne wedding preparations in Bangalore, a dramatic if horrifying sequence showing the actual shooting of the builder in Bihar (its camera was running, as was Barkha Dutt’s during the explosion in Srinagar which killed her colleagues). Star News, on the other hand, which had a formidable reputation for professional, highly trained presenters has slumped with some of its new newscasters who not only stutter but get stuck at times and look helplessly at the camera. Its new weathercasters are also a scared lot, concentrating more on speed than coherence. Their namaskar ends on a strange high note which nobody uses in real life. Ms’s Khan, Mitra and the rest should take a long hard look at their tapes and see if they can make out what they are saying. At times I certainly cannot. On the other hand it has been a pleasure to watch the maturing of Arnab Goswami who, in the course of a few months, had acquired assurance, political acumen and interviewing skill, which places him among the top anchors in India. Another major talent from the North-East. Among the newer reporters, I find Rahul Srivastav from Lucknow filing some outstanding despatches. Since there are no printed programmes yet, I stumbled quite by accident on to the play Goodbye Desdemona on Spectranet which, alas, ended without a trace and no credits. It will be remembered that this play won an award at the Edinburgh Festival and what was remarkable about it was first, that it was adapted very professionally for television and, second, that it dared to take up a difficult theme with courage as well as delicacy. Conceived and directed by Royston Abel, the performance by Barry John was not unexpected but Adil Hussain, the young actor from Assam, was quite remarkable. All kudos to Madhu Trehan and her team at Wahindia for a most unusual TV experience. |
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Art & Culture As a well-known architect who also possesses a keenness for theatre, Aditya Prakash is no stranger to the city and it’s residents. But his avtar of a painter might come as a bit of a surprise to many. The IndusInd Bank Art Gallery recently held an exhibition of Prakash’s oils on canvas. It appeared to be a panoramic view of the winged creatures. Eagle, pelican, peacock, swan, seagull, crow, flamingo and similar types figured prominently in the artist’s theme content. These were brightly painted images of distinctive fauna. Unlike the experimental and relative depiction of animals that one gets to see at times, this was a more communication-oriented painting style. There was no ambiguity regarding the contextual expression of the theme. Each frame had a voice and space of it’s own, something that is very often lacking in several works of art. Prakash, equipped with the merit of being an acclaimed architect, displays his mastery of defining and linear structuring. The skill of a confident painter is usually evident from the subtle nuances of the brush strokes and the choice of colours. In this display such features have found suitable placement within the pattern of the image. It is the colour palate that has lent an air of vibrancy and artistic coyness to each frame. Strangely, the painted creatures do not appear to have been caged in the stillness of being an art form. They seem to be alive and cast a knowing glance at the viewer as if amusingly saying: “Well, I am enjoying the show how about you!” The artist’s choice of birds is also a comment on the situation within the animal world. Those that we see regularly must not and moreover, should not get covered by the mundane routine silent observance. They constitute an important aspect of our daily lives and we need to respect that with due recognition. Both these exhibitions bring to the forefront, the changing trends taking place in the medium of painting. Whether it be landscaping in water colours or birds ‘of a feather flocking on the canvas’, there is a visible expansion in terms of their imagery as well as thematic conception. |
