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Barsaat ki ek raat |
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The Megh Malhar Utsav revels in the brilliance of monsoon ragas
Megh Malhar, an 18-year-old classical music festival, prides itself on not repeating its artists. This year’s edition on the 22-23rd June showcased a mix of new talent and veterans. The fest in the UK for the first time saw the husband-wife duo of Kaushiki Chakraborty-Desikan and Parthasarthy Desikan singing Hindustani classical music. Both have trained under the same guru and will performed separately.
The last day saw Dinanath Mishra, a Hindustani vocalist and Urmila Shrivastava, who sings Kajri.
THE MUSICAL SOUND OF RAIN
According to legend, when Tansen sung the Megh raga, clouds would gather and the singing brought the rains. Legends aside, different ragas are sung during different seasons. Pt Dinanath Mishra, the Hindustani vocalist, explained the speciality of the Megh raga and its derivatives, “When we sing Megh raga, we try and incorporate the sound of the rain in our voice. In one of the ragas, we try and modulate our voice to sound like raindrops,” he explains.
Kaushiki Desikan who performed the Megh Malhar, says, “A raga could |
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also be about how wind affects the clouds or it reflects your personal feelings - whether happy or scared. At times, it is about longing for your beloved when it rains.” Miya Malhar is a variation of the Raga Malhar, as Parathasarthy Desikan explains, “It is like the artist is painting a portrait - the artist describes the clouds gathering together, the subtle movements of the clouds, etc. with his voice.” |
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KAJRI DEBUTS AT FEST
The festival, for the first time, also showcased a Kajri veteran, Urmila Shrivastava. “Kajri is a tradition similar to the Vrath during Holi,” explains Urmila. “Women go to their parents’ house and the brother ties a rakhi. It is a genre of folk music that celebrates this festival,” she says. “The songs have swings, mehndi, longing for a husband who is away, complaining that the brother isn’t there to tie a rakhi, etc as the themes. I will sing more than 15 songs on the rains.”
She was accompanied by five musicians playing the harmonium, dholak, tabla, shehnai and majra.
TIME-BOUND
Pt Dinanath was delighted to be singing at the festival, but rues the lack of time he had. Speaking to DE correspondant before the recital he says, “I usually sing |
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Megh Malhar for about 45 minutes, but we have just an hour allotted to us, so I will have to sing the raga in half the time. I will sing Surdasi Malhar next and conclude it with the Dadra,” .
Urmila had no qualms about the time. Unlike classical music in which each raga is at least half an hour long, kajri last less than five minutes.
So, if it doesn’t rain, does the raga change? “It doesn’t matter, the essence of the raga is in the feeling. But maybe when I sing I might just make it rain,” Pt Dinanath chuckled..
The fest was held at the Nehru Centre Auditorium on 22-23 June |
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