His Master's Voice


Prakash Wadhera returns impressed after listening to a superb recital by Gaurav Mazumdar, Pt. Ravishankar's Pupil, in New Delhi the other day.

The Guru's Pre-eminent position in the Indian system of transmission of knowledge can scarcely be exaggerated. It is underlined in the well known Shloka ,"Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo, Maheshwarah" which places the Guru on the same pedestal as God. In the field of music too, the Guru is the object of eternal reverence. Admittedly, the changes in times and values have considerably undermined the sentiment of Guru Bhakti, but some vestige still remains.

By igniting the torch of Knowledge in others, the Guru sheds even greater light on himself. To talk of dedicated Gurus, one cannot adequately praise the ungrudging Beneficence of two Gurus- the Dhrupad Maestro Ustad Fariduddin Dagar and the Sitar Maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar. Among others the former trained the acclaimed Gundecha Brothers, Ritwik Sanyal besides a young Dhrupad enthusiast from France, Yuan Trunsler. While of those trained by Pt. Ravi Shankar, the list is endless. Uma shankar Mishra, Jaya Biswas, Shamim Ahmed, Deepak Choudhury, Kartik Kumar, Vijay Raghav Rao, Shubendra Rao, Parthasarthy, Daya Shankar, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and the finest of them all, the late Sashi Mohan Bhatt and many others whose medium of expression is not the sitar. To this list may be added his many disciples abroad like George Harrison.

One such Disciple of Ravishankar for about two decades is Gaurav Mazumdar who recently performed at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. Gaurav's Initial training took place under the care of his uncle J.D. Mazumdar

The stamp of Ravishankar is firmly affixed on the styles of all his disciples. Is it a small blessing that though their degree of artistic expression may vary, the correct form of the Raga at least is inefficaebly fixed on his pupil's minds? This programme in IHC was held under the auspices of Impressario India. Since the accompaniment on the Tabla was no lesser hands than those of the Varanasi veteran Pt. Kishan Maharaj-he was to appear in Delhi rather after a long time-the audience included some of his admirers like Amjad Ali Khan, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Debu Choudhury besides the former President R. Venkataraman.One presumes that it must have been the august presence of Kishan Maharaj which prompted the main artiste Gaurav Mazumdar to opt for a composition in the unusual Dhamar tala which few instrumentalists dare.The same would explain the title of "melody and rhythm" given to the programme. With the grace of the Guru, coupled with his own intelligence and perseverance, Gaurav has taken rapid strides in his art. His recitals have made a mark in many countries. Like his teacher, Gaurav brings out a sparkling rich tone from his instrument and plies on it with absolute ease.The other unique quality which distinguish Ravi Shankar from all other Sitar players, namely, sombre, deep tone fascinating tonal elongations, sedate and systematic projection of Alap unflinching accuracy of the Raaga, are well imbibed by Gaurav. His tackling of base register as enchanting.

Along with difficult Dhamar Tala which consists of not easily manageable 14 matras, Gaurav chose Raga Shree which imposes further constraints on one's free movement. Left to himself, Gaurav would have liked to swim in the familiar waters of Teen tala. Mandra Nishad tardily proceeding to its haven, the Shadaj followed by an even more languorous Mandra, Pancham snail pacing to the same haven seemed to set the mood of the Raga. There was not a Flippant note or Idiom in the earlier note quite unlike other Sitar players who take pride in producing the so called Gayaki effects and thereby lighten the temper of music. The fact of the matter that the Alap done in the Ravi Shankar or the Nikhil Banerjee way is closer in temper to that on the Veena in the Dhrupad style while the other styles strive for the gayaki effects of the Khayal Style. Grace and suppleness attended Gaurav's R P R G followed by a arching M P D M G R G. Did he not carry the Jod a little too far especially when a large segment of the audience which included a number of local tabla players, were eagerly awaiting Kishan Maharaj to have a go at the rare Dhamar taal?

The Maharaj is regarded as the very Michelangelo of the Laya. Before venturing forth the 81 year old said," I have accompanied three generations of them- Baba Allaudin Khan, Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan and now their Disciples". Luckily the critic was a witness to them all.

Bhopali, one feels was rather a odd choice after Shree. In it from certain postures you could see the lighter shades of Pahari peeping in. However, Gaurav was all grace and melodic in his concluding Raga-Zilakafi.

The Hindu-New Delhi-7th May, 2004