Celebrating the guru-shishya tradition

Veteran musicians gave a glimpse of their lineage and proficiency at the recently concluded 'Swami Haridas Tansen Sangeet-Nritya Mahotsav' in New Delhi.

The four-day festival, organized by Uma Sharma's Bharatiya Sangeet Sadan in association with the HCL Concerts, commemorated the esteemed guru-shishya parampara of our traditional arts, showcasing some of the gems chiselled out under this invaluable tradition.

Till Sunday i.e., the concluding day of the festival, the spacious Shankar Lal Hall at New Delhi's Modern School was stuffed with thousands of music lovers attending 'Swami Haridas Tansen Sangeet-Nritya Mahotsav'. "Who says there are no takers of classical music?", exclaimed an overwhelmed Uma Sharma, eminent Kathak danseuse, who started this festival in order to revive people's interest in Indian traditional arts, and to rekindle the love for classical music in the younger generation.

The inaugural evening at the Modern School on Barakhamba Road saw performances by Kathak doyen Uma Sharma, legendary flautist Hari Prasad Chaurasia, and vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty. The festival was inaugurated by Union Minister, Mahesh Sharma. Expressing his happiness at the presence of a large young audience, he said that the youth were global ambassadors of the country's culture. The minister also urged people to always keep the flames of the country's rich culture burning. He appealed to them to take forward the guru-shishya (teacher-student) tradition, describing it as India's pride and strength.

Uma Sharma, a Padma Bhushan awardee, said her mission with this festival is to ensure that India's rich culture doesn't get extinct.

On January 12, the second day of the program, Pandit Chhannulal Mishra and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt's Mohan Veena were the main attraction. Raga Puriya Kalyan, famous singer of Hindustani classical music and Pandit Chhannulal Mishra won the hearts of the audience with their singing on a number of lovely performances like Thumri, Kajari and Jhula in Banaras. Next, Ayan Ali Bangash playing on the strings of sarod along with Satyajit Talwalkar on Tabla touched the hearts of Delhiites. The second day's final presentation was by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Manganiyars Group. While Vishwa Mohan played Mohan Vina, the Manganiyar Group made the evening of the festival colourful with Rajasthan in focus.

Swami Haridas Tansen Music and Dance Festival is an attempt to keep our culture alive through the revival of cultural 'renaissance' and music ethos. On the third day of the program, celebrated singer Shubha Mudgal had the audience enthralled with her presentation. The versatile Mudgal is a classical musician who is also known for Khayal, Thumri and Dadra besides Indian pop music.

Apart from this, the presentation of famous sitar player Ustad Shujaat Khan on the third day was a rare treat for aficionados of classical music. Sarod maestro Ustad Ashish Khan also proved to be quite a show stealer.

On the last day of the festival, sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan took the audience on a magical journey. Apart from this, the famous classical musician Pandit Ulhas Ann Kahlkar also showed his mettle. The classical music extravaganza was organised by the Indian Music House in collaboration with Sri Ram Center for

Performing Arts.