A Musical Tribute to Bangalore

A jugalbandi by two Hindustani music maestros - Ustaad Zakir Hussain on tabla and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma on Santoor was a concert to remember for a long time to come. The event was promoted as 'A Tribute to Bangalore' and was held on the evening of 9th Feb 2008 in Gayatri Vihar, Palace Grounds.

My plans for attending the concert were finalized just one evening before the event when my friend confirmed booking of tickets. I, along with my parents, reached the venue a little ahead of schedule after battling the now infamous Bangalore traffic for over an hour. The concert started half an hour behind the schedule. But once Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma started the first notes of alaap on Santoor in raag Jhinjhoti, we all knew that the wait was worth it and we had an evening of great music in store for us . Ustaad Zakir Hussain joined on tabla for the next performance which was in raag Dadra followed by raag Pahadi. When they were playing raag Pahadi, as if on cue, a wisp of cool breeze brought along a bunch of dry leaves from a nearby tree into the area where we were seated.

The two maetsros played continuously for 3 hours enthralling the audience with their mellifluous music. When they played in drut, their hands moved with lightening speed. And as always, the best moments of any jugalbadi (in my view) are - when the two performers play the exact same notes on their instruments, preferably around reaching the crescendo, and give those perfect 2-3 second pauses simultaneously, followed by a content smile on their faces.

Absolutely beautiful!