Those in pursuit of music would readily agree that it takes nearly a decade for one to gain mastery over the genre they are training for. There is a lot of toil and hard work that must go in before one emerges as a complete musician, which continues for years thereafter to retain, preserve, polish and embellish what has been acquired. Suffice to say that the practice and discipline demanded by music (and any other performing art) goes above and beyond the much familiar academic rigor. 

Running a Karnatic Hindustani Music Circle is no less demanding. And doing so for 20 long years certainly requires as much, the toil and hard work aforementioned. At a very high level, making sure that the Organization has a meaningful charter that evolves and continues to operate, grow and influence music lovers in New England requires an unparalleled tenacity and zest of very high degree. This is what has helped KHMC to hold firm ground for this long term. 

Justifiably, on Apr 23rd, 2016, Arthur Clark Government Building in Waltham witnessed a celebratory event organized by KHMC Committee to felicitate the founding pillars – Dr. Suresh Mathur and Smt. Durga Krishnan. This event also acknowledged and recognized the relentless support of its very down-to-earth, senior and marquee member Smt Priti Chakravarty. It is not too often that such adjectives are used in the same breath!! Present during the event were many music enthusiasts, senior and junior performers, Host families that regularly conduct baithaks, volunteers and many more. Needless to mention that multiple media communities vied to cover the event.

Jeyanthi Ghatraju, the Treasurer, welcomed the audience and served as the EmCee for the program. The event opened with a Karnatic Ensemble by a Team of Singers and accompanists under the guidance of Smt Uma Sankar (ensemble members names listed at the end of the article). This was quite a treat for music lovers. This was followed by a scintillating Bansuri-Guitar fusion by Phil Kaplan and Sujeet Phanse, accompanied on the harmonium by Smt. Priti Chakravarty. The duo dazzled in their flawless improvisation in Raag Kalavathi. Thereafter, a rare Nottuswaram by Dikshitar was presented by Uma Shankar and Shuchita Rao. Set to foot-tapping rhythm and simple words, the audience engaged in singing along with the performers. This was a very unique presentation as a jugalbandhi in Hindustani and Carnatic style and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience.

The Hindustani Ensemble was coordinated by Vaishnavi Kondapalli. The group delivered a very crisp bandish and tarana based on Raag Yaman (Ensemble member names listed at the end of the article).

The finale of the event was marked by honoring the 3 luminaries – Mathur ji, Durga ji and Priti ji - on stage. The felicitations opened with a Divine invocation by Hiral Desai who gave raving remarks to the luminaries. It appeared that the Naduthota family had stolen the limelight what with the Sr. Naduthota’s inimitable compering, the Jr. Naduthotas’ enthralling on the flute and veena respectively until Shri Vinay took the stage to recall his interactions with the pillars of KHMC. Shuchita ji and Jeyanthi Ghatraju ji also shared a few words praising KHMC and its pioneers. 

Smt. Durga Krishnan was very modest in crediting Shri Mathur for where KHMC stands today. Her message to music performers was to “Practice, Practice and Practice”. The gift of music (swaram and talam) is not to be taken lightly but to train with consistent rigor and discipline. She echoed what she herself practices in her day-to-day life.

Mathur ji spoke very fondly of the inception of KHMC and took pride in the fact that KHMC is in good hands to go for another century to educate and entertain many more generations of music enthusiasts. In sharing his own experiences with Hindustani and Karnatic music, he had a very clear message for the Audience. It is really great to learn and enjoy our music - be it Hindustani, be it Karnatic – but don’t get stuck with just one of the two. The rewards of learning both are beyond the ordinary, so break the barriers and break new ground! This is why KHMC came into inception in the first place.

Priti ji took the audience through a walk down the memory lane how she had to don different hats in order to support a music performance. That she had also been a percussionist from time to time to fill a void when situation arose during a performance. During its earlier years, it was Mathur ji’s effusive energy that was key to KHMC staying up and running. She recalled very fondly how Mathur Ji was always there supporting and encouraging the team to continue the good work even in the face of adversity.

Mali delivered a masterpiece in his Vote of Thanks. It didn’t sound anything like an obligatory formality but words flowed from his heart. His delivery was as clintonesque as the thoughts shared by Prayuth Naduthota. It was packed with as much substance as it was packed with gratitude for the luminaries and the attendees of the event making sure that every individual including volunteers and support staff that had their sweat in organizing the event was mentioned. Mali shared a written note sent by the President Smt Jyothi Sharma which read, “In a land far away from where Hindustani and Karnatic Music originated, it takes a lot of determination, faith and selfless service from the dedicated community members to carry forward our cultural traditions.  It’s so heartwarming to see that our New England music community has proved it time and again by showering their love and blessings! I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to each and every one present here and also all those who couldn’t make it, for being such an integral and important part of KHMC! May God bless our KHMC family! “ 

All in all, the event was very well conceived and executed from start to finish. The KHMC committee members consisting of Jyoti Sharma, Jeyanthi Ghatraju, Praveena Naduthota, Mali Santhanakrishnan, Uma Shankar, Shuchita Rao, Vaishnavi Kondapalli and Pradeep Shukla have to be specially commended for a well-organized program.  

In closing, KHMC has come quite a ways in the last 2 decades and has carved a very special place for itself not just in New England but also in the hearts of many music lovers that will eagerly look forward to marking their calendars for the next music event from KHMC.  Evidently, the felicitation marked the opening of a new chapter for KHMC! 

Ensemble members:

Carnatic:- 

Vocal -     

Smt. Valli Bhamidipatti and her students, Anuraag Amaravadi and Sai Vyas Balabhadhrapathruni 

Smt.Bhuvana Ganesh and her student Nilanjanaa Nambiar 

Smt. Uma Sankar and her students Sushant Raj, Lasya Thavanati, Sreya Sankar 

Smt Tara Anand's students -Sudharshan Tirumalai and Pratik Bharadwaj 

Violin - Vishnu emani (student of Shri. KVS Vinay),, Yash Ravish (Student of Smt Tara Anand) 

Veena - Sahana Venkatesh, Prisha Naduthota,and Nandu Mohan (Students of Smt. Durga Krishnan)

Mridangam - Hari Shanmugham(Student of Sri. Gaurishankar Chandrashekhar), Tarun Bangalore  (Student of Dr. Pravin Sitaram), Varun chandramouli  (Student of Sri Mali. Santhanakrishnan) 

Flute, Prayuth Naduthota - Student of Sri Mysore A. Chandankumar. 

Morsing and dholak - Sri. Gaurishankar Chandrashekhar 

Violin - Sri KVS VInay

Mridangam - Sri. Mali Santhanakrishnan and Dr. Pravin Sitaram Sri KVS Vinay 

Hindustani:-

Vocal -

Selina Banerjee (Student of Sri Pradeep Shukla)

Radha Rao (student of Smt Shuchita Rao)

Aditya Rohit

Shiva Ramakrishnan

Vaishnavi Kondapalli

Shuchita Rao

Swati Panda

Pradeep Shukla

Harmonium - Smt Priti Chakaravarty

Tabla - Sri Rajesh Pai Kalsanka