On the evening of Saturday, May 19, when the much loved, 88 year old icon of Hindustani Music, Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj slowly made his way onto the beautifully decorated stage at MIT Kresge auditorium, he looked a bit frail. “Will he be able to sing for an hour or hour and half?” wondered members of the audience. Once seated in the midst of disciples and accompanists, Panditji held his swarmandal instrument upright and opened with the familiar prayer “Om Ananta Hari Narayana, Mangalam Bhagwan Vishnu..” Pandit Jasraj has sung this signature prayer at every concert in an illustrious musical career spanning several decades.

“Let us remember GOD together today”  Pandit Jasraj said to the audience and for the next three hours, he sang classical and devotional music with fervor, transporting the 700 plus member audience on an unforgettable journey through expansive vistas of haunting ragas like Puriya, Piloo, Marubihag, Jog and Charukesi. His devoted disciple, Vidushi Tripti Mukherjee sang along in her sonorous voice and also expertly accompanied him on the harmonium. Two seasoned tabla artists, Shri Nitin Mitta and Shri Aditya Narayan Banerjee provided sensitive and noteworthy percussion support.

In the first half of the concert, Pandit Jasraj systematically combed through the Puriya-Marwa terrain with the rendition of a devotional hymn from Chandi Paath. Between imaginative melodic explorations using words in praise of Devi, myriad sargam patterns and tihais, heavy gamak taans in aakaar, Pandit Jasraj established a firm foothold on classical music.  His innovative spirit was evident when he spontaneously converted the Devi stuti from a ten beat cycle to a faster tempo sixteen beat cycle composition. In the ensuing rendition of Chandra Ghanta composition set to eight beat Keherwa taal, Pandit Jasraj created a powerful, devotion infused atmosphere, traversing three full musical octaves effortlessly.

In the second composition in Raga Pilu “Brajevasantham” set to bhajan theka, Pandit Jasraj deftly painted with his music, the colorful scene of Lord Krishna enjoying the season of spring in the holy land of Braj.  Seamless forays into ragas Patdeep and Kirwani delighted members of the audience. “Amazing!, Pandit-ji” shouted a member of the audience. “Thank you” he replied. His ensuing remark “How about a 15 minute intermission for Chai and Samosa?” was greeted by light-hearted laughter from the audience.

There was more than Chai and Samosa available in the Kresge lobby. People mingled with each other and chatted excitedly while enjoying the culinary creations of Amrik Pabla of One World Cuisine.

“I drove from Virginia with my husband to listen to Pandit Jasraj. I have heard his audio renditions and also watched him on You-tube but I wanted to see him in a live performance before either he or I passed away” said Shikha Vasudeva.

“He did not sound like an old man at all. I will consider myself lucky if I can speak at 88, let alone being able to sing…” said Ruth from Cambridge, MA. 

Post-intermission, Pandit Jasraj presented a Parmanand Das composition in Raga Marubihag set to sixteen beat addha theka that transformed into drut teentaal. Panditji played with both madhyams and experimented with Western concept of harmony while singing with his disciple, Tripti-ji. A composition about Lord Hanuman in the Raga Jog came next and Panditji recited percussion syllables while engaging the two tabla players in a ten minute long spotlight on the rhythmic aspect of the presentation. Shri Nitin Mitta and Shri Aditya Narayan Banerjee took turns to display their command over their instruments and treated the audience to a feast of textures in rhythm. Pandit Jasraj also skillfully demonstrated the concept of Moorchchana by moving the tonic Sa successively to the Gandhaar and Madhyam notes. He chose to present a composition on Lord Krishna in Raga Charukeshi as his final musical offering. He climbed up the Charukesi notes ladder singing the words Govinda Gopala, transporting listeners to a spiritual realm where they experienced bliss. In the end, they pleaded for more music but Pandit-ji held his hands up as if to bless everyone and said “Thank you. You listened with great love. Jai Ho!”

After coming to MIT as Lecturer of Music, George again continued with 25 years of leadership and service to MITHAS. Continuing that call of his soul was more empowering than mere money. He has served MITHAS without taking a cent all these years. For me, George is my true friend for all time to come. He has infused not only spiritual music in my being but also made me a better person by defining to me the best meaning of “loyalty” and true Service for a noble cause” said Shri Puran Dang. A shawl was draped around Dr. George Ruckert’s torso in appreciation of his service to MITHAS.

At the end of the three hour long music concert, fans mobbed Pandit Jasraj on the stage. His physical stamina and outstanding musical skills left an indelible mark on everyone who attended the concert. Poornima Rau summed up the evening’s sentiment by saying “Pandit Jasraj made us holy by taking us on a journey praising Mahishasura Mardini, Lord Hanuman and Govinda Gopala.”