Do thoughts materialize? Yes, when they are positive and selfless! My experience at the Hindustani vocal concert performance in Orlando, FL on Sunday, January 29th performed by Aditya Shah was quite the proof! Aditya, a young artist in traditional Mewati gharana style, was accompanied by Sathesh Jadonath on harmonium from the same gharana and Pranav Ghatraju, from the Farukhabad gharana style on Tabla.

Aditya, a freshman at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and Pranav, a high school freshman from the Westford Academy, met at the Swarganga North Indian classical music competition for youth held in Atlanta, GA in May, 2011, amidst several well-talented young artists. Almost instantly, they developed a mutual appreciation for each other’s talents. These two teens were bonded by an incredible passion and dedication for Indian classical music. Each of them had determination in their mind to work together, without any particular theme or timeline in mind, given the odds; one was in FL, applying to colleges and the other in MA.

Seed for the event was planted in the minds of Ganesh Ramachandran who heard Aditya singing in a casual performance and chose to put the young artist on stage at the earliest possibility. These interconnecting thoughts must have been resonating so strong that when Shah Family was given an opportunity for Aditya to perform for a fund raiser for the Hindu Society of Central Florida; thus this dream program came to fruition. Once the date of January 29, 2012 was set, the rest of the factors started to fall in place, with the grace and blessings of the Gurus. Satesh, a disciple of Aditya’s guru, Pandit Radharaman Kirtaneji at the Pandit Jasraj School of Music in Tampa, FL, was confirmed as the harmonium player and Pranav on the tabla. This fund raiser event was a maiden journey for all three youth and a unique experiment for program sponsors.

Here I am describing my experience of the concert from talking to many learned people in the audience and is no way an attempt to review technicalities. The organizer of the concert put in all the right people in the right place to make the event a unique experience at a gorgeous auditorium at Eustis Community Center on bank of Lake Eustis. Under the leadership of Sri Ganesh Ramachandran and Dr. Sampath Shanmugam, the entire team of volunteers was meticulous in making sure that stage was set, auditorium was packed and the proceedings ran smoothly.

Aditya in his brief introduction highlighted the feeling of great privilege the three young performers shared, as students of Hindustani music learning in USA. What he said next showed how humble and devoted he is to his Guru and his music. “If you like something in an item, it is all from my Guruji and if you didn’t like something, it is totally my attempt to try something new and that it just didn’t work out.”  With the setting sun on the simmering waters of the lake in background, the program started. Aditya commenced the 2 hour long program with a traditional bada khayal in raag Yaman, with the popular bandish, Kahe Sakhi in Vilambit Ektal, followed by “Sakhi eri aali piya bin” in drut Tintal. It set the mood for a great evening and flowed like a seamless stream for the next 45 minutes. Next was “Apani Garaj se” a composition in Bageshri in Ek taal. Aditya continued to present raag Maanj Khamaj singing “Chalo Man Ganga Jamana Tir, sung by immortal D.V. Paluskarji. Next was Megh in Ektal followed by taran, and Naat Bhairav (Govind Damodar Madhaveti). The last piece was in raag Desh on lord Shiva, “Gale Bhujang “, was my personal favorite. In every one of these pieces, Aditya brought out the structure, beauty and the nuances of the raag creatively adhering to Mewati style. His choice of songs and raags were quite apt, considering the audience, time of day, and the general mood.

The success of a vocal concert depends a lot upon the accompanying artists and Aditya had done a fabulous job in that aspect. He chose his guru’s disciple, Satesh Jadonath to accompany him on harmonium and the chemistry worked out quite well between them. Satesh provided unobtrusive and able support on the harmonium, keeping with the pace set by Aditya. Often times, one could feel the subtle melody of his harmonium, which along with the slight cool breeze from the adjoining lake, made it a blissful experience.

Pranav Ghatraju provided excellent tabla support to Aditya. It was only generous of Aditya to appreciate his accompanists openly. One time he said, “If I were to keep applauding Pranav, I wouldn’t be singing at all!” Pranav’s nimble fingers played the various notes on the tabla gently, keeping the audience spell-bound at the same time. It was quite obvious that as a tabla player, Pranav focused on two tasks of an accompanist – providing ample support on the rhythm and keeping the vocalist inspired throughout the concert. In all, the three-some created a divine atmosphere much to the delight of all those present. More importantly one could see their Guru ji, Pandit Radharaman Kirtane happy and proud. After all, that is good testimony to a milestone in one’s own musical journey.

After the concert, Ganesh Ramachandran came up on stage and reflected the sentiments of the whole audience, just to take home the vivid and positive vibrations without much of it being lost in chatter. Sri Braham Aggarwal from the Hindu University of America shared his feeling with pride that Hindu culture, art and values are in very good hands of the second generation youth. The audience was then treated to a delicious dinner provided by a local restaurant.

Aditya and Pranav will be featured again together in the New England area by KHMC (Karnatic Hindustani Music Circle) on April 14th. Please check their website (www.khmcnewengland.org) for more details soon.

To sum it all up, with pure, positive and selfless thoughts, all that is bound to happen would be great and sure to bring an experience which will be memorable for all.

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