Arbit Scratchpad

The second day turned out to be better and much more enjoyable than the first at the Bengaluru International Arts Festival 09. It started with the recital by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Grammy Award winner) and Suma Sudhindra on the Veena along with the members of the troupe Laya Taranga. Vishwa Mohan Bhat reached epic proportions with his Mohan Veena (an improvisation of the guitar with many additional strings) on one piece of music. Sheer joy and at such times the mind explodes and goes numb. The ending was in typical Laya Taranga style with jugalbandi - the relay among the percussionists (Mridangam, Kanjeera, Ghatam, Tabla and drums) finally merging into an amalgamated interplay by all the percussionists and the Veenas. Next was Padma Vibhushan  Sonal Mansingh the master dansuese and one of the foremeost proponents of Odissi dance. She did the Krishna Leela - 8 rasas which she portrayed with aplomb and amazing vigour even at this age. The different rasas included...

Attended the first day of the Bengaluru International Arts Festival'09 yesterday at The Sheesh Mahal, Palace Grounds. The violin recital seemed insipid at first perhaps because I had just gone into the BIAF zone after office and its tensions. And then the violin jugalbandi entered a high frequency stage with L Subramaniam and his son - it reached a crescendo of sorts with short bursts and mesmerizing strains. A befitting ending worth all the cheer. This was followed by the energetic and full throated Raghu Dixit of the Raghu Dixit Project fame. He started with a Kannada folk song and then went on to the 'Hey Bhagwaan' number. Apparently he got frustrated that the folks were all seated and not standing, cheering and dancing - he threatened to not continue in his jovial-furious manner and guess what the people just stood up and that's when the 'Mysore Se Aayi' track was belted out by the members of the Raghu Dixit Project. The violinist, two guitarists and the...