The recently concluded Love, Peace, Water Raasrang World Flute Festival in New Delhi was a reminder that music can transcend all geographical and linguistic barriers. On hand were flautists from countries like USA, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as well as artistes from various Indian states. Over a space of seven days, big names such as Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, James Galway, Steve Gorn and Ronu Majumdar, had the audience eating out of their hands.
Explaining the raison d'etre of the fest, Arun Budhiraja, founder trustee of the Krishna Prerna Trust, the organiser of the festival said, “The Trust believes that the flute is an instrument of 'divine seduction' and has the ability to draw one to the centre, including all kinds of instruments that get bound to the flute. Moreover, the flute is an instrument played in almost all parts of the world.”
The programme saw some truly marvellous performances. The evening featured the Manganiyar musicians from Rajasthan and an ensemble of Bangladeshi performers.
The first half of the programme showcased the eight-member Rajasthani ensemble. Clad in their traditional pleated attire, set off by colourful turbans, the folk artistes presented individual and fusion pieces on little known but fascinating musical instruments such as the algoza ( a double flute), khartal ( a percussion instrument that consists of a pair of wooden blocks with jingles), kamaycha (a bow and string instrument used by the folk artists of the Manganiyar community) and pungi (an instrument played by snake charmers in India). The vocals too commanded attention, as did the dholak, murali and shahnai. A truly seamless performance there.
Next came the Bangladeshi group of eight musicians. Despite invariable comparisons with the Rajasthani ensemble compounded by a faltering start, the troupe received a warm response from the audience. The saffron clad Kiran Chandra Roy's Baul songs carried the day as did the mellifluous strains of the flute rendered by Jalal Ahmed, Bazlur Rahman and Mohammad Moniruizzaman. The musical instruments were matched with the Bangla dhol (by Dashrath Dash), tabla ( Mohammad Enamul Haque), dotara (Ratan Kumar Roy) and shahnai (Murtaza Kabir).
The star performers were, without doubt, Roy, Dash and Jalal Ahmed. However, while Dash's booming dhol with its sharp, staccato beats and his showmanship succeeded in conjuring up visions of rural Bangladesh , Roy was not altogether convincing as a Baul wandering minstrel.
The eight musicians were unanimous about the attractions of the Indian capital. “Delhi is a fascinating musical city,” asserted Roy, adding that his favourite Indian singers were Lata Mangeshkar , SD Burman, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Shobha Gurtu, Girija Devi and Ustad Rashid Khan, among others.
Talking about the overall position of the flute in the Bangladeshi music scene, Moniruzzaman and Kabir lamented the fact that electronic keyboards were gaining popularity at the expense of traditional musical instruments, which required years of practice to master.
Source: thedailystar.net
