Shiv-Hari Jugalbandi

Have had the chance to watch Pt. Shivkumar Sharma perform live on several occasions, but was yet to watch Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. So when I found out that this matchless duo was performing in Mumbai on 5 Nov 2011, I had no intentions of missing it!

The concert was being organized as a fund raiser by the Asian Cancer Foundation (ACF), an organization dedicated to providing aid, financial and otherwise, to people suffering from cancer. What sets them apart from the thousands of others operating in this field is that this probably is the first such organization formed by doctors themselves. ACF also runs a division called C-Kids, which is engaged in helping children afflicted with cancer. Some of these kids were even called on stage to present flowers to the chief guests (the sponsors and one bollywood actress), and on seeing those cute little darlings I was happy that I too was making a small contribution to this cause by having purchased tickets to the concert.

However, the concert started off on an entirely wrong note. In a bid to attract some attention of the press to the noble cause, ACF had invited a well known bollywood actress (whom I shall refrain from naming here) as chief guest. Much to our dismay, the lady arrived more than an hour late, meanwhile holding up the concert! I really fail to understand why the organizers did not start the programme as scheduled, and honor the chief guest as and when she arrived?!?!?!? After all, neither was the lady performing herself, nor was she even required to honor the two maestros. And the audience was there to listen to the maestros, not to see her! Frankly, I found it quite ridiculous and insulting to have two such great personalities, and Padmavibhushans at that, waiting for a bollywood actress to arrive so that they could start their performance! Anyhow, after an hour's delay, the show finally started. Sadly, though, both the maestros had to entirely cut out playing the alap due to paucity of time. Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, while re-tuing  his santoor, could not refrain from making a sarcastic comment that both he and his santoor had been ready for the performance since over two and a half hours!

Anyhow, the performance finally began and it wasn't long before the audience was lost in the magical world created by Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute. The maestro chose to play raga Madhuvanti. I knew nothing about the raga or its mood apart from the fact that it was an evening raga. As I shut my eyes to the lilting flute, I could almost visualize lord Krishna engaging in love games with Radha and the Gopis in secluded, fragrant groves! It was only later, when I was looking up raga Madhuvanti on the internet, that I found out that this raga oozes with the sentiment of eternal love and romance! What beautiful rendition by Panditji, and what better instrument to play the raga on than the flute!

Taking the magic further, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma chose to entice the audience with raga Janasammohini, a rare and beautiful evening raga creating an atmosphere of tranquility. True to its name, the raga had the audience spellbound!

With the individual performances over, the maestros then came together for a brief jugalbandi, playing an assortment of ragas. The duo, which has worked together in the past on several highly popular musical and film albums, was totally in sync with each other and enthralled the public with some super melodious, and later some super fast paced musical dueling.

Finally, my wish to see Shiv-Hari perform together had been fulfilled, and I wondered - is it possible for music to get any sweeter...