Sitar For Mental Health- A concert
“Watch a good play. See the concerts of musicians you love (and those who play actual live music on stage, not just sing to recorded music being played). Read a good book. Go to a literature festival. Watch sports live in a stadium. Check out the museums, the second hand book stores, and have friends with whom you can actually talk about things beyond who is making how much and who is sucking up to whom. Live your life given that you only live it once. Experience the newer experiences. Or at least embrace the spirit of what Nicholson Baker writes in U&I: “What-new-fields-can-we-conquer-now?”
Vivek Kaul, ‘Life Lessons from a Bruce Springsteen Concert’
Thus inspired by what once penned by one of my favourite columnist ( whose very readable columns on themes of economic policies and finance made ‘very simple’ often run over many columns of pink papers) wrote, I was quite excited when Khyati, the woman in my life, stirring a smoothie with organic ingredients, as Vivek Kaul’s wife would , while stirring a cup of coffee often pop up a question, asked if I would be interested in going to a music programme by a contemporary musician? Buried as I was in introductory chapters of ‘O Jerusalem’, a bestseller novel by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, that I had picked up to refresh historical roots of a troubled land in preparation of our trip to Jordan; it took some time to sink in that it was a sitar recital on a Friday in March that Khyati was inquiring about. My eyes sparkled. I nodded in affirmation and went back to the para where Ben Guiron had tuned in to a Radio station that was relaying a much awaited news about the UN resolution approving creation of a new nation ,’Israel’!
What promised to be a ‘Fun Friday’, the 20th March , dawned soon enough and we were quite excited to hail a cab to reach the venue- Royal Western India Turf Club grounds. Or more popularly as it is known to us Mumbaikars, the Race Course, Mahalaxmi; a vast expanse of unconstructed land right in central Mumbai. At around 5.30 pm, we joined throngs of people converging to the central part of the Race Course, where the concert was to be staged. Amidst the setting sun, with a huge stage and sponsors’ bill boards, the excitement was quite palpable.
At about 7.15 pm, the twilight hour , lights came on and the LED screens had an announcement that the show was about to begin. At 7.25 pm Mrs Manjul Sharma and Mr Sanjay Sharma, the artist Rishabh Rikhiram’s parents, gave a brief introduction of their son and star of the evening. And finally, we saw Rishabhji on the LED Screens doing his namaste and saying his lines- that he was grateful to his parents whom he described as his mentors; how privileged he was to get his early tutelage from the legendary sitar maestro Pt Ravishankar and the heritance of his great grandfather Pt Rikhi Ram Sharma.
Rishabh’s concerts are titled’ Sitar for Mental Health’ since he owed it to its soothing music the emotional anchoring of the turbulent times in his life during 2020-21, due to the grief cast on him on passing away of his grandfather. So the concert begins with a few minutes of deep breathing- all 20,000 of us inhaled deeply, held our breaths and then exhaled, as led by the artist. Having thus tuned us to what was promised to be a moving and therapeutic experience, Rishabh began his recital with notes of Raag Tilang Kamod, an evening Raag during rendering of which the artist blends sweetness of Kamod with playful, romantic essence of Tilang, that evokes feelings of love and longing!
The Demeanour, Countenance and Artistic Presence.
I must say a word or two about the resplendent aura that Rishabh Rikhiram brought in with him. Hair dark and well groomed; clean shaven face; a richly brocaded ‘bandhgala’ coat over a white dhoti, bejewelled torso, ears too pierced and suitably adorned and the hands… yes with deep red henna displaying a design of Shiva’s trident. All of which made Rishabhji’s presence quite strikingly unique! And , as if deep in conversation with a higher being, he began playing the ‘aalap’.
Rishabh Rikhiraj does not give a concert, seated with his sitar only with an accompanying percussionist and couple of disciples on tanpuras to help him anchor to a scale. On the contrary, there was shehnai, flute, table, dholak, base guitar, synthesizer, folk percussion and a few others to help him create the magic. I found the flautist and all three percussion instrument players as gifted artists in their own rights ,as became evident when the concert unfolded over the evening. And not to forget the sound amplified over a system that would perhaps have had a wattage of at least a couple of lakhs.
Rishabhji promised to devote the first half of the concert to traditional ragas of Hindustani music. And the second half to improvisations, experiments in spiritual music too. And what an entertaining evening followed. There was a trip to the Himalayas ( Raag Pahadi, with first notes struck by the very talented flautist), followed some dhuns, Next came the patriotic flavour as Rishabh hummed the notes of ‘Saare Jahan se Achha’ and LED screen displayed the huge tricolour. Nationalist notes soon gave way to spiritual ones as Rishabhji sang ‘Shiva Kailashon ke Wasi, Dhauli Dharo ke Raja…’
Sanjay Sharma, the master Luthier
A word or two on Sanjayji’s craft would not be out of place. Sanjay Sharma, I learnt as I dipped into online resources, is renowned for creating custom sitars that blend traditional techniques with modern sensilblities. As a master Luthier, Sanjayji uses high quality wood and intricate designs to produce sitars prized for their rich and resonant sounds.
And it was one such sitar, ‘held-in-a-hand-like-a-guitar’ that Rishabh picked up after the interval to play fusion compositions. He walked through the huge audience- a la Sadguru at his Coimbatore ashram on a Shivratri night- and sat astride a revolving seat on a pedestal like structure. He played A.R. Rehman’s composition from Roza and few other popular numbers from Bollywood music.
A Spiritual/Meditative turn.
He then returned to the main stage and announced a number’ The Burning Ghat’ , a piece that he composed after a moving experience at the Manikarnika Ghat on Ganga banks at Varanasi, that witness the cycle of birth and death. I would rate this as the best composition of the evening- in terms of quality of music and the impact it had on me. One could visualise the heat and sound of the flames lit around the pyres, as the corpses got reduced to ashes. It was, if I may use the expression, a musical interpretation of the Biblical verse Genesis 3:19, ‘For dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return’. And quite like a 4D experience show, the synchronised firecrackers that were shot out from the backstage added to the electrifying moments!
The piece dedicated to all women in audiences was adopted from a number, a much better rendering of a prayer actually that I have heard in voice of another superb artist, Parthiv Gohil, that opens with the lines,” Hey jaga Janani, hey jagadamba’ also set to Raag Malkauns that was also used by Rishabhji in his composition. The evening ended with Rishabh rendering portions of “Shiva Tandava Stotra’ believed to have been composed by Ravana in praise of Lord Shiva. The fire crackets lit up the skies around the Race Course to bring up the climax.
As the thundering applause by 20000 strong audience fell silent and we began the long walk to the exit, I could not help admiring the courage of the young, 27 years in age, Rishabh Rikhiraj Sharma, who is a gifted and versatile sitar artist, boldly experimenting with interpreting classical music and timeless Indian traditions in contemporary musical syntax. His repertoire may be small (but so was Pt Bhimsen Joshi’s in his initial years of rise to fame), but there is enough time with him to widen his expanse of music. His mission to be an advocate for Mental Health Awareness is indeed laudable!
Big three cheers for Rishabh Rikhiram Sharma.
As per trend in open air concerts for masses, there were adequate arrangements for food and beverages. Especially the latter, that helped us stay adequately hydrated during the performance. Washroom facilities too were a step above the expected mark. However, I was distracted on two counts: the waft of fried food that was carried into the audience area during the performance was not very pleasant. And the din from a construction site behind the RWITC stands- hammering of nails, poring of concrete and drone from engines of construction equipment, if absent, would have enhanced the experience qualitatively.
And lastly, while Vivek Kaul would have reached home from Wembley Stadium after a Bruce Springsteen concert via London Underground, we Mumbaikars jostled and struggled to get away from the venue to begin our journey homewards.
