Gods and Mortals together - A Farida Khanam Concert
Posted on May 5, 2010
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Gods and Mortals together – Farida Khanam Concert
The parched tongue had barely gotten wet when it was all over. The thirst was to drink the
First – the nearness to God part :
Pure. Soulful. Spiritual. Godly. I sat there so mesmerized that I found myself not even clapping at the end of each of those Godly renditions by Farida Khanam.
Uzr aane mein bhi hai; Aaj Jaane ki Zid na karo; Mohabbat karne waale and a couple more. But, that was it. About 90 mins of Farida Khanam !
I have no doubt that I am nowhere qualified to comment on the musical-saint’s performance. Actually, I do not think it is even appropriate to call it a ‘performance’. It was her personal communion with God. And, a few of us were fortunate to witness it.
The way FK would start a new piece. Reach out to help the Hormonium accompanyist to make his adjustments. Go into an eyes-closed 90-second trance to catch the vibrations and the raga of the next rendition out of that thin air inside the FICCI auditorium and start with a flourish – honey and sugar there on. Chiding the Sarangi Ustad for stealing the applause by saying - ‘Aapne maje lutaa liye’ – after the audience went into a rapturous applause for the Sarod-Tabla jugalbandi!
The only thing that can better this experience for me is to shadow her and see her do the ‘riyaaz’ at home. I am dead sure that will be getting a bit more closer to God than in a public rendition.
A gifted Conversationalist:
The legends of performing arts become one with a huge attribute to their credit - the ability to connect with the audience emotionally – the short conversations, the anecdotes, the humility, the gratitude. The ‘adab’, the impeccable diction. All of these were in great abundance last evening for those of us who found our way there.
Live is better than recorded:
On many an occasion, I have come back from a live concert of a ‘legend’ feeling a bit let down and getting into a bit of a critical mood. And, I have also chided myself for being the ‘gustaak’ – that I am rating or judging legends with no ability of my own. This one was from a different world. I think the FK-live has a million more dimensions to it than the FK-CD version. I felt similar after a Mehdi Hassan performance many years ago and even after a performance by Rita Sahni in
Anita Singhvi – Could hold on her own
When a thousand people come expecting a FK-live concert and there is a lesser known artiste slated by the organizers to do the opening performance for almost an hour, the challenge is far more for the artiste in question. From that perspective, Anita’s performance was well above the benchmarks. I must admit that I had not heard about her before. However, I came away with a lot of appreciation for her. My sense is that we will hear a lot more of her over a long period of time.
Now, the stuff from the mortals :
ICCR needs to be congratulated for making it possible for the mortals like us to see FK in action. I am not sure if I will get another chance unless I trail her to different parts of the world. That is where the credit to the Babus stop.
Dr. Karan Singh, President of ICCR walks in when the artiste is into her second or third piece. Not expected from a man of his stature and cultural richness. Sorry, Dr Singh. Did he make up with his other contributions ? Well, almost yet not quite.
And some Shinde (was that he ?) saunters in at 2020 hrs for a performance that started at 1900 hrs. There were hundreds more coming from the normal gate and dozens more from the VIP entrance. And when these VIP-idiots come in late, the entire Babu-machinery gets up to attend to their usual chamchagiri – vacating seats, making room for them along the aisle, and more. Can Shinde not find a seat for himself ?
I recall a sequence from ‘Shankarabharanam’ (1982 or so), a landmark movie in Telugu wherein the musician stops his performance irked at this lack of appreciation for the artiste when a VIP comes in, disturbs the proceedings with less-than-perfect etiquette. I was just hoping that either Anita or FK does that, for a change. I know it is too much to ask for. After all, ICCR is the bill-paying body for the concert.
This is where the Prithvi Theatre (founded by Shashi–Jennifer Kapoor) in Mumbai is a class apart. Even God, with all his personal might and mightier chamchas, cannot dare try and enter the hall at 1901 hrs for a 1900 hrs event. May we have a few more emulate that courage of conviction to their loved area of work.
Satya
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3 Responses to “Gods and Mortals together - A Farida Khanam Concert”
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loved the piece - only one crib - why - WHY - did i not get advance information of the concert ?? I love her music too!
One of the most clear and deeply expressed experience! No wonder its again from you Sir!