I was awaiting a cyber attack after my criticism of Ajoy Chakraborty’s lec-dem. It never came, thank goodness. Last weekend there were a lot of good music programs in Mumbai. I would have liked to hear Vijaya Jadav-Gatliwar, one of my favorite singers who had a concert with Shruti Sadolikar on Saturday in memory of Mallikarjun Mansur. Instead, I had an obligation to go to Malad for Aslam Hussain Khan’s program. It wasn’t easy to find the venue and I arrived at 7:30 p.m. At that time the sitar player who was supposed to have started her 30 minute program at 6:30 hadn’t even appeared! She of course played for an hour and who can blame her, having come all the way from Kolkatta for this? Although Khansaheb was not happy about this delay he was just magnificent. It seems odd to see him lifted on the stage from a wheelchair- the infirmity so at odds with his vibrant, youthful singing. He sang two wonderful compositions of Murad Khan in rag dhani “singharwa mein kese karu” in jhoomra and “krishna murari” in teentaal and after that a teentaal composition of “dilrang”, Azmat Hussain Khan “navela bana aye” and his own composition, a “naat” in tappa style “tenu alah diya amaan”. I had to leave and missed the concluding item. I did hear from someone who Kishori Amonkar’s performance on the concluding day of Gunidas Sammelan at NCPA was a disaster. We all know how moody she can be. I must congratulate Maharwal Mahipal Singhji of Dungarpur for his website: http://dungarpurmusic.com/index.htm I particularly like the tribute to the great Batukbhai Diwanji and the excellent coloring of the photos.
Although it doesn’t concern music, today I learned that the builders are planning to destroy chod bazaar. Is there no limit to their destructiveness? Last week there was an article about the imminent destruction of one of the remaining old bungalows in Kotachiwadi. What this city will look like in 20 years I cannot imagine. The heritage people and sensible people who value this city’s beautiful architecture are no match for the politician/builder nexus.
