Dr. Pt. Puttaraj Gawai - being a sea of Knowledge himself, he lovingly imparts free musical eductaion to students at Veershwar Punyashram
We alighted from a local bus from Hubli at 9.30 pm, to get on to a on a dark alley that led to the Veereshwar Puyashram at Gadag where the Ganayogi Pandit Panchakshari Gawai Punyatithi ( a 5 day musical tribute to the legendary shanaint and musical
meastro) was on. I was scheduled to perform there and accompanying me were my guruji Pt. Bhalachandra Nakod and his family. We had covered a few steps, when it started pouring - the monsoon had arrived into the land of music and black cotton soil.
In all the mellee of the 'jaathre', we finally reached the stage where the performances were about to begin. After an address note from the pontiffs who had arrived there as guests of honour, the music programme began.
Initially, younger artistes are given their chance to do 'sangeet sewa' so as to accomodate the star and senior artistes who perform throughout the night.
Finally it was my turn and I wa thrilled to see the two thousand odd people gathered in the hall and in the grounds in front of it. Chandrakauns was my raga of choice as we were deep into the night; from the word go, the audience was so responsive to every meend, murkhi, kampan and alaap. As I progressed with my bandish 'Bhor bhayi' in vilambit ektaal, I could feel the positive vibes from the audience that later translated into one or two rounds of applause for my 'taar saptak alaap' and some 'sargam taans' . My drut bandish in teentaal 'kab ghar aao', inspired from Vidushi GanguBai Hangal went well with the crowd that seemed to enjoy the mid-night raga.
As concerts progresed through the night one common thread was the number of youngsters in the line-up of artistes doing 'sangeet sewa' - Shradha Jain (Vocal), Malshree (vocal), Master Akaash (Flute), Basvaraj Mugulkod (vocal), Jayateerth Mevundi (Vocal), Sangeeta Katti (Vocal), Uday Kulkarni (Tabla) . That wa some encouraging sign - the future of clasical music is safe in the hands of such able performers who have pursued long years of rigorous training in order to do justice to this ancient art-form.
It was truly heartening to witness such sincerity in their rendition, devotion towards their beloved 'Panchakshari ajjaaru' and dedication towards art (tayyari) by the artistes. The audience was of the highest calibre - with a fine classically trained 'ear' for music, they were responsive and lavish in their applause for fine artistry.
Truly, this is the abode of authentic divine music!
