As I was stepping into the India Habitat Center theater, I saw an elderly lady walk by. She was in her 70's but there was so much grace in the face that I told to myself, "Perhaps she is Savita Devi". I have never seen her in a performance before and the pictures I could recall were of her younger days.
As I was collecting my thoughts, I heard a voice from behind " aap hi ko sun ne aaye hain". Allright ! That was Vidushi Savita Devi herself and I hoped that her voice has also sustained the ravages of time.
I settled down into a spot that gave a good view of the stage. A group of artistes from the Siddheswari Devi Academy of Music took center stage. They began with Guru Vandana, followed by "jao jao tose nahin boluun" in raag Janasamohini. Their Kajiri, "arey raama saavan maas shuvan" was very well received and it was a great demonstrationof chorus singing. The last item presented by the ensemble was the bhajan "chait re ghumani".
An announcement soon followed that Padmashree Rita Ganguly has graced the occasion. Rita ji proudly spoke of the sanctity of Benares, and her Guru, Vidhusi Siddheswari Devi. She went on say that her Guru loved her disciples as much as she loved her daughter Savita. An entertaining wordplay between the two Guru-behan followed.
Savita ji then took stage and talked a little about Purab ang thumri. She then started with 3 of her disciples accompanying her on the vocals. A thumri in mishra khamaj, "bin chuvo baiyan hamari,dekho shyaam vihaari re" was the first number. She mentioned that she grew up on a staple diet of Thumris of her mother and the dominance of the Krishna motif in her selections was obvious.
Savita ji then talked about a bandish that was very dear to her mother and invited Rita ji to join but Rita ji politely refused.It was "piya re aao aao nagariya hamari".This was followed by the mostwell received number of the evening"rang darungi re, nand ke lalan par". Every murki of this "hori" was lapped up by the audience with claps and appreciative nods. Savita ji said that although we are past the season for Hori, she wanted to present it for the sake of completeness.
She then talked about Bhojpuri dialect and presented a Kajri "tarasava jiyara hamar naihar men" and explained that this represents the waiting of a lady for her beloved. The final presentation was a nirgun of Kabir," pad gaii ... daag chunariya" which was a fitting way to end a magical evening on a sublime note.
Here’s one of her earlier recordings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP7dmRB8qeM
As I was collecting my thoughts, I heard a voice from behind " aap hi ko sun ne aaye hain". Allright ! That was Vidushi Savita Devi herself and I hoped that her voice has also sustained the ravages of time.
I settled down into a spot that gave a good view of the stage. A group of artistes from the Siddheswari Devi Academy of Music took center stage. They began with Guru Vandana, followed by "jao jao tose nahin boluun" in raag Janasamohini. Their Kajiri, "arey raama saavan maas shuvan" was very well received and it was a great demonstrationof chorus singing. The last item presented by the ensemble was the bhajan "chait re ghumani".
An announcement soon followed that Padmashree Rita Ganguly has graced the occasion. Rita ji proudly spoke of the sanctity of Benares, and her Guru, Vidhusi Siddheswari Devi. She went on say that her Guru loved her disciples as much as she loved her daughter Savita. An entertaining wordplay between the two Guru-behan followed.
Savita ji then took stage and talked a little about Purab ang thumri. She then started with 3 of her disciples accompanying her on the vocals. A thumri in mishra khamaj, "bin chuvo baiyan hamari,dekho shyaam vihaari re" was the first number. She mentioned that she grew up on a staple diet of Thumris of her mother and the dominance of the Krishna motif in her selections was obvious.
Savita ji then talked about a bandish that was very dear to her mother and invited Rita ji to join but Rita ji politely refused.It was "piya re aao aao nagariya hamari".This was followed by the mostwell received number of the evening"rang darungi re, nand ke lalan par". Every murki of this "hori" was lapped up by the audience with claps and appreciative nods. Savita ji said that although we are past the season for Hori, she wanted to present it for the sake of completeness.
She then talked about Bhojpuri dialect and presented a Kajri "tarasava jiyara hamar naihar men" and explained that this represents the waiting of a lady for her beloved. The final presentation was a nirgun of Kabir," pad gaii ... daag chunariya" which was a fitting way to end a magical evening on a sublime note.
Here’s one of her earlier recordings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP7dmRB8qeM
