Programme Highlights

“Naada Bindu Festival For The Arts – 4-Day Arts Immersion Retreat”

18th to 21st September 2010 at Chinmaya Vibhooti, Kolwan.

Chinmaya Naada Bindu (CNB) turned one year young on 13 September 2010 and celebrated this milestone with a jubilant four day Arts Immersion Retreat. The event was characteristic of an institution which has been functioning for many, many years, not one that was born just a year ago! Lord Shiva, the source of sound/naada blessed the anniversary with His boundless grace through His son as chants of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’ filled the atmosphere in Pune and Mumbai during the annual Ganesha festival.

Padmashri Dr Sunil Kothari, a dance scholar widely acclaimed by dancers around the world, was the Chief Guest, and inaugurated the event on 18 September along with Guruji, Swami Tejomayananda, Shri H K Hinduja, Trustee-CCMT and Smt. Pramodini Rao, Resident Director of CNB. Guruji briefly introduced the participants to ‘Manasa Bhakti Sutra’, brief aphorisms in Sanskrit, composed by him from Sant Tulsidasji’s Ramcharitmanas. Many of us who have heard Guruji’s rendering of the Ramcharitmanas in multiple ragas, and his discourses on the same, truly believe that Tulsidasji has chosen Guruji to sing Lord Rama’s glories in this century. Guruji is a Master of Knowledge and as a Bhakta – “sar se paon tak dil hi dil hain” – From head to toe He is heart and heart alone – brimming with love and compassion for all of us.

Each morning began with Guruji’s discourse on these Bhakti Sutras in which he explained – what is bhakti/devotion; how do we become true bhaktas/devotees; and what are the benefits of devotion? Guruji’s talks laid the basis for the rest of the day – as one participant articulated, “Guruji’s morning lecture was akin to taking a most refreshing dip in the river of knowledge, Mother Ganga and spending the rest of the day interacting with art worshippers (musicians and dancers).” In fact the name – Arts Immersion Retreat was very apt as all the participants were literally submerged in waves upon waves of celestial music and dance which uplifted each heart and brought each one closer to Ishvara.

Smt. Ramaa Bharadwaj, Director of Dance at CNB, an accomplished and innovative dancer of international repute began the celebrations with a Bharata Natyam solodance theatre composed by her after listening to Guruji’s talks on Mitra Lakshanam – Characteristics of true Friendship. With her faultless abhinaya, Ramaa ji depicted the legendary story of Sudama and how, because of his ardent devotion to Lord Krishna, he and his family were abundantly blessed with spiritual and material wealth. Ramaa ji was at once the impoverished Sudama, the next instant his dutiful and resourceful wife and the very next instant, his playful but starved children. Effortlessly, she transformed into Lord Krishna, King of Dwaraka and there was not a dry eye in the audience when Krishna washed Sudama’s feet with His tears.

Filled with joy at the happiness of Sudama and his family, we were serenaded by Smt Kala Ramnath’s world famous ‘singing violin’. Kala ji, being born into a family of prodigious musical talent, began her music sadhana since the tender age of three, studying under her grandfather, Vidwan Narayan Iyer, her aunt, Dr. Smt. N Rajam and for 15 years, under Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj of the Mewati Gharana. She began and concluded her recital with Raga Shyam Kalyan. She was ably accompanied by Pt. Yogesh Samsi on the Tabla.

The first evening of the Arts Immersion Retreat ended with a soulful musical experience given by Dr. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande who began by singing Raga Jhinjhoti followed by Megh Malhar and concluded with an abhang by Sant Tukaram. Ashwini ji was accompanied by Shri Vishwanath Shirodkar on the Tabla and Smt. Seema Shirodkar on the Harmonium. Ashwini ji has been trained in the Jaipur Atrauli style, and represents the new generation of younger veterans worthy of wearing the mantle of the old masters. She studied the rudiments of music under Pt. Narayanrao Datar, and imbibed the Jaipur Gayaki under her mother, Smt. Manik Bhide, and also the late Pt. Ratnakar Pai.

The second day had lecture demonstration workshops by Dr Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande and Dr Ramaa Bharadvaj. Ashwini ji sang a composition in Raga Bairaagi and explained how she was trying to communicate the feel of the Raga through her rendition. The words also helped in the transfer of emotions she wished to convey, she felt. She also explained the relationship of one swara to the other, and gave an interesting demonstration on why there are only 12 swaras in our music. Her workshop ended with a beautiful rendering of a Surdas bhajan based on Raga Ahir Bhairav by her student Dhanashree Ghaisas.

From thought to theater – how a concept comes to be manifested through the body and how variations in applied energy creates varied images, was ably explained by Smt. Ramaa Bharadvaj in her lecture demonstration. She delighted the participants with her high energy and very infectious enthusiasm.

The evening’s first performance was by Shri Chandrashekhar Vaze, a vocalist from the Kirana Gharana who began his musical journey as a percussionist. He commenced by singing Raga Bhimpalas followed by a Natya Sangeet composition and was accompanied by Prashant Pandav on the Tabla and Rahul Gole on the Harmonium, with Anjali Vaze on the Tanpura and his student for vocal support. His mastery over the musical notes and rhythm was evident as the auditorium resounded with appreciation at his taans. His bhava was demonstrated when he sang Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma at the request of Smt Susheela Acharya who is revered by all of us in the Chinmaya Mission as our very own Mother of Music. Chandrashekhar ji charmed us with his humility and his smile.

Next was a scintillating Kuchipudi presentation by Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant, whose Guru is Shri P Ramalinga Sastry. She was full of energy, grace, devotion and strength. The audience was spellbound as she presented Simha Nandini, a traditional temple ritual in Andhra Pradesh. She expertly painted the face of Goddess Durga’s lion with her skilful footwork on stage. As she danced, the spirit of the Goddess verily shone through her face and entire body and all of us were transported to the presence of the Mother Goddess. There are truly no words to describe this experience!

The evening ended with Dr Tejendra Narayan Majumdar’s sarod recital. Dr Majumdar learnt initially from his grandfather late Bibhuti Ranjan Majumdar and later his father, late Ranjan Majumdar. Then he trained under late Pandit Amaresh Chowdhury and Shri Anil Palit, and further from late Ustad Bahadur Khan. He also took training from late Shri Ajay Sinha Roy and then under the legend, Swar Samrat late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, until his demise. His mastery over the instrument was evident as he began by presenting a rare Raga, Chandranandan, followed by Khamaj. He too was accompanied on the Tabla by Pt. Yogesh Samsi, who is the son of late Pt. Dinkar Kaikini, and had the late legend and maestro Ustad Alla Rakha as his Guru, having learnt initially under Pt. H Taranath Rao. He has accompanied all the top ranking vocalists and instrumentalists as well as dancers of India.

The next morning, Dr Ananda described her dance journey in her lecture demonstration and explained the six rare types of taal/rhythm used by her in her performance. She demonstrated the nine moods or rasas and shared her experience of conquering breast cancer with the grace of the Mother Goddess and her passion for dance. She inspired one and all with her effervescence, honesty and courage.

Shri Ganesh and Shri Kumaresh, world famous Violin prodigies ‘appeared’ on 20 September morning to delight everyone with their lecture demonstration, accompanied by Shri Shridhar Parthasarathy on Mridangam and Shri Trichy Krishna on Ghatam. The word ‘appeared’ is borrowed from Guruji’s heartfelt comment after the brothers’ performance in the evening wherein he said that Ganesh and Kumaresh reminded him of Lord Rama and Lakshmana. When they entered Janakpuri, Lord Janaka felt that two moons had appeared at the same time! Ganesh and Kumaresh talked about the spiritual and healing aspects of Indian music and answered questions using their quick wit and humour.

After their performance later that evening, there was not a single participant who was not mesmerized by their musical genius and boyish charm which reminded everyone of Lord Krishna’s devastatingly mischievous personality. As Guruji said – They carried different bows from Lord Rama and Lakshmana but their bows pierced Guruji’s heart with delightful musical notes! They both played perfectly harmonized Carnatic notes, blending and caressing the notes as they went by. For the Ragam Tanam Pallavi, they chose the Ragam Lathangi, in which they requested Guruji to give them six words. The words given were, Nandajasya hi roopasundaram, gopagopikaa chitta haarakam, based on which they composed the Pallavi, impromptu. They later played Bhaavayaami Gopala balam, and concluded with a dynamic rendition of Raghuvamsa sudha in Ragam Kadakuduhalam.

Nrityagram, set up by late Promima Gauri, is a dance village which lives and breathes traditional Odissi. On 20 September evening, Surupa Sen and Bijayini Satpathy from Nrityagram presented Ritu Vasant, four pieces from poet Jayadev’s Geet Govind, and Vibhakta, in which they depiced Shiva and Parvati as Ardhanareeshwara. Their exquisite abhinaya and synchronisation along with traditional Odissi body movements brought to life the temple sculptures and had the audience in raptures. Lord Krishna and Radha came alive on the Sudharma stage, blessing one and all.

Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar, the Hindustani vocalist of the Mewati gharana, who has learnt from his mother Smt. Shobha Abhyankar, Pt. Pimpalkhare and Pt. Jasraj. He sang Raga Bageshri and Madhukauns. He was accompanied by Ajinkya Joshi on the Tabla and Tanmay Devchake on the Harmonium, and Chinmaya Swaranjali teacher Sachikanta Ratha on the Tanpura. Sanjeevji’s powerful voice and clarity were delightful and he touched everyone’s heart by singing a beautiful Rama bhajan.

On 21 September, Smt Pramodini Rao and Shri Himanshu Nanda facilitated the last lecture demonstration session. Himanshuji explained how the flute had 9 holes, through which the artist had to blow, for the sound to emerge. There is no man-made technology incorporated in the making of a flute, and that is why it is found in Lord Krishna’s hands. Himanshuji played the morning Raga Jayat on the flute and transported everyone to the banks of River Yamuna to witness the sunrise along with a dark and incomparably beautiful little Cowherd and His little friends. Our journey was not over yet! Smt Pramodini Rao took over the steering wheel and we journeyed through our whole life as she sang bhajans composed by Kabirdasji and her mother, Smt Susheela Acharya who as mentioned earlier is Chinmaya Mission’s Mother of Music. Pramodiniji is blessed both by Gurudev and Guruji and she showers their blessings on everyone around her through her songs. She emphasised the aspect of remembering the Lord and demonstrated various ways to do it through songs. Some of the participants burst into an impromptu dance when she sang lively Ram bhajans composed by her mother in 1982 at the request of none other than Pujya Gurudev.

Is there too much of a good thing? Sure, ‘everything should be imbibed in moderation’, is it not so? Isn’t there one thing which we can do in sheer excess and it will be beneficial to us? Yes, there is! Revelling in the Supreme Lord’s remembrance. And we are so blessed to be in the spiritual centre of the globe, India wherein we have a veritable ‘buffet’ of choices in which to do so – remember the Lord. All this was brought to our attention during the first anniversary celebrations of CNB. All of us cannot wait for CNB’s Nrtya Sur Bharati festival in December 2010! Register now for a sattvik treat for all the senses and usher in the new year in the presence of Guruji – who like Lord Rama gives without any reason to all of us – ‘kaarana rahit dayal’.