'Ganga Kaveri' Jugalbandi at Nadatarangini at Washington, DC
Contributed by M. S. Nataraja, Potomac, Maryland

The dream of connecting the north Indian rivers to the south Indian rivers has remained unfulfilled although great engineers and leaders have hoped and desired for this difficult but necessary connection. But a connection of the artistic traditions has been accomplished many times over, especially in the field of music.

Several decades ago, All India Radio came up with the novel idea of what was known as the “national programs.” During such late night programs, musicians belonging to the ‘Uttaradi’ (Hindustani) tradition and the ‘Dakshinadi’ (Karnatic) tradition used to present similar ragas to demonstrate the oneness of Indian music. As a result, the south Indian listeners got a taste of the northern tradition and vice versa. Many big cities started organizing concerts by famous musicians of both the traditions.
However, the reciprocity was not always symmetrical in the sense that more south Indian music lovers welcomed the Uttaradi artists while the patronage for Karnatic concerts in the north remained confined to the south Indians settled in big cities like Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta. This was the status decades ago when people like me left India for higher education.
Now, we the immigrants, settled in the US are fortunate to such an extent that we don’t really miss the music festivals of south India that we came to cherish as young adults. Thanks to organizations like Nadatarangini, we get to listen to masters of the Indian traditions on a regular basis. “Ganga Kaveri” which is on a concert tour of the US, is one such team sponsored by Nadatarangini. The team has already performed twice in the DC area, and is getting ready for a third concert in early May.

Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma, affectionately known as ‘Shivu’ is the director of “Ganga Kaveri” team. Shivu is a vocalist, instrumentalist, percussionist, composer and a director, all in one.
The instrumental ensemble consisting of two flutists (Pranesh Krishnamurthy on the short-slim south Indian flute, and Pravin Godkhindi on the long stout north Indian Bansuri), one mrudangist (Shivu himself), one tabla player (Madhusudan Srinivasaprasad) and a multi-instrumentalist (Arun Kumar) who plays on the pads -- a combination of drums and cymbals and other effects combined in one.
As though the number of instruments was not enough, Shivu’s vocal chords add one more to the list. Together, they are more than the sum of the individuals! They are like the seven sacred rivers of India (Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri) rather than just the two found in their name! The sounds produced by the seven instruments flow fluently like the perennial sacred rivers using the sapta-svaras. Under the direction of the multi-talented Shivu, they seemed to have found a balance and the right combination of melody and rhythm.

The major concert of the twentieth annual music festival of Nadatarangini was on Saturday the April 20, 2007 when this team enthralled a hall packed with lovers of music. The concert started off with a brisk varnam in the raga Abhogi which is popular in both the traditions.
The flutists got to elaborate one piece each in their respective traditions. Pranesh chose the 61st melakarta, Kantamani, a rarely heard raga nowadays, for alapana and played a rare composition by Thyagaraja (Palintuvo). Pravin’s choice for his individual piece was rag Marwa which is an equivalent to Hamsanandi of the south Indian system. The similarity is limited to the swaras used but it is has a very different expression of melodic content and patterns of its own. Pravin provided a taste of the north Indian style of alap and quite a few intricate demonstrations of dexterous finger movements. There was a short but very lively Kadanakutoohala piece (an entertaining composition of Shivu) before the main item for the evening. The team rendered ragam-tanam-pallavi (composed by Shivu) in the raga Hemavati (58th melakarta). Hemavathi is a common raga for both the systems and was an excellent choice for the r-t-p.

By this time in the concert, the confluence of the two systems had become very natural to the ears and no one seemed to worry about the distinction between the two. They were both wind instruments, entirely similar in principle and yet so richly individual and uniquely different. When one ended a note, the other picked it up in a seamless fashion with such smooth transition it deserved to be called a “jugalbandi” which literally means –“twins tied together!”

The percussion ensemble was adorable, here again the purely south Indian mrudangam and the purely northern counterpart, tabla had no difficulty merging when necessary and separating at will without creating a conflict. The drum and cymbal combo, however, is the one that produces sounds that seem unnatural to purist ears. It is, sort of, like a foreigner in the middle of a desi congregation! You can identify the foreigner even if he were to be wearing an Indian kurta, turban and a tilak on the forehead!. However, to Shivu’s credit and his versatile disciple, Arun Kumar’s credit, the sounds amalgamated to the rest of the system that the whole exercise sounded natural after all.

This prompted the veteran academician, musicologist, octogenarian professor of music T. R. Subramanyam (TRS) to exclaim with great appreciation at the end, “---even the western drums have matched the sounds of the south Indian mrudangam.” This was a great complement to the artists. TRS was so overjoyed that he said that when he returns, he will make sure that this team (Ganga Kaveri) is invited to perform at Chennai, Delhi and other places. Although it may seem strange that a team from Bangalore had to come to Washington DC to get an invitation to Chennai or Delhi, nevertheless, it is a fitting tribute to the team and its performance. Congratulations to Shivu and his team for the musical treat and Nadatarangini for making it possible.

Nadatarangini is a non profit organization promoting Indian Music in USA. Artistic Director: Usha Char
Website: www.nadatarangini.org
Contact: ushachar@verizon.net