HYDERABAD: During the weekend, one of the city’s well-known cultural spaces, Saptaparni hosted a Hindustani classical music concert by Vidushi Anuradha Kuber along with Vivek Kayal and Upkar Godboley. Kids and adults of different ages filled the cultural space, entranced and spellbound by the event. Anuradha Kuber, a prominently known vocalist of the Bhendi Bazaar gharana performed Raag Shree, Raag Megh, and Raag Bhoop followed by a Marathi Kajiri and concluded with Bhairavi Bandish.
Looking back at her journey, she says, “I was initiated into music by my mother. She was my first guru and then I went on to learn from Pandit TD Janorikar, from him I got the Bhendi Bazaar gharana gayaki. For the past 10 to 12 years I’ve been learning from Arawind Thatte, he gave me a very different approach to music. So, whatever I’d learned before, I kind of amalgamated his thoughts and his teachings into whatever I’ve known. So probably I tend to divert a little from the Bhendi Bazaar style.”
Elaborating on Bhendi Bazaar gharana, she further explains, “It’s rather a recent gharana originating in Mumbai in the Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai, which is behind Crawford Market in the Fort area. In the late 19th century many artists used to live there and then this gharana was formed.
Unfortunately, there are not many exponents of the Gharana. The specialty of this gharana is the bandishes i.e. compositions, they are very unique. The tempo is very different, and the wording, the linguistic content, and the lyrical content are much different than the other bandishes we get. Our approach to a raag slightly differs too.”
After the event, young people gathered around Anuradha Kuber to engage in meaningful conversation, discuss the concert, and express their interest. Intrigued by this, she says, “Now I feel very encouraged looking at kids and youngsters participating. Because there are so many people who are learning music, attending concerts is something that is not happening. But if this is happening, then wonderful, there was this little boy, someone who was sitting right in front, I could see him and he was quite attentive throughout.”
The audience, who was enthralled by the entire event, included actor Kireeti Damraju from TFI. He adds, “I was mesmerised throughout. In the beginning, she started out with a slow pace and dropped the end with a high note. I was thrilled with the highs and lows of the concert.
It is very important to respect these artists and how much power and energy they bring to this art, especially in a city like Hyderabad.” In comparison to cultures of other metropolitan cities, while discussing Hyderabad’s cultural scene, he says, “We have very few cultural centers, I think it’s high time that we encourage such performances and artists, we should keep coming to such events,” he concludes.