The first few moments of moonlight fall upon parched basil-scented groves, at once, they acquire an ashen glow. On passing through the eight holes of his bamboo flute, wind turns into sound, a sound charged with magnetism to draw in milkmaids from near and far. One glimpse of their dark lord and all material reality beyond the peripheries of this garden is left behind. This is Vrindavan, home to Krishna’s autumnal pastimes.
Circa 2014 and the mist of myth is still in the air. Legend has it, in the vans of vrindavan, the vedic overtures of Saint Haridas brought to life a dancing Krishna & Radha in the 15th century. Earlier this month, the 153rd edition of the Swami Haridas Sangeet Evam Nritya Samaroh, at Vrindavan’s Fogla Ashram, made a similar effort.
Two nights of song and dance began with six pieces of energetic fusion choreography by Nirupama and Rajendra of Bangalore’s Abhinava Dance Company. Krishna’s romantic shenanigans through a rhythmic dialogue between the kathak and the flute. A perspiring handful of young girls, appearing and disappearing behind white smoke that was being cut through by colourful laser beams; the energy was numbing. This was followed by Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar’s dhrupad.The 20th generation of the Dagar Bandhu in the lineage of Swami Haridas, he sang Raag Bihag. Pt Mohan Shyam Sharma accompanied him on the pakhawaj. The first night concluded with an ensemble of Pt Vijay Ghate’s tabla, Rakesh Chaurasia’s bansuri and Shreedhar Parthasarathy’s mridangam, to the sound of which, vocalist Shaunak Abhisheki improvised on Raag Darbari. The fusion with drums and keyboard, was welcomed with open arms.
The following night began with Pt Arjun Mishra, the Kathak exponent of the Lucknow Gharana, who, along with his disciples, performed a series of thumris. Their expressions were defined with heavy eye-make up, the glitter smeared on their pink faces shone bright under sharp yellow spotlights. Then, a sudden but smooth reminder of Krishna’s role as the giver of the Bhagvad Gita happened when senior theatre actor Peeta Mathur enacted the one act play ‘Prashna Panchali’, where Draupadi poses existential questions to Krishna.
Then, Shubendra Rao’s sitar romanced his wife Saskia Rao’s cello. The chemistry of their chords gave out the spiritual message that the inner core of music, in the East, West and every place between them, remains the same. Carrying the spiritual sentiment forward, Ustad Ahmed Hussain & Ustad Mohammed Hussain embraced Ganapati Jag Vandan and other bhajans along with their signature qawalli ‘Aaya tere dar par deewana’. Krishna could be seen in vigour, in the copper beads tied to the dancer’s thumping feet; Krishna could be heard in melancholia, in the slow slipping of finger tips over sitar strings. They say, in Vrindavan, Krishna is waiting to be found. And, the Swami Haridas festival knew just where to search.