Manjiri Kelkar, classically yours

Manjiri Kelkar: Pic courtesy Pragati Korti

Raju Korti
History has an uncanny knack of reverting to haunt you. More so, if it relates to music and something as soulful as Indian classical music. A masterpiece performance by vocalist Manjiri Kelkar at a friend's residence yesterday took me on a music odyssey imprinted by a school of music handed down in legacy by Moghubai Kurdikar. But the history first.I was occasioned to meet the maverick exponent of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana Kishoritai Amonkar (Moghubai's daughter) way back in 1982 when she was in Nagpur for a concert. Until then my proclivities lay with the Kirana Gharana -- which had the pedigrees of the maestros like Gangubai Hangal and Pt Bhimsen Joshi -- mainly because of my family roots with them. Kishoritai's rendition that day woke me out of that operatic stupor and widened my horizons to other schools that parallely captured my imagination and soul.Like some of the other classical wizards, Kishoritai wore classicism as a badge and was loathe to giving interviews but dame luck was on my side that evening. She agreed to speak to me. That she did for two long hours, especially presenting a delightful case study of how she got into the skin of modifying the Jaipur Gharana performance by fusing and reconciling it with features of the other Gharanas.
From whatever I recall of that intense interaction, Kishoritai was particularly critical of the belief that schools or Gharanas of music determine or constrain a singer's technique. She styled herself on using her school as a base but built variations around it, relaxing the link between rhythm and note.
Moving out of the rigid posturing like some of her illustrious contemporaries, she was insistent that musical education should be conducted, emphasizing the importance of enabling students to shift beyond repetitive techniques and learn the tools that allow them to improvise on their own. True to the dictum that charity begins at home, she would listen to her own performances to analyse and improve her technique.Thirty five years down the line I could see and hear how strong an edifice that was when Manjiritai  delivered a performance that Kishoritai would have been ecastatic about. Emotion and spirituality punctuated her singing as she took on those classical notes with the same aplomb that I saw Kishoritai did that evening. To me, it was a dialogue with the divine, an intense focused communion with the Lord. It was a sublime act of the same "sadhana" (medium) to attain "sadhya" (destination) that Kishoritai spoke so passionately about.
Two things struck me about Manjiritai's performance. Her commitment to her roots and the "bhaav" (expression) of the composition that delectably and effortlessly meandered through Raag Lalita-Gauri and Nat-Kamod and her congruity with her accompanying artistes. She would take brief pauses to egg them on and appreciate with a smile when they returned her fervour note-to-note. A confident artiste never runs down her accompanying performers through oneupmanship. Aptly, she consummated the concert with a bhajan.

Kishori Amonkar: Pic Raju Korti

She has a tonal quality that treats the audiences with a melodious opulence and it is easy to discern why. Her transition from an able disciple to a Guru in her own right is tempered by being a performing artiste at heart. It was this finesse of equilibrium that Manjiritai straddled brilliantly, reinventing her classical grammar as a learner and performer. Little wonder that she is keen to take this protracted legacy in the same strain that she has fostered in the last 20 years.
That she has retained the soul of her Gharana and tried to innovate outside it is the best tribute she can give to her Guru.Absolutely down to earth, Manjiritai admits to be a nervous starter but the manner in which she raises the crescendo belies that. The applause that she received after every rendering was received with a humble bow of the head and a beatific smile. Clearly, with music as her refuge, she was able to crawl between the notes and the audience's sensitivity, reiterating the fact that classical music was, is, and will always be the mother of all music in India.
Manjiritai has been blessed with an exemplary legacy. Her first Guru Appasaheb Kanetkar received his granding from Bhurji Khansaheb, son of Alladiya Khansaheb.  She is carrying that torch forward and how!