Sarod in a temple

It was interesting to hear a sarod recital by Abhishek Lahiri at the ISCON temple in East of Kailash recently. The auditorium is compact with an excellent sound system, and the central location with adequate parking facilities make it quite suitable for concerts. One hopes it is used more often in the future.

In the vocal tradition, it is quite common to receive training from Gurus of different gharanas and styles, and to sing a combination of different “gayaki”. In the instrumental tradition, this is much rarer. Abhishek is one such musician who combines 2, some may say 3, styles of the sarod, in a seamless choate blend.

In the last 90 years, since the 1930s, two styles of sarod playing have dominated - the Senia Shahjahanpur style (which has now perhaps got further bifurcated into the Senia Gwalior style, named after Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan) and the Senia Maihar style. Abhishek Lahiri’s father and Guru, Pt Alok Lahiri trained in the Maihar style, but his initial training was under Pt Budhadev Ganguli, disciple of Pt Radhika Mohan Maitra of the Senia Shahjahanpur tradition. He then learnt from Maihar exponent Pt Sham Gangopadhyay for more than 17 years. Though relatively lesser known, the latter was a great teacher, and a great musician. Pt Alok Lahiri’s fascination for the robust virile playing style and sarod techniques of his first Guru continued and after the death of his second Guru he also trained a little under Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

Abhishek’s playing emphasizes the use of authentic sarod “baaj”, and pure straight forward Raga. He is at ease with strong “bolkaari” (stroke work) and the clear cut etching, in today’s context, under embellished, presentation of the Raga. Though primarily a Maihar gharana exponent, his playing is not the Maihar playing of today’s exponents, but an older, more “bol” driven Maihar gharana. Indeed his style is quite unique.

Abhishek played Raga Bageshwari, an evening Raga. The “aalap” was crisp, and in 20 minutes, Abhishek delineated all aspects of the Raga with an authority borne of an intimate knowledge of the Raga. He knew what to showcase, and what not to embellish as being unnecessary. His music was innovative, the use of the notes not usual, yet totally within the confines of the grammar of the Raga. The “jor” sequences used harmonious chords, he ended with stroke work rather than” jhala”, again in the tradition used more by Senia Shahjahanpur exponents.

Both the compositions he played next were his father Pt Alok Lahiri’s creations. The first was in jhaptaal a 10 beat cycle. Abhishek’s rhythm work was innovative and showed an ease and confidence, belied by his relative youth. On the tabla was Ustad Akram Khan; the two players were clearly totally at ease with other, teasing and coaxing appropriate reactions from each other. There were no clichéd pre rehearsed sequences ending in a climax, which have become so common nowadays, and being predictable, are boring.

Such is the stuff of good music – an inter dependence on each other, a quest for something beautiful created mutually. Mutual respect for each other’s music, and no desire to “show off” musically are necessary for this. Abhishek revealed that the musical friendship was not confined to their generation, fathers late Ustad Hashmat Ali Khan and Pt Alok Lahiri too played together often.

The concluding composition in teen taal (16 beat cycle) ended at a tremendous speed. Abhishek’s strong hand and crystal clear enunciation was a treat even in the” ati drut”. He retained total tunefulness and clarity till the end. His chaar bol seedha jhala” (4 strokes, 3 strokes on the drone and 1 on the other wires) was truly a delight; he reveled in little changes, differing emphasis of strokes, and pauses to keep the long drawn out jhala from becoming monotonous. Jhala can really only be played fully on the sitar sarod or veena as one uses different strokes, yet strangely many exponents today tend to touch on it very briefly, attaining great speed in seconds. Emphasis is given to speedy note passages or “taans”. Abhishek was a rare welcome exception.

The concert concluded with Raga Mishra Pilu.