[Reader-list] Third posting

[Naresh Kumar]

March15th was Holi and the following day was the spring festival of
Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan at Jalandhar. So, I had to leave for that
Holi night. Though I had already taken the reservation for the journey
yet due to some unavoidable reasons I missed the train. Finally, I
caught 6687, Navyug Express at 0.30 hours along with my friend Sunil.
We managed two births and comfortably slept at night. The train takes
a relatively longer route and it took almost twelve hours to reach
Jalandhar.
During our journey our friend Prem Sagar informed us on phone that the
programmed would be at President Hotel and not at Devi Talab Mandir,
the site of the annual festival. Therefore we thought better to visit
the hotel first before arranging for any accommodation. We saw the
four-star hotel where the programme was to be held in the evening at
6.30 pm. We went to Devi Talab Mandir and got a room there. Although
I'll write about Devi Talab in a separate posting yet here I must
mension that it is the place which is counted among 51 Sakti Pithas
and the Samadhi of Baba Harballabh is situated here only. The place is
hardly two kms from Jalandhar City station of Indian Railways and is
quite close to the industrial area and other big markets of the town.
Above all things you can get a very good room with attached
wt-bathroom in just 100 bucks.
We had fixed up an appointment with Mr. Rakesh Dada, the treasurer of
the Harballabh Mahasabha at his office, which was not very far.
Hurriedly we took bath, changed and ate something. At 2.30 pm we were
at Foresight Computers, Tanda Road, Mr. Dada's office. He was busy in
editing Kamal Sabri's performance that he gave in last annual
Harballabh. Though he recognized me yet he asked all the preliminary
questions about my project. I think that he was interested in knowing
how my research was different from that being done by a student of
music. I came to know that at least two other students of music are
doing their Ph.D. on Harballabh. He spoke to me for about half an hour
and many interesting things came out while he was talking to us.
"In 1982 or 1983 the Sammelan was going on. Suddenly a wireless
message came that some terrorists were heading towards Jalandhar with
Kumar Saheb as their target. The policemen asked Kumar Saheb to stop
the Sammelan. Sammelan somehow kept going on but Ashwini Kumarji was
immediately taken to a safer place. In mid 80s there used to be curfew
after six. So we used to organize the concert during the daytime with
local artistes only because the artistes from the other parts of India
were scared of coming to Punjab. In 1989, when Sardar Beyant Singh's
government came to power, with his initiative and with NZCC's support
the festival could be revived again. For three days of the sammelan
one of the ministers of his government used to sit for the whole night
to ensure the safety and fearlessness in Punjab. Naturally the police
security was also extra-alert when the minister was there.
But joining hands with North Zone Cultural Council, Patiyala harmed us
in two ways. First, we lost all the belongings of Babaji like his
tanpura, Kharaon etc along with photographs of previous years. Because
they took all that to Patiyala. There was flood in Patiyala and it
devastated everything and we could never get them back. Second, they
gave handsome payments to the musicians but when they held back it
became tough for us to entertain the artistes with their increased
performance-fees."
All this and many other things. He gave me the reports and souvenirs
of 1966,67,69 and70. Along with these he gave me a book by Krishnanand
Shastri, which also contains some information and old documents
regarding Harballabh.
About quarter to five we left his place saying, "See you in the
concert at 6.30." We roamed here and there for some time and around
seven we were in the hotel. The programme was inside the basement.
There were chairs but there was sitting arrangement on the floor near
the stage to maintain the traditional baithak style. The total
participation was sixty out of which twenty were women although about
sixty per cent of the 350 Mahasabha members are from the city only.
There were four performances. The programme began with a Tabla duet by
Namdharis [Gurinder Singh and Kuldip Singh] but my problem is that I
can't enjoy solo performances on percussion for more than ten minutes.
So I went upstairs to look for the opportunity of meeting other
artistes. I could interview both the ladies who were to perform later.
Then there was a young artist from Delhi, Sunil Sharma who won the
Harballabh competition some years back. He sang Vilambit and Drut
khyal in Puriyakalyan followed by a bandish in basant. I didn't enjoy
his performance much. I stood near the gate and started interviewing
some of the audience. I could also talk to Mr. Sudarshan Jyoti, one of
the joint secretaries of the mahasabha, a very jolly and interesting
septuagenarian.
After Sunil Sharma came Anupama Bhagwat, a sitarist who is presently
staying in USA and is a disciple of Bimalendu Mukharji, Buddhaditya
Mukharji's father. She played raga Vihag and a composition in Bahar
after that. Her melodious and technically rich presentation shows all
the signs of a mature and promising artiste. I recorded the piece in
raga Bahar by her.
 The last performance was given by P.U. Sarkhel, who has learnt from
her father, Ustad Amir Khan's disciple. She began with Bageshri, then
sang two compositions in Basant-bahar and finally concluded with a
Hori. Sweet alap, intricate sargams and powerful tans by her made
everybody spellbound.
The concert was followed by a good vegetarian dinner but the appetizer
was already served when Anupama Bhagwat was playing. So, the audience
enjoyed raga bahar while having soup and sounds of the cutleries
accompanying the artist. Moreover, the ring tones of the Cel-phones
kept singing throughout the programme. We will have to think whether
the ways and atmosphere of listening are really changing. Is "quiet
and passive' audience sunk in music only becoming something of a
bygone era? There used to be a time when even time-keeping or humming
was objectionable. Are we heading towards the concerts where we'll
enjoy classical music while allowing our other senses to do their work
independently? Are the artistes ready to negotiate with this new
performing situation? This is not the case of Harballabh only but it
happens in all the open-air concerts even in Delhi.
Now let me come to what I missed. Had Shyam informed earlier about
Laxmi-narayan rag sabha of Amritsar, which goes on for three days on
Holi, I would have visited that too. Durgiyana Mandir committee
organizes this music festival. A comparative study of the two can be a
very good thing but I will have to compensate with the secondary
sources only. Now I have dropped the idea of visiting Sankat Mochan
festival of Benaras which will be in May. In May or June when I go to
Jalandhar I will extend my journey to Amritsar too but for that also,
some basic knowledge is necessary. So, if you come across any press
clipping, any information on net or any other document about it then
please, inform me.
With good wishes
Naresh.