The final evening of the Dr Vasantrao Deshpande Smruti Sangeet Samaroh belonged to the flute. The first notes of the evening were played by Padma Shri Pt Ronu Majumdar’s accompanying flautist, Kalpesh Sachla, but the moment Pt Majumdar’s lips touched the flute, it was as though life itself had been breathed in the room. Setting the tone for the evening, Pt Majumdar switched to a larger flute.

 

The deep, reassuring bass of his flute, accompanied by the gentle, lilting notes of Sachla’s instrument, could only be described as a conversation between a mother and her daughter; the daughter perplexed and anxious, spilling her worries to her mother, and the mother reassuring her child and asking her to shed all doubts. The flute switched again, and as Raag Ramdasi Malhar played, the audience was transported back to the forests of Vrindavan, as Lord Krishna plays for his gopis. The combination of the Pakhwaj (played by Omkar Dalvi) and both flutes created an auditory illusion of clouds gathering within the hall — the Pakhwaj being the loud thunder, and the flutes tempering it gently like the rain. Pt Majumdar performed Raag Surdasi Malhar, a Marathi Natya Sangeet ‘Ya Bhavanatil Geet Purane’, and concluded with the abhang ‘Majhe Maher Pandhri’.

 

He was also accompanied on the tabla by Ajinkya Joshi. Pt Majumdar was followed by Swaradish Dr Bharat Balvalli, who began with Raag Durga in Vilambit Teental, followed by Naad Brahma Parmeshwar in Drut Ektal, and a redention of ‘Divya Swatantraya Ravi Yuvati Man’ as a tribute to Pt Dinanath Mangeshkar. His powerful voice held the audience captive until the very end, as he concluded with a performance of ‘Shiva Ke Mann Sharan’ in Raag Bhairavi. He was accompanied by Makarand Kundle on the organ, Ramkrishna Karambelkar on the tabla, Dr Dada Parab on the Pakhwaj.