Vocalist Soma Ghosh, ‘Manasputri’ of Shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan paid a tribute to the legend at “Yaad-e-Bismillah”, an evening of memories, organised by Madhu Murchhana to commemorate Khansaab’s second death anniversary. Madhu Murchhana is an organisation devoted to promotion of Indian arts, culture and music.
Recollecting some memories of Baba, Soma Ghosh delivered some of Bismillahji’s favourite kajaris accompanied by instruments like the Pakhawaj, Khol and Dholak, played by Shankar Nandi, son of maestro and tabla player Ustad Nazeem Hussain, among others.
Accompanying her were Pandit Gajanan Salunke on the Shehnai, Kolkata based Debashish Haldar playing the modern Tar-Shehnai and Niranjan Lele and Shamim Ahmed on the Harmonium.
Ghosh started her first performance with Dangal ki Kajari and reminisced that Baba used to sing it till his last breath. Sitarist Pt. Pushpraj Koshti accompanied her on the song and the coordination between the vocals and the instrument was worth noting.
Between the songs, Ghosh recalled philosophies Baba believed in. She said, ”Sangeet jung nahi utsav hai” when some of the musicians were trying to outdo each other.
Ghosh gave equal weightage to the instrumentals and at many places, the vocals just added flavour. She hosted a jugalbandi with each instrument and the harmony between her rendition and the instrumentals kept the audiences in the loop of what’s next.
Next on the list was Mirzapur ki Kajari, depicting Dhaniya’s love for her lover who never returned. The vocalist from Benaras gharana was successful in depicting Dhaniya’s pain through her voice.
“Baba didn’t follow any religion and had composed many bhajans,” she recollected before dedicating the Bhajan, ‘Hari ke gun gaaye meera’ to him. Ghosh acknowledged that the tune for the bhajan was composed by her pupil. Towards the end of the bhajan, the audiences got involved, singing ‘Hari Bole’ with her.
A trifle disappointment was Shehnai player Gajanan Salunke who failed to strike the right chord and tended to miss the notes throughout the performance.
The last rendition of the evening was ‘Barse badariya saawan ki’ composed by Bismillah Khan. After the performances, MLA Kripashankar Singh and Maharashtra chief post master general S M Bali released a stamp on Khansahab.
As a tribute to her Baba, Ghosh has made a 40-minute docudrama showcasing depicting the guru-shishya parampara between the Ustad and his guru Ali Baux, and traced the dramatic journey of his life, beginning with the divine learning of the shehnai and the colourful facets of his personality to his glorious end.
Veteran actor A K Hangal and singer Ila Arun were among those present to grace the occasion.
Ghosh has just recorded an album of seven pure ghazals named ‘Main Apne Hath Se Uski Dulhan Sajaungi’ based on the lyrics by renowned Pakistani shair Parveen Shakir. Apart from this, Ghosh is working on another album based on the theme of love. The album will comprise seven songs composed by Vivek Prakash and Jabbar Bhai.