Up close and musical: Personal reverie

Ahmedabad: Raga Shuddha Sarang rose like a well-rested Sunday, seemingly stretching to reach for the newspaper and expecting only good news. The day-time raga unfurls like a lullaby for alertness, putting to sleep unreflective human actions: checking the phone, worrying about bills, thinking about the next day.
The raga was the first presentation of Dhrupad maestro Pandit Umakant Gundecha in the morning session of Saptak.He was accompanied by his nephew, Anant.
The music conference has gone online in its second wave so the rasika is alone with the performer. Therefore, in the close-ups of Pandit Gundecha, rasikas could concentrate on the imprints the mind leaves on the face when art is being created. Pandit Gundecha’s eyes would look beyond the camera, beyond the walls, and beyond even the rasikas as though searching for beauty that lies elsewhere untainted by this world. Then when Shuddha Sarang’s notes revealed themselves, a smile as hushed as the afternoon sun in winter would signal the successful sighting of beauty.
Perhaps the e-format is like a Zoom call with a reverie of a raga. “No doubt there is a sense of electricity at a live concert,” Pandit Gundecha told TOI. “The presence of an audience makes a difference. But given the Covid curbs, this is the best option.”
The Gundechas concluded their recital with Madhmad Sarang. Anant, the late Pandit Ramakant Gundecha’s son, sang with the confidence of a legacy’s dawn.