KUMAR GANDHARAVA : EVERLASTING NOTES OF HIS CITY MEHFILS
KUMAR GANDHARAVA : EVERLASTING NOTES OF HIS CITY MEHFILS In the birth centenary year of the doyen Hindustani Classical music, Nagpur I answered look back on his performances, his gayaki and what set him apart The notes of a Hindustani Classical bandish - chidiya chu chuhani in raag Deshkar - filled the Bhagini Mandal Hall on a Sunday morning. As a music maestro Kumar Gandharava unfolded the raag, there was an incessant twittering of birds outside, adding charm to the entire musical experience. It was an Indian-Style baithak with the audience sitting around the artist. The bond between the vocals and his admirers was tangible as he held them in thrall. This was in the year 1972. "This was Kumarji's first concert with Methil, our banner under which we hold musical events, though I had heard him before in 1966 at the Swar Sadhana Sangeet Samaj Sammelan and in 1967 at the Dhanwate Rang Mandarin, " recalls Dinkar Kukday, a lawyer by professional whose p...