Nagpur: Swar Mudra, a collection of 100 bandish written and composed by Pt Subhash Kashalkar was released at a ceremony organized by Naad Ninad Gurukul on Sunday at Kavi Kulguru Kalidas auditorium. Present on the occasion were renowned tabla artist Pt Kiran Deshpande who released the book along with Vikash Kashalkar, musicologist and brother of Subhash. An audio CD of the book has also been made.
Giving an academic interpretation of the work, Vikas said that every musician has a period of incubation in his lifetime. My brother who stays in Nagpur away from other members of the family who reside in Pune in Mumbai, has been doing extreme introspection of whatever he has learnt from his gurus over the last twenty years since he returned to Nagpur from Port Blair where he had been serving since 1971."
Subhash Kashalkar, who learnt music from Pt Anant Keshav Kogje and Pt Prabhakarrao Khardenvis, imbibed their craft by listening to their singing repeatedly during the period he spent in Port Blair observed Vikas. "Living away from home he studied various cultural traditions of different regions and the words in his bandish reflect this. His compositions are simply worded and can be easily comprehended." Underlining the salient features of a good bandish, Vikas said, "It needs a good mukhada, should maintain the purity of raag and should have a perfect combination of lay and taal. All the bandish penned by Subhash have these qualities." Citing examples from the compositions, Vikas said that Pt Subhash Kashalkar had also applied repetition of words which adds beauty and helps in maintaining lay and taal. "He has also released a CD along with the book which eliminates the chances of printing error which sometimes leads to the words of a bandish being distorted," he added.
Lauding the efforts of Pt Subhash Kashalkar, tabla player Pt Kiran Deshpande said, "Pt Kashalkar's simple demeanour and dedication to music reflect in his work which is rich in form and content."
A musical presentation of the compositions was also made beginning with rendition of Ganesh Vandana by two Russian singers, Liudmila and Katerina. This was followed by classical vocalist Sadhana Shiledar presenting a bandish penned and composed by Pt Kashalkar in raag Bhupeshwari. Parimal Kolhatkar, a disciple of Kashalkar presented two compositions in raag Gaud Kali which has been created by his guru and is a combination of raag Gaud Sarang and raag Ramkali.
Radhika Palamwar, another disciple of Pt Kashalkar presented raag Nand which was followed by a special concert by Sameehan, son of classical vocalist Ulhas Kashalkar. Sameehan presented two compositions in raag Marwaha and raag Shree.
