It was time to say and do a lot through the world of music and what better
way than an evening of ghazals.
Recently, ghazal and playback singer Hariharan was in the City to give the
audience a soulful dose of ghazals.
Organised by Rotary Bangalore Indiranagar and Rotary Bangalore Rajajinagar, Shaam-e-Ghazal was an initiative to raise funds for affordable dialysis and heart surgeries for underprivileged patients.
The purpose was also to provide terminally ill patients a decent life at a hospice.
A large number of people showed up despite the venue being a luxury hotel in
Whitefield.
The programme started an hour late with an invocation through a classical dance performance.
A speech introducing the singer and his achievements in the fields of classical and pop music got the house geared up for the artiste’s performance.
Soon, singer Hariharan was felicitated. “It is an honour for me to be invited here for such a cause,” he said as soon as he made his way to the low seating, typical of a ghazal mehfil.
The audience was seated in a brightly lit hall with free-flowing drinks and
finger food, enhancing the overall experience of the gathering.
Hariharan, with his training in both Carnatic and Hindustani schools of music, started out with a lesser-known ghazal heavy on the aalap.
He received much applause and was accompanied by the tabla, harmonium and the flute.
The ghazal sessions lasted half-an-hour each interspersed with 10-minute
intervals.
The ghazals included some by maestro Mehdi Hassan, who the singer claimed was his inspiration in the world of ghazal singing, and a few of his own compositions from his
album Kaash and the more recent Hasrat.
He sang Kaash shortly after the programme began and the audience was
pleasantly surprised.
He rendered the ghazal in the typical long form that ghazals in performance are associated with.
The voice left the house spellbound and in pin drop silence.
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