Celebrating the richness of Indian music

The performance was a part of the Spicmacay series of concerts, an initiative to create an awareness amongst youngsters on classical music and culture. He played the ‘satvik veena’, an instrument created by him. He was accompanied by Gurumurthy Reddy on the ‘tabla’.

Prior to the performance, Salil told Metrolife that he will be presenting two rare ragas — Vishwa Ranjini, a raga discovered by his father; and Jogeshwari, a discovery of Pandit Ravi Shankar. Extremely pleased to be performing at Mount Carmel College, Salil said, “This is the first time I am performing here at Mount Carmel College. I have heard so much about the institution.” He added, “And I am performing for Spicmacay in Bangalore after a decade.”

As he addressed the students at the college, he said, “Youngsters like you should be aware of Indian classical music. If this music is not owned by you, it will be a weird scenario where in, we will be aliens to our own culture.” He further said, “Our music is recognised the world over, and we should also learn more about it.”

Though it was a short programme, most people who attended it seemed satisfied with Salil’s presentation of ragas. About the first raga he played, which was Vishwaranjini, he said, “It’s the latest discovery of Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Just like my satvika veena, which is a hybrid between ‘veena’ and guitar, this raga is a hybrid between ragas like ‘Shivaranjini’ and ‘Madhuvanti’.”

And his presentation was simply breath-taking, as he also explained the nuances of Hindustani music to one and all.

Said Bhavya, a student of MCC pursuing her post graduation in Life Science, “I am not much into Hindustani music, but I really wanted to see him live as I have heard a lot about him, and he is an internationally famous artiste.” She loved his rendition of ‘Vishwa Ranjini’. “It was really good as he played rare ‘ragas’ that you don’t get to hear otherwise.” She added, “The different expressions he gave to a single note was really nice.”

Her friend Sai Deepika, who was also present agreed. “I loved the ‘satvik veena’, and his variations of one ‘raga’.” She added, “I was not about to come for it, but my friend Bhavya forced me to come and I ended up enjoying the concert completely.”