Fledgling Harmony

Born in a musical household,Namrata was first introduced to the shehnai and sundri by her mother,Seema Gaikwad at the the tender age of seven. What was initially a hobby gradually turned into a serious passion and eventually,a profession for her. Trained under her grandfather Pandit Anant Lal and Pandit Daya Shankar,Pramod Gaikwad and Nitin Gaikwad,she is well-versed with both the Banarsi Baj shehnai and its smaller cousin,the sundri. “I express my feelings through music. When I am happy,I play the Raaga Jog which is my favourite,” she says,adding,“Music is everything for me. I can live without food,but not without music.”

Following Namrata’s performance,K Rohan Naidu took to the stage and the audience waited with bated breath for the teenager to spin magic with his violin. Rohan’s tryst with music started at the age of three,when he received training from Pandit Devashish Dey. He was later trained by Pandit Vasant Sheolikar,famed sitar maestro Pandit Bimalendu Mukherjee and Pandit Ramswaroop Ratonia. He is the proud recipient of the ‘Balshree’ Award from former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

A trained vocalist,Rohan fell in love with the violin at a concert. “The accompanying musician had the violin and I was instantly attracted to the instrument,” he says. From a vocalist to a violinist,he has an enormous range of talents but it is not restricted to just the frequency of music. Having played cricket in the under-14 national division,he keeps the game close to his heart. However music will always remain his primary calling. He adds,”I want the youth to immerse themselves in music,for that is the way to regain a spiritual sense and live a calm life.”

The Sangeet Sankalpa Mahotsav concluded on Monday with performances by Sanjay Karandikar on tabla,Vishwajeet Borvankar on vocals and Pandita Manjuben Mehta on Sitar.