The Bhajan Wagon

It was a warm and sunny afternoon on Saturday,the sixth day of the Ganeshotsav,and as devotees joined the queue for darshan at Dagdusheth Halwai temple,they soaked in the age-old words and music of the bhajan — Vakratunda Mahakaya — blaring from nearby speakers. The song,which invokes and praises Lord Ganesha,was just right for the festive mood of the devotees. So no one complained when,at the end of the track,the same song began to play again. Except,where the first time the words were sung with a practised ease,the second time around,the singer started to sing haltingly,in a manner that seemed a bit unsure. When people looked around,they spotted a makeshift stage near the temple,where a young boy stood and sang the bhajan as the lyrics appeared on a giant screen. Say hello to “bhajan karaoke”.

The boy,who had begun the song nervously,picked up steam,and in no time,was singing the lyrics on cue,even enjoying the music while tapping his foot. After that,there was a horde of other people around the stage who wanted to get their hands on the microphone and get on the bhajan bandwagon. There was a table by the stage,where noted vocalists Durga Jasraj and Pandit Rattan Mohan Sharma sat and judged the performances in what can be called the country’s first Bhajan Karaoke competition. “We have organised the competition as a way to introduce our new album — a first-of-its-kind bhajan karaoke album. By inviting people to come and sing along and participate in a competition,we’re trying to gauge the audience’s reaction to the concept,” says Jasraj,Founder,Art And Artistes (AAA),the company which is launching the new album.

The album is the brainchild of Rajashree Birla of the Aditya Birla group. “The idea was to reach out to the new generation,so the album was made with karaoke tracks,English subtitles,a booklet with the lyrics and new videos for each bhajan,” says Jasraj. Each bhajan is played twice — the first time is a cue track so that the singers can listen to the original song,and the second time,the singer can sing along. “This way,even those who are not familiar with the bhajans can perform the song better,” says Sharma,well-known for his renditions of the Gayatri Mantra and other spiritual recordings.

The album comprises 51 tracks with spiritual songs originally composed and performed by legends such as Pandit Jasraj,Pandit Ravi Shankar,Salil Chawdhury and Vasant Desai.

It is scheduled to be launched in October,during Navratri and Durga Mahotsav,and more such competitions will be organised in Mumbai,Kolkata and Ahmedabad,says Jasraj.

The competitions will be available for viewing the AAA YouTube channel