Honouring your own legacy

Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhat at Mumbai Sanskriti 2019

Every year, since 1992, the Indian Heritage Society (IHS) organises a festival that brings the spotlight back on Mumbai's heritage, through music. Once known as the Banganga Festival, it changed name and location in 2006 to become Mumbai Sanskriti. However, the objective remained the same. "The idea is to invite people to for raising awareness. We do it through classical music to make them gather," says Anita Garware, chairperson, IHS. "That is not to say music doesn't constitute heritage. Built heritage comes out of a culture that exists around it and music forms a part of that," she adds.

Anita Garware

Giving it a twist this year, the festival has decided to honour its own legacy and pay tribute to the artists who have performed at earlier editions. As such, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will perform a sarod jugalbandi with his sons, Ayaan and Amaan Ali Bangash and will be accompanied by Satyajit Talwalkar and Anubrata Chatterjee on the tabla. "He had performed at the first edition of the festival in 1992," recalls Garware. The second performance is a tribute to Pandit Jasraj in the form of a vocal and violin jugalbandi with his students, Sanjeev Abhyankar and Kala Ramnath, who will be accompanied by Milind Kulkarni on harmonium and Pandit Ramdas Palsule on tabla. "He performed with us in 1993 in a concert on the day when Mumbai burned. It became an appeal for peace," she reveals. Pandit Jasraj, who turns 90 this month, will be in attendance.

Pandit Jasraj

Garware dips in nostalgia as she speaks about the festival over the years and the arduous task of putting an open-air show with strict timings together, "It takes 23 permissions. There was one time when we had reached our deadline but Pandit Bhimsen Joshi continued to play at the Elephanta Caves. He said it felt like he was sitting on the banks of Ganga in Benares," she adds saying that the loudspeakers had to be turned off, but he didn't stop.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Garware reveals that encouraging young musicians remains top on the list, and music students from city colleges will attend this open-air treat. Inviting students of greats to pay homage to their gurus is a step in that direction, she sums up.

ON January 11 and 12, 7 pm to 9.15 pm
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