The three-day Elephanta Festival was celebrated after a gap of two years. And for the first time, it was not held at the Elephanta island near Mumbai, but at the Gateway of India, with an inferior adaption of the famous Trimurti Sadashiva on stage to create the ambience of Elephanta. The three-day event, organised by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, which was opened on Friday, March 23, with a recital of Marathi sugam sangeet (light music), was followed by a performance by Hindustani classical vocalist Parveen Sultana, and a collaborative one by singer Runa Rizvi and percussionist Sivamani, who played Sufi rhythms. Unfortunately the event was poorly advertised and not many people know about these cultural events which are actually supposed to be annual festivals.
On Saturday, March 24, sundari player Bhimanna Jadhav and Hindustani classical singer Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar performed solo recitals in the spiritual morning session, which began at 6.15am. I and my daughter cycled our way to reach Gateway of India to enjoy a part of Tikekar's performance. There were a handful of people in the first few rows and it practically looked like the organizers and media personnel. There were few foreigners of course but thats about it. Nonetheless it did not affect the singer or the accompanists who were completely enjoying performing for a minuscule few. One did feel that had it been advertised on social media as well it would have got a much bigger and discerning audience for the performers. Thankfully on Sunday the crowds were a respectable size of music connoisseurs. I was again there in the morning.
There were four classical and folk dances being performed in the evening, which I could not attend but I landed up to hear my favorite voice, of Hariharan. He sang Gazals like 'Tere kaandhe pe mera sar hota'......'Marz e ishq'....which had a mesmerizing effect. The beautiful sea breeze on a hot summer evening added to the romance of the gazals. The attendance that night was better but still not enough to occupy the huge number of chairs which were lying vacant. Resources wasted, that's how I felt. Speaking to some people one came to know that they had no clue about the festival. It was a mere coincident that they heard the music while they were strolling around Gateway and they came to check it out. Thank God...
I am glad I was there for bits and pieces. I missed listening to Parveen Sultana but I was enthralled by 'Tu hi re' from the iconic movie BOMBAY......... a mellifluous composition by Hariharan, which was also an audience choice and incidentally the concluding piece of that evening and the festival. I came all the way back home singing the song....It was a an evening to remember!
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