A Treat For The Ears: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR A TREAT FOR THE...

Tucked away just beyond the last lights of Jubilee Hills is a delightful little
resort - The Walden. Plush with marble and granite, but sensitively retaining
the essence of nature, it makes for a cherished getaway for the weekend. Called
the Whisper Valley, it lived up to its name with the soft melodies that filled
the night this Saturday.

The action was set in the greenery of the lawn, where a 'baithak' was improvised,
complete with white mattresses and pillows. There was also the mandatory array
of moulded chairs set up behind the 'baithak' for those who chose to keep their
footwear on.

The evening started out with a delicate rendition of Indian classical music by
Pandit Mani Prasad. He enthralled the audience with some choicest ragas and some
compositions from his personal collection. As someone pointed out, the primary
difference between Indian classical and ghazals is the fact that the former fits
the lyrics into the preformulated melody, while in the latter the lyrics are written
first and the music is then filled in in keeping with the lyrics.

Taking the stage from his guru, Chandan Das started out with his very famous number
"Deewangi". And as the sonorous baritone filled the air, the ghazal lovers were
spellbound. Chandan Das has, in the last few years, been in the music scene with
his live shows only, and that was obvious from his indulging style, breaking away
from a mukhra to cite a 'shayeri' here and an anecdote there.

So drunk were some of the audience on the musical fare being dished on stage that
they had to be requested repeatedly to go for the dinner, which was served some
distance away from the main stage. And the ambience not only got to the audience,
it reached out to the great ghazal singer as well, as he kept on the performance
much longer than originally planned. This treat for the ears lasted till the wee
hours. But only the true fans remained that long, as the rendition continued to
the wah-wahs of a couple of hundred Hyderabadi music lovers.