Son of the best water colour artist S L Haldankar (regarded as one of three greatest in the world) and a vocalist par excellence, Pandit Babanrao Haldankar mesmerised the audience with his silken voice at the Fickling Centre on November 12. Organised by Migrant Heritage Charitable Trust Inc (MigHT-i) to honour this octogenarian visiting New Zealand for the first time showed that age need be no issue when it comes to delivering a sterling performance of Indian classical music.
Pt. Haldankar is a multifaceted personality and as a performer is known for his fine rendition of the ragas. Even the musicians themselves attend his concerts, shows the respect he commands within the classical music fraternity. He is a disciple of the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana as well as the Agra Gharana. The Jaipur Gharana is full of renowned singers and he was lucky to get the tutelage and guidance of Padmabhushan Smt. Mogubai Kurdikar as his Guru and Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan of the Agra Gharana.
He was accompanied on Tabla by his talented son Adwait Haldankar, who was returning to the stage after a gap of nearly a decade. A challenge indeed to accompany an artist known for his finer presentations. On the other side was Sameer Bhalodkar, the son of legendary Samvadini player, late Jayant Bhalodkar. This was Sameer’s first public performance and he was keen to prove the teachings of his father were not lost on him.
Panditji started the evening with Raag Shree and rendered it with ease and perfection. The Vilambit as well as the Drut bandishes were delivered with panache and finesse.
The rustiness in Adwait did show from time to time, but Panditji smartly hid the shortcomings. However, Sameer was in his element on the harmonium matching the needs of the Raag and the interludes were pitch perfect. We are sure that we will hear more about him in future. Pt. Haldankar then moved on to other raags of the evening and the audiences were entertained for more than an hour. A break was needed just to get the breath back and then the requests for various raags started pouring in. There was Chandrakauns, Malkauns, among others.
Panditji was at ease with all the raags and when he had to move between the difficult rhythms and cyclic patterns, he had the conviction to do so without difficulty. He related an anecdote wherein the Tabla player was playing a wrong taal, but his guru was unperturbed and he managed to sing the bandish in the wrong Taal as well. Panditji took a oath that he will one day attain the perfection of managing to do the same. It was no wonder that despite the late hours and solo singing (as his normal accompanist were not there) he managed to hold the fort with aplomb and conviction!
It was indeed a rare evening to listen to this musical guru who not only is a versatile and accomplished singer but it is also a renowned musicologist having more than 3 books already published by him (with the 4th on its way). He has created his own bandishes (compositions) which are nearly 250 in number under the pen name ‘Rasapiya’. Regarded as a foremost teacher under the Guru Shishya parampara, many renowned artistes come to him for guidance.
MigHT-I has always brought the finest performers and this program was no exception. The concert ended with a Bhairavi well past 10.30 pm. A real treat to the Indian classical music fans. Pt. Haldankar will be here for another month enjoying the lovely New Zealand weather before returning back to India.