Surreal is how the man sitting behind us described it .The venue was Chanchal and Sigal's courtyard (see below) in the Katamonim neighbourhood in Jerusalem and the occassion was a classical Indian concert featuring Ustad Bahauddin Dagar on the Rudra Veena . To put things in perpective , Katamonim undeniably the cultural backwaters in Jerusalem , home to the Black Panther movement , doesn't exactly scream it's candidature for a cultural event featuring the Rudra Veena one of the more esoteric instruments from India .Sitting next to a playground and abutting a road , the venue isn't exactly built for performances . To have arguably the finest exponent of this instrument completed the surreal picture . For the uninitiated the Rudra Veena is kind of sitar with a fretboard and two sound boxes but in reality it's miles apart with a much deeper and resonant sound .
The performance began with gratification of the culinary senses , food , excellent samosas ,chai ,gajjar ka halwa and thali . And after a mandatory delay the music began . The first piece was Raga Yaman , a beautiful simple raga ,one of the first ragas that is taught . More description about the raga here . The music took some time to build up and one could see the audience getting a bit restless including my two boys but then the music picked up it's tempo and you could see heads swaying keeping pace with the music . Barring an insistent scooter with a noisy exhaust , some cats in the background and an overenthusiatic student, the venue held up well . The high point of the evening was Raga Chandrakaus, a late night raga, performed flawlessly by the maestro . It was a pity when the show ended and I cycled back home . But I went home with the assurance that there were more shows in the offing . It's unlikely that there would be an artist of such a stature in the near future but it doesn't harm hoping .
Listen to Ustad Bahauddin Dagar here.
Sigal and Chanchal have a nice little corner where they host guests on thursdays with Indian food and will soon host Chanchal's art gallery. For thursday evenings the places can be reserved at 02-6784172 052-8620251 .
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