The cultural colossus that is India will find an expression in poetry and music in a one-of-a-kind event, curated and led by two conductors, Sharmila Neogi and Hema Desai. Titled Chhand Lahari, which when loosely translated means a ‘wave of verses’, the two-part programme is a multilingual musical presentation that will showcase some of the best-known works in India’s literary corpus. Two groups of performers, under the guidance of Neogi and Desai respectively, will present a bouquet of poems in various Indian languages set to music. Each song, presented along with its meaning, will be performed in chorus with live music to create a rich and engaging musical experience that promises to bring alive the essence of these tunes and poems. 

Tagore beyond 

Bengal The performance will open with Neogi’s Madhugunjan, an ensemble of singers from diverse non-Bengali linguistic backgrounds, performing the songs of Rabindranath Tagore. A group of 16 singers and four musicians will present eight songs, spanning different compositional styles from Tagore’s repertoire. From Sanskrit shlokas to songs in Maithili to the more popular Bengali works in Rabindra Sangeet, the songs have been carefully selected by Neogi from the Geetabitan, a collection of 2,232 songs written and composed by the Bard of Bengal. Several tunes suggest influences of European classical and folk music which in turn went on to inspire some hugely popular songs in Hindi cinema. Neogi has kept the mix lively to journey through different moods with a certain fluidity. “One of the songs ‘Tomar Holo Shuru’ has inspired the evergreen hit, ‘Chhu Kar Mere Mann Ko’, while ‘Phule Phule Dhole Dhole’ inspired ‘Piyu Bole’ from the Hindi film Parineeta. The idea is to engage the Mumbai audience through melodies they are already familiar with, while also introducing some compositions that are not commonly heard outside of Bengal. We will end with the beloved ‘Ekla Cholo Re’ which was once again popularised not too long ago in Mr. Bachchan’s voice in the film Kahaani. And that will be an interactive performance wherein we will invite the audience to join in,” she says. Neogi, whose own training in Rabindra Sangeet began at the age of five, has always been driven by a passion for taking Tagore’s songs beyond the periphery of Bengal. Having spent 50 years in Mumbai, in close proximity to non-Bengali speakers, she could make this dream come true. In 2015, after a public performance, she was approached by a Gujarati lady requesting her to teach her Rabindra Sangeet. That set the ball rolling. In an apartment complex in Sewri, a motley group of students began to meet for lessons. “My students were mostly housewives in their 40s, and one 80-year-old gentleman, who sadly passed away. Sudhakarji was my most punctual and driven student and we all remember him fondly.” 

Neogi, who will be performing at the NCPA for the first time, was deeply impacted by how her students, from diverse linguistic backgrounds such as Marathi, Gujarati and Marwari, seamlessly connected with the music of Tagore, without any prior knowledge or context of this canon of music. “They are very committed and have a tremendous passion for Tagore. Before teaching them the songs, I explain to them the meaning, which helps them find expression in their voice. Rabindranath is my heart and my mentor. So, to see these ladies feel his music is a great joy,” she says, adding that one of her students who now lives in South Africa, will be flying in to perform at Chhand Lahari.

The songs will be accompanied by a screen in the background with relevant translations for the audience. “We have performed in various venues across Mumbai and Kolkata. With each performance, my students have grown from strength to strength. Their progress assures me that we are ready to take the stage at a venue as prestigious as the NCPA,” Neogi says. 

Melodious revival of timeless verses 

Renowned Gujarati singer Hema Desai will be conducting the next set of performances that will bring alive the legacy of Marathi and Gujarati poets and compositions of masters like Ravi Shankar and Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Six songs, performed in chorus by 12 Gujarati singers and three musicians, will showcase different flavours of classical poetry. The set will open with ‘Swagatam Shubha Swagatam’, by the eminent Hindi poet Narendra Sharma, composed by Shankar. This song is especially close to Desai’s heart as she performed it at the inaugural ceremony of the Asiad Games in Delhi in 1982, as part of a chorus of 150 schoolchildren. Among other songs are Marathi poet Shanta Shelke’s famous ‘Vallor Naar’ composed by Mangeshkar. Bringing in a twist will be famous Gujarati lyricist and singer Avinash Vyas’s ‘Kaan Ma Pavan’, a song about rain and the emotions associated with it, composed by his father Gaurang Vyas. “The speciality of this song is that it is set to different talas, which sounds especially beautiful when performed in chorus,” Desai says. 

A tarana in chorus in Nat Bhairav, also composed by Shankar, will be one of the highlights of Desai’s set. Yet another melody that she holds close is one she had performed with the legendary sitar player in Russia at the Festival of India in 1988. “We had performed this at the closing ceremony with a 50-piece orchestra comprising Russian musicians and four vocalists including me and my husband, Ashit Desai. So, it’s a precious feeling to perform it every time,” she says. The set will close with another Gujarati legend, the poet and social reformer Zaverchand Meghani’s ode to our veer jawans. “Meghani’s work is a treasure trove—he is known for having compiled Gujarati folk literature by going from village to village in search of folklores. The genre, as it’s known today, exists because of him. We are going to perform his verses in Bhairavi, which will showcase another andaaz of performing this raga,” adds Desai. 

Even as she continues to perform both in India and abroad, the singer maintains that chorus singing is an art unto its own. “We get into a certain mood when we sing a song. An excellent solo artiste may not necessarily be as adept at chorus. Chorus singing champions cohesion—you need to breathe together, pause together, start at the exact moment; you need to sing as one, which isn’t as easy as some might think,” she notes. “It requires a different temperament and a different technique. The main task is to pick the right singers. Once you get that right, the rest just flows.”