The time factor was not justifiable to the calibre of artistes who participated in the two-day Sangeet Sammelan of ITC Sangeet Research Academy.

There were too many artistes and too little time. Hindustani classical music unlike its Carnatic counterpart cannot be brief and yet meaningful. Elaboration of a raag is its mainstay just as tala precision is for the latter. So, in the two day Sangeet Sammelan of ITC Sangeet Research Academy, three musicians were accommodated within a matter of four hours, which was not justifiable to the calibre of the artistes.

Stalwarts like Malini Rajorkar, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna and Ajay Chakraborty stole the show by sheer virtuosity and of course name. The audience were treated to sweet rendering of Sameehan Kashalkar, son and disciple of Ulhas Kashalkar. His opening notes in raag Marwa with Samar Saha on the tabla went down well with the audience. The tarana provided a glimpse of an illustrious vocalist in the making. The Bandish (content resembles the varnam in Carnatic) rippled through like the waters of a brook.

Aniruddha Bhattacharya seemed to have been forced to make do with little time in which he tried to make the best of his talent and rendition.

Our very own Malini Rajorkar scaled the nuances of Chakradhar raag with her akaar taan interspersed with bhol taan in her inimitable style. The two bandish that went with the main raag were melodic. The tone and tenor of her cultivated voice embellished the raag in its entirety. She was like an expert craftsman who chiselled his artefact with a superb sensitivity. Her mastery over the medium was evident in the ease with which she could handle just about anything.

If the cause of music was entertainment in its simplest form, well we were in for a lot of it in the jugalbandi between M. Balamuralikrishna and Ajay Chakraborty. Though theirs was an unequal contest in the traditional terms in lieu of the seniority of one both in age and musical experience against the other, it was Chakraborty who turned out to be the saving grace with his in depth repertoire that elaborated any raga tuned in by the Carnatic maestro. Mangalampalli is no doubt a genius, an impromptu composer who could churn a Kalyani inside out as his tillana illustrated. Chakraborty, by far a serene Hindustani singer who could turn the banter into some serious music for us. Between the two, they seemed to have fun with syllables and musical notes that humoured the listeners. The percussionists D.S.R. Murthy (mridangam artiste and Subhankar Banerjee (tabla) spoke to each other in the ‘beat' language so well throwing challenges across the stage and appreciating each other's compelling responses.

Instrumentalists interspersed the vocal concerts on both days. Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya on the Chaturangi (an Indianised guitar). Raag Hameer seamlessly merged from the base octaves into the higher ones in his exquisite strumming. The rhythmic flow of the raag be it in cluster or in single syllabic technique was admirable. Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar on the sarod defined Purvadhanashree through the alaap, jhor and jhala with the special effect of a dhrut taal followed by teen taal. The complex arithmetic was handled dexterously by his nimble fingers.

We wish at least some of our very own corporates emulate ITC and give a similar impetus to Carnatic classical music by heralding a music research academy on ITC SRA lines. It would be mutually beneficial. Ravindra Bharati played host to the two-day event.