Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia performs at Xavier Institute of Management auditorium in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 3: The magic of music gripped young students in the capital on Monday, as flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia cast his spell with an ensemble of ragas specially dedicated to monsoon.

The iconic flute exponent performed at the auditorium of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, at a concert organised by Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music (Spicmacay).

The excited management students gathered at the auditorium and welcomed Pandit Chaurasia with loud applauses. The flute legend frequents Orissa to perform mostly for the student fraternity to promote classical music among them.

“I’m here with my family members of the Vrindavan Gurukul,” he said to introduce his disciples from all over the country who accompanied him on stage.

The concert began with the seasonal Desh raga that is played traditionally during monsoon. “I love to play this since it lets the listener and the musician enjoy the monsoon downpour,” said Pandit Chaurasia.

Starting off with an enchanting alaap, he moved on to different moods of the celebrated raga.

While disciples such as Abhiram Nanda, Sameer Rao and others played in interludes, the master musician pulled well-known tabla player Subhankar Bannerjee from one captivating spell of jugalbandi to another.

The jugalbandis compelled the young listeners to applaud the performance for a couple of minutes after every climax.

Then he interacted with the audience and played some tunes of their request.

Miyan ki Malhar that Pandit Chaurasia played on the request for raga Malhar, another monsoon raga, literally converted the auditorium into the Vrindavan of mythology where the villagers would be lost in the charm of the music from Lord Krishna’s flute.

He also rendered a thumri on raga Pilu. Pandit Chaurasia also played the famous bhajan Vaishnav jana to and even the nursery rhyme Jingle Bells, all of which captivated the hearts of the young students.

“It was a magical experience. His music had the power to make us forget all the worries of the world,” said Upasana, a listener.

Another student, Mithiliesh, asked the maestro what he finds common in nature and music.

“They are the one and same. Everything in nature is music and music is the greatest creation of nature,” said Pandit Chaurasia.

After the rendition, the artistes were felicitated. The students then queued up to collect autographs of Pandit Chaurasia.