Last night Rhythm Riders kicked off weeklong celebrations of Guru Poornima in Ahmedabad and was a start it was. With people overflowing the hall, students and audience members alike sitting and standing in every available space, the space was charged. Countless students from all over India and the world gathered to be with Pandit Divyang Vakil as we celebrated his 30 years of teaching excellence.
It has been quite the journey for him and as with all other things, he began his teaching career by setting a new precedent by being the youngest teacher at Sawai Gandharva Mahavidyalaya 30 year ago. One of his first students was present at the concert as well as the newest student at Rhythm Riders. The evening began with a puja for Guruji's Gurus - Pandit Sudhirkumar Saxena, Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan and Ustad Allarakha before students paid their respects to Guruji. The program began with a Delhi gharana solo by Canadian disciple Heena Patel, who was the only amateur performer of the evening. She was followed by Guruji's senior American disciples (and Taalim School of Indian Music's faculty) - Sejal Kukadia, Loren Oppenheimer and Michael Lukshis with accompaniment by Misha Fatkiev on the guitar. The trio performed Guruji's American contemporary tabla trio composition called Tabla Triveni. The artists wowed audiences with their level of playing and syncronization.
Triveni was followed by a very difficult tabla solo by 17 year old Rahul Shrimali who performed compositions solely from Ajrada Gharana. It is now rare to hear pure gharanedar tabla solos, let alone hear Ajrada compositions played in the tabla world today. Rahul did justice to its complex compositions and fully demonstrated his maturity in playing. The solo was following by a touching tribute video that featured over 50 students and friends of Guruji who shared their thoughts on him and gave insight into the tabla guru that has shaped so many lives.
The evening had an explosive ending with a tabla trio specially created by the occassion. Performed by three of Guruji's senior Indian disciples, the performance featured Nishant Mehta playing only Guruji's compositions, Sahil Patel playing pure Punjab bols and Kaumil Shah performing a mix of compositions of Guruji's, Delhi, Ajrada and Punjab Gharana. The trio showed their prowess with dynamic and fast paced perfomance that served as the perfect ending to day one of Guru Purnima celebrations. Now on to day 2.
