Final Transit

पंडित जसराज व पंडित हरीप्रसाद चौरसीया

Yesterday I witnessed a live joint performance by Pandit Jasraj and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Pandit Jasraj is a distinguished artist from the Mewati Gharana (मेवाती घराणा) of vocal music and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasiya plays the bansuri, an expertise of lord Krishna.

The concert was at Shanmukhanand Sabhagruh, Sion, Mumbai. Accompanied by the eminent Pandit Vijay Ghate on Tabla and Pandit Bhavani Shankar on Pakhawaj, pandit Chaurasia started with raga Durga, followed by a couple of bhajans by pandit Jasraj. After the solo performances, the duo entered into a jugalbandi in raga Kedar, developed with silent alaaps and ending with electrifying speed that kept the audience on their toes.

However, I felt that the Tabla and Pakhawaj were under utilized. I’ve attended a show earliear which was brimming with sounds of these percussion instruments.

Indeed a rare opportunity to witness the ‘live’ confluence of the eminent Vocalist and Flautist.

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“Look at the rising moon. It looks fantastic !”, I received an SMS from Gauri at around 2250 hrs.

Next 90 minutes were spent experimenting with various settings. By the time I could get the pictures right, the moon was atleast 30° above horizon and I had consumed over 30 shots.

Technique:

[Disclaimer: I'm barely a beginer] At night we tend to shoot at low shutter speeds in order to expose the dark objects just right. The moon, however is a very bright object, and slow shutter speed will overexpose it. So you need to use a faster speed for the moon in isolation, a trick not achievable by a non-SLR camera.

I attempted to balance these contradictions using the ‘Manual’ settings. By setting the shutter speed between ranges 1/150 - 1/300 and Aperture at f5.5 - f6.0 I could get optimum photographs. All this at ISO 200. Trouble is, this will work only in sky-and-moon shots. To capture any objecct-sky-moon, Av should be lowered.

I believe anything better than this would require better equipment ! Tripod is on my list !

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Sequel to previous post:

7:21 AM:
As we see the arriving train from a distance, people start moving around, adjusting to their positions. Bags and purses are fastened, and dupattas are tucked in. I always take the third first class compartment (video coach) and pretty accustomed to all the regulars there. As the first two I class dabbas pass you get to hear some comments - that the train is full, or empty. Funny how things are seen in binary: if the doors sparsely occupied, the train is empty, else its packed. Local trains in Mumbai run typically at 140%-210% of their rated capacity and stop for 10-12 seconds, so no matter how able bodied you are, you cannot get in unless you are habituated.
With huge efforts, the entire platform filled with people is sucked in the train, and we depart. There is enough space inside to rest your foot. If you are lucky, you can stand comfortably on both feet. If you are blessed more, you can read a book, or a newspaper folded in a style particular to Mumbai.

7:33 AM:
Thane station. Disgrunted protests by people in the compartments about Thaneites boarding “our” trains, when they have got exclusive trains for them. But resultant, there is better space, and reading is comfortable.

7:54 AM:
Kurla Station. My destination arrives, and about 20% of the commuters are emptied here. While you manage to squeeze out, eager to breathe in the open, your clothes and your hair are in a mess. You start ascending over the foot overbridges while trying to comb your hair and get your appearance neat.

7:56 AM:
My bus is standing at the bus stop! 313 Kurla Station West to Santacruz Station East. The smiling conductor greets the regulars and hands out the ticket before I pay him four rupees. Back to reading the book, usually bookmarked by the ticket I just bought.

8:10 AM:
“IN” time recorded by my office computer. No fun until tomorrow!

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Last week I attended a music concert “Uptown Monsoon Waves” (रंग वर्षा), held at Gadkari rangaytan, Thane. It was a confluence of the three artforms - Vocal, Instrumental and Dance (गायन, वादन, न्रुत्य)

Dr. Ketkar performed ‘kathak’ dance based on raga megh theme, followed by lovely Sitar by Shekhar Raje, student of Maruti Patil. The vocal presentation was by Shruti Gokhale, a khyaal and bandish in raga Megh Malhar and raga Chandani Malhar (I heard it for the first time!). I missed the Harmonium performance by Vidyadhar Oak, since I had to get the last train back to Dombivli (01:10)!

And, I was fortunate to collect free passes at the last minute ! heh…

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आज सकाळी १०:३० वा. डोंबिवली रेलवे स्थानकावर संतप्त प्रवाशांनी केलेल्या जन-आंदोलनामुळे ठाणे ते कल्याण दरम्यान उपनगरीय वहातुक पूर्णपणे बंद होती. हे ‘रेल-रोको’ सुमारे ९ तास सुरू होते, व सायंकाळी कार्यालयातून परतणार्या लोकांना प्रचंड गर्दी व विस्कळीत वहातुकीला सामोरे जावे लागले.

मी सकाळी कल्याण ला income tax returns भरायला गेलो होतो. कल्याण हून थेट आॅफिस ला जाण्याचा बेत होता. धावत धावत प्लॅटफाॅर्म नं ६ च्या जलद गाडीत घुसलो, आणि गाडी सुरू होताच् मी किती lucky आहे असं वाटलं. पण पत्री पुलापर्यंत जाऊन गाडी थांबली व पुढची १५ मि. कणभरही सरकली नाही. लोकांनी बाहेर उड्या मारायला सुरू केल्या, व मी पण कल्याण स्थानकापर्यंत चालत आलो. एका मागे एक लोकल गाड्यांची रांग लागली होती.

स्टेशन बाहेर रिक्षा चालकांचा धंदा जोरात चालू होता. मी डोंबिवली च्या बस स्टाॅप वर गेलो, पण गर्दी इतकी की बस दिसेना ! शेवटी ३ अन्य लोकांबरोबर रिक्षाने जायचं ठरवलं. तो २०-२५ रू. मागत होता, पण ‘ आम्ही फक्त १० रू. देऊ ‘ असं म्हणून सरळ आत शीरलो. मग आरामात डोंबिवली ला पोहोचलो.

डोंबिवली स्थानकात लोकांची अतोनात गर्दी. बर्याच् गाड्या एका मागे एक उभ्या होत्या, व आंदोलक रुळांवर बसले होते. द्रुश्य बघण्यासारखे होते.

सारांश: पाच-पंधरा लोकांमुळे हजारो प्रवाशांचे हाल. (व माझी एक सुट्टी गेली).

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