Arijit Mahalanabis – Podcast
“What is important is how you got to the point where you have gained proficiency in your art form, and the process of gaining that proficiency….”
-Arijit Mahalanabis
Arijit Mahalanabis is a Hindustani vocalist and one who actively performs khayAl, dhrupad, dhamAr, tumri and tApA. He is the founder of SIMA – Society for Indian Music and Arts – based in State College PA in the US. In this podcast, he gives all of us, artistes and rasika-s alike, many points to ponder. He expresses concern at the “desperation” of artistes to be seen or heard on social media at this time, urging everyone to instead focus on their journeys and introspect.
This podcast is part of the Quarantunes series, featuring Indian Classical Musicians, recorded during the worldwide shutdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Released one by one, the full series is at https://lakshmianand.com
In this podcast, Arijit sings a very unusual version of rAg Patadeep. Most musicians render this rAg in the same way as Bhimpalasi, simply changing the nishAdA of Bhimpalasi. However, in the version he sings here, the locus of the development is in the lower part of the scale, and brings in a strong flavour of rAgAnga Dhanashree, using specific phraseology found in rAg-s such as Barwa, Gara, and Pradeepaki. The result is a rAg of unique character quite distinct from Bhimpalasi. Arijit has adapted a khayAl composition of Master Krishnarao Phulambrikar, into the dhamAr format for this rendition, another unusual choice. He is accompanied by Sri. Kishan Patel on pakhawaj, Sri. Akhil Jobanputra on harmonium and Ms. Purvi Suresh on tanpura.
Arijit believes in careful and detailed study of ragas, particularly lesser known varieties, as a means of preserving the legacy of Hindustani music. He believes the diversity of ragas is quickly shrinking in Hindustani music, in an artistic environment that is driven mostly by audience adulation.
Though largely self-directed, Arijit underwent a diligent period of discipleship under Smt. Shantha Benegal, a vocalist and musicologist of the Dagar bANi. He regards himself primarily a teacher and has several students in India and all over the world. Academically, Arijit has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from The Pennsylvania State University and a Masters degree in Computer Science from University of Southern California. He spent a few years working as Senior Engineer in a major aerospace company in Seattle. More on him at the links below.
Many thanks to Dr. Sayali Phadke and Sri. Kishan Patel for their invaluable assistance with Arijit’s recording.
Very soothing. Thank you so much for this unique way to reach musicians and rasikas alike at unique times. Mr. Arjit is really talented and I feel his music speaks to people.
And I love thst he has a kind of gurukul. He delivered a very deep message too.