It was a musical beginning to the weekend as people gathered to listen to some of the evergreen Marathi songs in a programme called Bhavsargam which was presented by Karhade Mitra Mandal, Bengaluru at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall.
This programme by music composer and singer Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar has been conducted across the nation over the years.
And the fact that the concert was in the morning did not stop people from crowding the auditorium.
Hridaynath Mangeshkar hails from the famous Mangeshkar family and his compositions of Meera like Chala Vahi Des, Kabir and Surdas are extremely popular. He was joined on the stage by daughter Radha Mangeshkar, Uttra Mone, Ashok Kaala on tabla, Mangesh Patkar on the dhol and Hari Bangla.
Pandit Hridaynath presented a variety of classical Hindustani music, bhavageets, bhajans, abhangs along with their historic commentary and mesmerised the music lovers for more than three hours. Some of the songs he sang were Umemangesh followed by the upbeat Ek Bana Cha, which enthralled the crowd. People whistled as he continued with the song and gave a thundering applause when it ended.
The song Tu Temetshi, a slow ballad, was preceded by a small story on Shivaji. Some of the other songs for the evening were Udthe Sath and Ugni Cha Sapne.
Ashok Kaala was marvellous on the tabla. He kept pace with the song playing with great energy and passion.
But it was not just his music which kept everyone entertained but also his sense of humour. Pandit Hridaynath kept the audience in splits with small comments and jokes which he cracked between the songs.
His daughter Radha Mangeshkar, also presented a sugam sangeet of her own, apart from participating in duets with him.
“It was nice to hear these songs after so long. I had heard them a long time back,” said Aarti Kulkarni, one of the members of the audience. It was a memorable event for the music lovers of the City.