Agastya Foundation and Vishvakosh Lalitkala Kendra have come up with music albums to attract young readers towards Gujarati classics
Instrumentalist Amit Thakkar and vocalist Amar Bhatt
Why undergo the laborious process of memorising a poem these days when we can sing it? To preserve the finest accomplishments of Gujarati poets for coming generations, senior advocate and vocalist Amar Bhatt and instrumentalist Amit Thakkar have composed poems by eminent Gujarati poets Mareez and Manoj Khanderia to music.
The duo (Bhatt and Thakkar) have given three years to the making of the two albums Zindagi tamaam gazal (Mareez) and Shabdo j kanku ne chokha (Khanderia) which contain 25 compositions based on a variety of ragas, including nat, gaud malhar, gauri manjari, vasant, gorakh kalian, rageshree, pahadi, puriya, marwa and kanda.
Three exclusive pieces in these albums are Shahmrugo and Koi Kahetu Nathi which are written and recited by Khanderia himself and Kahevane Kaaj …Zindagi – which is written and recited by Mareez. Bhatt procured these rare-tofind recordings of private kavisammelan of bygone era and has added ‘cassette-turned-into- cd’ sounds in these albums.
PROJECT BEGAN IN 2010
Bhatt says, “The project of adding music to poems began in 2010 when I read Khanderia’s line Kal Kono Avaaj Takvano? – This powerful question touched me and I began the search of ways to preserve Khanderia’s poetic voice.” The duo has read, worked on each piece of the poem for more than 60 times, while they created a musical dimension to it.
Thakkar says, “Each poem was sung and composed by Bhatt. I read and listened to that piece again and again to create music for that piece. We have added about 12 instruments to each piece of poem to elaborate on its emotive appeal. After creating music for one poem, we searched for an appropriate voice to convey that combination.”
Popular artistes have collaborated their expertise for this project which aims to donate all its proceeds for promotion of Gujarati literature and music. The albums are to be unveiled at Vishvakosh Bhavan on Saturday .
The story appeared in Ahmedabad Mirror on April 26, 2013
