A performance that was all about magic
Mandira Nayar
| Water, lights move gracefully to santoor music |
NEW DELHI: It was a musical "test" that the electrical engineers of Rashtrapati Bhavan here have managed to pass with flying colours. Working for the past one week to ensure that the new attraction at the President's Estate -- the musical fountain -- can actually dance to the tune of santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma at a function that was organised there on Thursday, it was a chance for the men of empirical science to match the magic of music.
While musical programmes at Rashtrapati Bhavan are not unusual, this was the first time that the function was held near the new fountain. Coming alive with recorded music usually, this was the first time that the water and the lights of the fountain danced to the live music of the santoor.
"The President had gone to Switzerland where the musical fountain was part of the ceremonial welcome. When he came back, he asked why not create a fountain like that in the gardens. So the fountains were created. Then the President threw another challenge to make the fountain keep up with live music and we were very nervous whether we would match up to his expectations. But when Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma came two days ago, he told us not to worry. I think it was a perfect mix of technology and music. People didn't know whether to watch the musicians or the water," said an official at the end of the function.
Apart from the technical aspects of the fountain that brought the water and the lights to literally move gracefully to the strings of the santoor, it was really the ambience of the garden that made the performance difficult to forget. A bright starry evening -- with all the makings of perfection what with the urgent call of peacocks and the smell of water on dry earth -- for all those who might have never known the power of music, it was an event that certainly left no doubts.
"There are musical programmes that happen at Rashtrapati Bhavan every two months. But they are usually held in the auditorium or the Mughal Gardens. This is the first time that the programmes was held at the fountains," said an official.
Sitting on a stage -- decorated in the colours of the spring -- in the middle of two big fountains that had a rainbow of colours from pale green to pink, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and his musicians found they had to compete with water in all colours. Enveloping all the senses with the sound of the santoor, the deeper sound of the percussion instruments, the gurgling fountain and the whiff of the flowers, it was a performance that was all about magic.
Edited by Qwest - 17 years ago
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