Last week I happened to attend my friend’s wedding ceremony.The fiance had a superlative gift wrapped up in a sparkling tinsel sheet for all of us friends.We all tore it off in a twinkling.But very next jiffy everybody was having a stiff upper lip.Nobody including me was expecting a gift in the form of an audio cassette from such an affluent friend.
My friends started murmuring....What the hell yaar..?...See what our priggish friend has gifted us....An audio cassette.....that too instrumental...that too of violin.....my walk-man is gonna whimper all night long....zossie, I don’t even have a walk-man yaar.I am a cd-man.....
After whiling some time here and there, I checked the song list printed at the back of the cover.I was stunned.I pinched myself two-three times.I read the list again vigilantly.Almost all the songs were compositions of Great Madan Mohan.....Madam Mohan , the name itself shudders the minds of many singers and players....
Madan Mohan is considered as ’Treasures of Musical Chords’.His melodies are extremely difficult to sing.It needs a sonorous singer to sing them flawlessly capturing all the nuances of arduous melody.....Forget singing, it is even more difficult to play them on instruments.It’s not easy to make a dead artifact sing like a human being...
I was wondering about the person who took up this challenge to play all these arduous melodies that too on one of the most strenuous instrument-Violin...
Violin is one of those few instruments like sarangi, flute, dilruba which can yank & reproduce the tones as flexible as human voice...But it takes a genius with dextrous hands to explore all the beauties of the instrument..I turned back the cover impatiently to read the artist’s name.It was printed in hindi-italic yellowish..Shree Prabhakar Jog.....was unkown to me then..
I rushed to the car & put the cassette in my kenwood Hi-Fi.Digitally mastered & recorded crystal clear soundtrack started soothing the twittering atmosphere..I chafed my hands & sat relaxed listening to these beautiful melodies....
1}Jiya Le Gayo-Lata......Madan Mohan(Anpadh)
Extremely melodious tune in raga Yaman.Shree Jog has played it with utmost brilliance.The velocity(volume up-down) changes markedly resemble to that of Lata’s & reach at the apex flawlessly.It seems as if virtually Lata is humming the tune.
2}Naina Barse Rim Jhim-Lata.....MM(Woh Kaun Thi)
Another haunting melody in raga ’Pahadi’-extrmely romantic raga.This raga makes you feel having a trip in the high mountains.This is my one of favourite raga as it can be played at any time.I don’t have the words to tell you how beautifuly Shree Jog has played this tune.Just close your eyes & start flying high in the mountains....
3}O Sajana-Lata....Salil Chaudhary(Parakh)
Just listen the starting of this tune.Amazing ! The words ’O Sajana’ are very difficult to play as they include very intricate slurring & modulation effects.Listen this Raga Khamaj tune at night 12-12.30 am to capture all the nuances in calmness & serenity.
4}Tu janha janha-Lata...MM(Mera Saya)
Aren’t those lyrics beautiful?Forget everything & get drowned in this very rare raga ’Nand’ tune....
5}Maine Rangli-Lata....MM(Dulhan Ek Raat Ki)
This is raga Pilu tune.This raga is generally used in inspirational & drut(Fast) compositions.Shree Jog’s this rendition doesn’t fail to inspire you either...
6}Jyoti Kalash-Lata....Sudhir Phadake(Bhabi Ki Chudiya)
Lemme spill the beans again.This is raga ’Bhoop’ song.Let me bow down to sheer genius Shree Jog.It’s impossible for me to dot the i’s & cross the t’s in his artistry.It’s like cutting a Gordian knot to find the flaws in this tune.
7}Megha Chaye-Lata.....S.D.Burman(Shirmilee)
It’s the testing time for the instrumentalist.It’s raga ’Patadeep’.No, it’s not as grave as raga ’Deepak’.It’s a bit reverse of that.This is for soft listeners just like raga Pahadi.Soft listeners will get hooked on to this one..
8}Yun Hasaraton Ke dag-Lata.....MM(Adalat)
I heard this tune first time.I dunno much about this one.But this tune is in raga ’Yaman’..that’s for sure...
9}Kahi Ye Wo To-Lata...
Time to jump out of skin & express your patronage & encouragement to Shree Jog’s future releases.I cann’t imagine he is above 70...
10}Mai re main kaise-Lata...MM(Dastak)
My mom is singing me this lory to sleep soundly.A perfect ending.Isn’t it?
While listening to this album I was wondering how come I didn’t know anything about this Great man ! I did not forget to thank my friend who gave me this invaluable gift which is something special to be cherished for forever.My other friends who didn’t know even a single song from this album have started to adore this album.Now they say..Yes ! Violin can smile too
It is very rare that you will come across such a gem of instrumental melodies.It’s more than worth in your collection.Very highly Recommended..Grab the copy now....