VOCAL
Jaijaiwanti At Amaltas
Wasifuddin Dagar, 2015
I am not going to talk about Amaltas the tree. I don’t know enough about it. I do know about the other Amaltas though, which is one of the best private setting auditorium set up in the basement of Delhi’s prestigious arts and culture hub, India Habitat Centre. It’s right beneath Stein Auditorium, which has a much higher seating capacity and is often used for a more popular art form. I have been fortunate enough to attend close many concerts there which included artists of the likes of Gokulotsavji Maharaj, Abhay Narayan Mallick (recording available), Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Samar Saha, Shubh Maharaj and a lot of up and coming artists too. For many years, this venue was used for the great concert series initiative by HCL.
It’s the perfect auditorium for creating a baithak like environment. The artist sits on the same elevation as the audience. It gives a chance of frequent eye contact. The stage is probably four feet away from the first row. The artist does get to know if someone utters a waah, kya baat hai. It’s a good diversion from the abhorrent practice of clapping at all the wrong places during a performance.
I have been listening to a lot of Jaijaiwanti. Just a couple of days ago, I came across Sharafat Hussain Khan’s gem of a recital and today, I was going browsing on YouTube for…
