Rhythm of the rains with Rain Raga

Monsoon in India have always been connected with music. So what more could you ask for when there’s some soothing classical music by some renowned artists on a rainy, rainy day?

The annual concert, Rain Raga, is back again to create magic with mellifluous monsoon melodies. The event features artistes Rashid Khan, Richa Sharma, Taufiq Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia, Purbayan Chatterjee and Satyajeet Talwalkar. Instruments for this thematic musical event will include sitar, tabla, flute, pakhawaj, and percussion.

The primary aim is to showcase the different moods of the rain such as romance, happiness and celebration and more. Apart from showcasing Indian classical music, several other genres like Thumri, Sufi, folk and regional music will also be brought to the fore.

Ace percussionist Taufiq Qureshi says he’s very happy to be part of the endeavour. “But just because it’s called Rain Raga, we won’t just stick to monsoon ragas. we will try to catch the several moods of the season. My rhythm will be depicting celebration via percussion. I’ll be playing with Rashid bhai and will be doing the effects of thunder and wind in his aalap,” says the artist. While there will be classical ragas, there will also be fusion elements to create a magical musical evening, he says.

Tabla player Satyajeet Talwalkar says, “It’s a very different kind of set up and since we play at concerts, we already share great rapport. That shows when we perform. Because we’ve been performing together for long now, even for live extempore pieces, we sort of have an idea and we complement each other on stage. I’m accompanying all the maestros on tabla and percussion. Taufiq saab and I might play some a percussion duo based on rain ragas.”

Shashi Vyas, director of Pancham Nishad Creatives, that is organising the event, explains, “The moods of monsoon encompass almost all ‘Navrasas’ that signifies the emotional state of mind of every living being. Rain evokes emotions that can be beautifully expressed through the compositions in different genres of Indian music.”