Goa‘s contribution to the world of Indian classical music has been extraordinary. Our traditional strengths and focus have been in vocal music. In the instrumental department, we have produced world-class sarangiyas, violinists, and percussionists in the distant past. Tantuvadyas such as the sitar and sarod have historically not generated much enthusiasm in the Goan musical milieu.

For the past 25 years, Chhote Rahimat Khan, Head of the Sitar faculty at the Kala Academy in Panjim, has been training Goans on the sitar and developing local talent in this area. Chhote hails from Dharwad and grew up in a family of traditional musicians. A brief sketch is available here.

A couple of afternoons ago, I spent an enjoyable hour or so with the ustad in his music room at the Kala Academy. These are images from that session, which included an impromptu recital by Chhote on his beautiful custom-designed Made-in-Miraj sitar.

Chhote Rahimat Khan
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 100 f/2 Makro Planar

Chhote with his custom-designed sitar
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

The ustad in his music room at Kala Academy in Panjim
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 100 f/2 Makro Planar

I had my Tilt-Shift lens with me and couldn’t resist doing a portrait of Chhote‘s sitar. These are a couple of instances of the Scheimpflug Principle in practice.

Scheimpflug principle: downward tilt of lens brings the frets plane into sharp focus
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

Upward tilt of the lens enables selective focus
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

Keri is a small village in Goa, around 15 kms east of the capital Panjim. It is sometimes spelled Querim, the trailing ‘m’ denoting the nasal phonetic characteristic of Konkani syllables. Since there are at least 3 other villages in Goa bearing the same name, the ambiguity is removed by calling it Keri-Ponda, after the taluka in which it is located..

Kesarbai refers to the legendary musician Kesarbai Kerkar who was born and raised in Keri. Go here for an introduction to this rara avis and her extraordinary artistry. Kesarbai‘s recording of Raga Bhairavi was among the selections of music put on the Voyager Golden Record carried aboard the Voyager spacecraft launched by NASA in 1977, now a wanderer in the far reaches of interstellar space.

The predominantly Hindu settlement of Keri is the archetypal hinterland Goan village. Ringed by hills, fortified by forests, graced by beautiful temples, soothed by birdsong, it still clings to the zeitgeist of a Goa that is fast disappearing. Idylls like these are on their last legs given the march of destruction development.

In this photo essay I concern myself with some ‘objects’ encountered on a couple of rainy mornings in Keri earlier in July.

Kesarbai was born in this house that is now occupied by her brother’s progeny. This framing minimizes intrusion of the thicket of electric power lines crisscrossing its façade.

Kesarbai Kerkar's house in Keri, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Fresh rain and cloud cover accentuate the colours of the beautiful temple of Goddess Vijayadurga. Notice the deep reds of the kaavi artwork (sgraffito) beneath the sloping roof of the mandap. Unfortunately, most of the detail is lost in the reduced image size required for web display.

Temple of Goddess Vijayadurga
5D Mark II, 24-105L

The old temple of Vetal, now in the crosshairs of some villagers who want to demolish it and erect a new pile of concrete doo-doo in its stead (‘development’ !). What it really needs is restoration. One can only pray for divine intervention.

Vetal temple
5D Mark II, 24-105L

This ancient image of Vetal is imposing, probably the tallest (over 7 feet) in active worship in Goa.

Vetal of Keri
5D Mark II, 24-105L

One of the carved wooden pillars in the Vetal temple
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Off to school with grandma
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II

Raghoba Naik runs a traditional convenience stall by the Vetal temple. He is a type that seems to exist only in works of fiction, someone who has very little yet who owns the world. The oft-heard Atithi Devo Bhava has become a meaningless cant in India, but not in Raghoba‘s world. No outsider to the village is released without a cup of tea and snacks. It would be considered an act of rank discourtesy to ask about payment for the goodies.

Raghoba Naik at his stall
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Raghoba Naik of Keri
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II

Shubha Mudgal has established herself as one of the leading Hindustani Classical vocalists of the current generation. She is also fluent in other musical genres.

Shubha and I share a common guru, the late Ramashreya Jha “Ramrang.” A not-so-well-known fact about Shubha – her father was Skand Gupt, the outstanding cricket commentator of yesteryear, whose distinguished voice and Hindi diction are remembered by AIR listeners of the 1970s and 1980s.

These portraits were taken in Mumbai in December 2009.

Shubha Mudgal
5D Mark II, 85L II

Shubha Mudgal
5D Mark II, 85L II

Shubha Mudgal
5D Mark II, 85L II