Father's Day 2025 Concert - Nachiketa Yakkundi

It was a beautiful Sunday Morning, with perfect weather here in Bay area, and what more, Father's Day. A perfect set up for a Morning Raag Concert. And the artiste today was my good friend, Nachiketa Yakkundi, a leading Kirana Gharana artist.

Nachiketa commenced his concert with Raag Todi (Miyan ki Todi, to be specific). Raag Todi has always seemed meditative to me (akin to Marwa). Although nature of Marwa is deeply meditative, Miyan ki Todi, even though meditative, keeps me a bit conscious - possibly about that one note - Pancham. Even though it immerses me into it, still keeps me in the realm of consciousness, constantly 'looking' for that Pancham. And today, Nachiketa exactly captured this essence of Miyan ki Todi. In the initial Aalapi, he completely omitted the Pancham, keeping me guessing. And then after a couple of minutes, he arrived at that Pancham so gracefully, that was the defining moment of the Raag.

He performed three compositions in Miyan ki todi - One Vilambit bandish, followed by Madhya Laya teen bandish (Tanak hero - by Ramashreya Jha 'RamRang'), and Drut bandish (Nainan so dekhi Surat - by Dinkar Kaikini 'DinRang'). Nachiketa brought out the color and texture of each bandish, while keeping the main meditative theme of the Raag.

 Next up was Raag Shivmat Bhairav. An interesting and equally intriguing variation of Bhairav, it employs both Gandhars and both Nishads. Nachiketa presented two compositions in it - a tarana in Jhaptaal and a teen taal composition (again, RamRang).

 Yamani Bilawal has a strong Yaman influence. It's a tricky business, to display the Yaman (or Kalyan) side, while still agreeing to the dominance of Bilawal. The result is nothing short of fabulous. Nachiketa presented two compositions, again RamRang ones, doing full justice to this joint venture of Kalyan - Bilawal.

Bahaduri Todi has both Rishabhas, and an untrained ear may confuse it, at least for a bit, with Bhairavi. However the re-ga-Pa sangati brings out the Todi texture. Nachiketa presented a brilliant composition in Bahaduri Todi.

Two bhajans in Kannada were presented, in Raags Bhatiyar and Jaunpuri. I would beg a pardon for not being able to comment on the contents, due to lack of my understanding of the language, although I certainly enjoyed the melody.

The proceedings were topped off by a lovely Bhairavi composition, written by Guru Vinayak rao Kale.

A few words about artists. In the context of Hindustani Classical Music, it is said that, there are three things essential for any singer: Aadat, Jigar and Hisaab. Aadat can easily be associated with Riyaz. Jigar, literally means the heart. And Hisaab mean calculation (of time and space... how much time is being spent on Aalap, Taans etc). On all these three accounts, Nachiketa scored very high.

Apart from his singing quality, I must mention his behavioral qualities: he was enjoying every bit of his performance, which was visible on his face and expressions. Also, I must mention his humble and respectful attitude towards his accompanists. Nachiketa was accompanied by Vivek Datar on Harmonium, and Tanmay Bichu on Tabla – Not to forget the vocal support by his son, Rochan.

Absolutely marvelous concert that was. What more could I ask for, on a Father’s Day!