Kuchipudi ki Shaam Hindustani ke Naam – this catchy caption of the concert aroused a curiosity amongst the connoisseurs of dance and music in the national capital who assembled at India Habitat Centre in Delhi on 5 August 2025 to experience the cross-cultural audio-visual symphony.

Two talented artists - Kuchipudi dancer Yamini Reddy and Hindustani vocalist Aditi Sharma Garg - came together to stage this unique concert of confluence transcending traditional boundaries of the South Indian dance form and the North Indian music tradition.

Young, dynamic and famed, they have created a niche for themselves in their respective arenas of arts. Both the artists belong to two legacies. Yamini Reddy, daughter and disciple of the celebrated Kuchipudi couple Raja and Radha Reddy, leads the Hyderabad branch of Natya Tarangini Kuchipudi Centre. Recipient of the SNA’s Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, she is known for blending tradition with innovation, as seen in her acclaimed collaborative work Harmony.

Aditi Sharma Garg, Dhrupad vocalist and musicologist, hails from an illustrious lineage of musicians. Grand-daughter of Krishna Datt Sharma and daughter of Dhrupad exponent Nadayogi Datt Sharma, she holds a doctorate in Dhrupad gayaki. She heads Sur Mandir, the family’s four-decade-old Delhi-based gurukul apart from being a popular performer.

Accompanied by four proficient accompanists - Manohar Balachandirane on mridangam, Shubhashish Pathak on pakhawaj, Saubhagya Gandharv on flute and Soumendra Goswami on sitar, the hour-long concert was conducted by Kuchipudi exponent Kaushalya Reddy with élan and complete command.

The ambience was surreal; darkness and silence reigned inside the auditorium with subdued spot-light on the orchestra. Vocalist Aditi set the mood of the evening with her soulful rendition of an invocatory note - Aum - in anibaddha aalap without accompaniment of any musical instrument. Gifted with a voice that instantly touches hearts of the audience, the vocalist‘s introductory notes in the lowest octave were perfect for Aum, the sacred sound. The recital was a chanting rather than mere singing in Aditi’s wonderful rendition. 

Juxtaposed to the meditative mood of the vocal recital, the dancer appeared on stage as Lord Siva, the celestial dancer playing the musical instrument damaru, generating the cosmic sound. A confluence of Kaushalya Reddy’s sollukattu (bols), Manohar Balachandirane’s mridangam and Yamini’s body kinetics created an electrifying mood. Dma Dima Damaru Baaje, the dhrupad composition to which Yamini performed, was composed by vocalist Aditi’s father Pt. Shri Datt Sharma in Raga Multani set to Teevra taal. Be it the celestial sound of the damaru that symbolises the primordial vibration of the universe or the Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean) sequence that delineated the creation of both amrit (nectar) and the halahal (poison that Lord Siva consumed), Aditi’s voice modulation conveyed the mood with seamless perfection. The accompanists offered strong support in this segment.

 Following the conventional chronology of Hindustani concert, the vocalist moved on from dhrupad to khayal - a transition from the spiritual to the romantic flavour Chandrabadan Radhika (moon-like face of Radha), set to raga Jaijaiwanti and Jhap taal was composed by Pandit Motiram and popularised by legendary musician Pt Jasraj.

Radha, whose beauty is compared to the shining moon, yearns for a meeting with Krishna and decorates herself with the finest finery. In search of Krishna, she ventures out through the lanes of Vrindavan and arrives in the forest. The mesmerising beauty of the forest is enchanting and seductive that compounds her longing for a union with her beloved. Radha is anxious and restless but Krishna doesn’t come as promised. The futile and frustrating wait with an unbearable pain makes Radha feel broken. 

As choreographer and performer, Yamini excelled in it – be it Radha’s fantasy, fear, frustration or the beauty of the forest or of the moon, each visualisation, action and emotion of the character and situation was convincingly conveyed to the audience. The dancer-choreographer was not in a hurry to execute any action or expression – the concert progressed at its own natural pace along with vocalist Aditi’s restrained rendition and its elaboration.  

Moving on, the dancer transitioned herself from the character of platonic Radha to an earthy Rukmini in her next presentation - Binati Suniye Naath Hamari.

Rukmini writes a love letter conveying her craving for her beloved husband Krishna. She appeals to him to end the endless wait for him and meet her. A composition by poet Narendra Sharma on raga Megh that resonated with the theme of monsoon, the typical sensual and folksy elements of Kuchipudi movements were eloquently enacted in the portrayal of the character. The dancer’s change of attire suggestively marked the change of the character and magnified the mood of the recital.

Though a conventional Kuchipudi concert concludes with a tarangam, as a mark of respect to their creative collaboration that was aptly titled, Kuchipudi ki Shaam Hindustani ke Naam, Yamini concluded their concert with a tarana, a popular musical composition by the Sitar maestro Pt Ravi Shankar set to raga Nata Bhairavi.

It was quite touching to experience the climax of the concert - Geetam vadyam tatha nrityam trayam sangeet muchyate – Yamini’s brief but impressive choreography revolving round this  often-quoted Sanskrit verse that defines music as the confluence of the three elements: singing, playing of musical instruments and dancing. While Aditi commenced the recitation representing geetam, the four accompanying instrumentalists along with Nattuvanar Kaushalya Reddy joined her a little later to represent vadyam and finally culminating in dancer Yamini’s entry on the stage as nrityam.

As Aditi recited the immensely popular Sanskrit sloka from the Upanishad - Om Purnamadah Purnamidam (That is whole; this is whole) in her sonorous and soul stirring note signalling the culmination of the concert, one wondered if the concert could also be christened as Hindustani ki Shaam, Kuchipudi ke Naam!

The resounding success of the collaborative concert between two distinctly different arts traditions spoke volumes of possibilities among the wide variety of arts practices.  

By

Shayamhari Chakra