US sax maestro tunes into spiritual experience at Sankatmochan
I am going back with pleasant memories with a promise to come back next year GEORGE BROOKS, saxophone player
VARANASI: Noted American saxophone player George Brooks played classical tunes as an offering to Lord Hanuman at the Sankatmochan Sangeet Samaroh (festival) on Sankatmochan Temple premises here.
The six-day music festival began on April 15.
Clad in a white kurta pyjama, Brooks looked like a typical Indian classical artiste as he stepped on the stage and the audience chanted ‘Har Har Mahadev’. Brooks also joined the chant and raised his hands.
Before his performance on Sunday night, Brooks said, “It’s a great honour to get a chance to perform at the auspicious premises of the Lord Sankatmochan Hanuman Temple. I am quite delighted over coming here. For me, this is a great occasion.”
Accompanied by Deepak Pandit on violin, Ojas on tabla and Pt Bhavani Shankar on pakhawaj, Brooks played Raag Charukeshi and thumri on the saxophone.
As he played one raag after another, the medley of saxophone, violin, tabla and pakhawaj drew applause from the audience. He also performed with tabla maestro Ustad Sabir Ali.
In a chat with HT afterwards, Brooks said, “Performing at this festival is a great spiritual experience. The way they (the audience) encouraged us with rounds of thunderous clapping is proof of the fact that they enjoyed every moment of our performance.”
“I would love to perform here again. I will keep coming to Varanasi. Giving a performance before such a beautiful audience motivates us to play more and more enthralling tunes. I really enjoyed every moment. Wonderful event,” Brooks said.
“I am going back with pleasant memories with a promise to come back next year,” he added.
Brooks’s previous visit to Varanasi was 31 years ago when he went to the ghats and other spots. The saxophone maestro, who landed in Varanasi on Saturday, walked from one ghat to another on Sunday.
“There is no change at the ghats. Almost similar conditions prevail there even after these many years. Yes, the ghats look a bit cleaner now. Though dustbins are there, wrappers and polythene were dumped erratically at some stairs,” Brooks said.
“I saw polythene and other waste flowing on the Ganga surface at many stretches. This is really disappointing. There is no change on ground as far as Ganga cleaning is concerned,” he said.
On seeing waste in the river at Dashashwamedh Ghat, he said serious steps needed to be taken to solve the problem.