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Dying Tone

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MUSIC

When A City Sings

Ik lafz-e-mohabbat hai, adana sa fasana hai;
Simte to dil-e-aashiq, phaile to zamana hai.
(The word called love is but a small episode; it shrinks to become the heart of a lover,it spreads to span the epochs of life.)

-Jigar Moradabadi

How does time become a metaphor for a nation? Through its stories of passion, of progress, of pain. So for a news magazine to embrace the imagination of an entire populace, it has to pulsate with the very heart beat of the country. For a quarter century, INDIA TODAY has given voice to the events and aspirations of this complex land with its myriad peoples and cultures. This week it keeps its tryst with its birthplace, Connaught Place in the heart of India's capital, by offering a platform to the most evocative of the subcontinent's musical voices in the splendorous environs of the Central Park.

In this effort its association with the New Delhi Municipal Council results in a significant synergy. Together they present this week Swar Utsav, a feast of the best in all genres of Indian music, from the devotional to the sensual and from high classical to folk and fusion. Some glimpses of this musical magic captured by INDIA TODAY photographers.

MAGICAL AMBIENCE: Shubha Mudgal performed to rapturous crowds at India Today's musical extravaganza in Central Park, Connaught Place

POWER OF PASSION: On the first day the focus was on devotional music, with the searing voice of Veena Sahasrabuddhe articulating a range of bhakti poets from Kabir to Raidas

SINCERE STRAIN: Madhup Mudgal in an extended rendering of hymns and songs

SENSUOUS HIT: Pakistan's Tahira Syed struck a chord with ghazals and nazms a master discovered: Chhannulal Mishra's power of communication and effortless renderings of thumri and associated forms came as a revelation to many in Delhi

CAPTIVATING VOCALISM: Rajan and Sajan Misra, the duo from Varanasi, are unquestionably the most evolved voices in khayal today.

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MetroScape
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