Listen carefully to Bade Ghulam Ali Khan's rendition lest you miss the beautiful meend to ni, somewhere towards the beginning. With my miserable 26k connection (that is the best that bellsouth can do), frequent net congestion and other such monumental harassments, all I could make of the bandish was "Sukh Soye" and then "neend" or was it "chand". Surely it isn't "Kaise Sukh Soye", is it? Especially with such a strong Bihag presence! If it is, the bandish is changed beyond recognition.

    Once, long ago, I had heard the story that the reason why Kesar Bai's taans are so powerful is because for nine years she did nothing else but "swar sadhana". No raag, no nothing. What a harvest! Don't know how far this is true or if it is just one of those stories that go into the making of a legend. 

    I love Mallikarjun Mansur's voice. You can almost feel the texture in his voice. Like "tasar" silk, not too smooth. That is what makes it delicious.

    I quite enjoyed "Ramdas bab's" rendition of Jitendra Abhishekhi's composition and Shaila Datar's rendition of Master Krishnarao's bandish despite the fact that Shaila Datar ain’t got no steam for taan neither! More like a steam engine! 

    The wit is good too. For some reason I get the feeling that Shinbin (urf Shaheen Rangwala) will accuse me of bad taste in humor just as she used to when I would laugh at Arun's jokes in STL.