From breaking barriers to giving back: A high school Teen’s musical journey

Late afternoon on August 5 saw a steady stream of people arriving,  socializing and eventually filling up the beautiful auditorium of Dover-Sherborn High School.

The lobby decor was impressive - Dr. Shruti Mankad and her team had been working diligently on the displays.  Beautifully decorated statues of Lord Vithal, Lord Ganesh and Goddess Saraswati were displayed artistically along with various photographs of the young performer - Rishabh Tole.

Rishabh had trained for over 11 years in a particular style of traditional classical vocal music, otherwise known as Hindustani Classical Music.  Culminating in a 2-hour debut concert, this day marked an important landmark in his musical journey with his teacher, Swati Panda, and his musical alma mater - Raganjali School of Music. 

The stage was grand, with an impressive backdrop reminiscent of a royal musical darbar, with an altar on one side and a raised platform in the center, dressed in brilliant white sheets.

The program formally began with lighting of the lamp, and a small puja invoking Goddess Saraswati for Knowledge & Lord Ganesha for auspicious beginnings. 

The emcees, Alisha and Aadi, two bright youngsters in their own right and Rishabh’s close friends since his elementary school days, opened the program, as the musicians settled on the stage for the much anticipated concert.  With humorous jabs at their friend as well as a well rounded feel of how Rishabh had adapted and grown into a responsible teen, Aadi and Alisha welcomed all, introduced the beginning piece, announced the housekeeping rules and…so it began.

Rishabh opened with a quote of surrender to the Divine, a gentle permission from musicians and the audience, and a serene and steady Sa to the traditional drone of the tanpura (played by Ashwini Paranjape). He opened with an introductory alap of the first Rag Jayant Malhar, soon followed by the soulful accompaniment of Sarangi (played by Suhail Khan) and melodious echo of the harmonium (played by Hirak Modi).  Staying true to the classical tradition, Rishabh skillfully presented 3 compositions in Jayant Malhar, transitioning from a traditional vilambit (slow) ektal, to a fast teental, to a drut (very fast) ektal.  He demonstrated his vocal control over the rhythm cycles and a clear understanding of the different aspects of the gwalior-kirana style of presentation (alaps, sargams, tans bol-alaps, bol-baants and boltaans, tarana).  Accompanying Rishabh on the tabla (percussion) was none other than his dad, Harshal Tole, a sought-after accompanist at regional and international musical circles. 

Rishabh patiently unfolded and developed Rag Jayant Malhar, maintaining its emotive mood and feel of the monsoon season during the aalaps, while adding winding, complex, breath-intensive moments during his tans and taraana.  The Sarangi, harmonium and tabla, each were given due spaces (besides their steady accompaniment) to show their brilliance and so they did, much to the audience’s pleasure and enthusiasm.  The opening rag ended with a resounding applause and Rishabh appeared energized to proceed with the rest of the first half of his concert.

The remaining first half was a foray into a captivating exploration of semi-classical, light classical, and devotional music. Among these was the enchanting "Jhoola," based on Rag Des, a traditional semi classical form of music which describes scenes of Krishna and Radha swinging during the monsoon.  This was followed by two of Rishabh’s cherished Marathi compositions. The first piece, imbued with the essence of Raag Shivranjani, gracefully adorned the rhythmic canvas of Dadra, a 6-beat cycle. The second selection was an Abhang, dedicated to Lord Vitthal, a devotional marvel in the Marathi language, deeply entrenched in the spiritual fervor of Maharashtra's bhakti tradition.

This curated collection of musical compositions, poignant lyrics, and a resonating crescendo at the end of the abhang led to a deep transformational experience for the listener. The emotive impact of Rishabh’s performance was profound, moving many to tears, and it marked a poignant conclusion of the inaugural segment.

During the short break between the segments, the audience was treated to a short video capturing Rishabh’s musical aptitude from his years as a toddler to his growing interest and public performances along the way to the present.

During the break, Mrs. Manisha Jain of EKAL foundation addressed the audience about the significance of this program dedicated to educating underprivileged children in India.  She also described how Rishabh had supported this program through the years and that he had decided to donate all his gift money to the program.

Audience were also treated to an engaging speech from Rishabh’s younger sister, Ritisha, who spoke of her brother with pride and cynicism, in the natural sibling tradition.

Rishabh began the second half of his concert with a Rag Medley, a signature staple in all debut concerts organized by Raganjali School of Music.  This musical medley followed the same convention as in all its predecessors - it followed a 24-hour time cycle where featured Raags represented time progression, a unique Thaat, and a variety of Taals.  The medley was made up of 6 Raags as follows:

Raag Puriya Dhanashree: Purvi Thaat,  evening raag, in Rupak, a 7 beat cycle

Raag Nand: Kalyan Thaat, late evening raag, in Ada Chautal, a 14 beat cycle 

Raag Nat Bhairav: Bhairav Thaat, early morning raag, in Ektal, a 12 beat cycle 

Raag Desi:  Asavari Thaat, daytime raag, in Jhaptal, a 10 beat cycle 

Raag Patdeep:  Kafi Thaat, afternoon raag, Dhrupad composition in Chautaal, a 12 beat cycle 

Raag Kirwani - Tarana, thaat undefined, as it was added from the carnatic rag repertoire; in Teental, a 16 beat cycle

As Rishabh moved from cameo demonstration of one raag to the next, the accompanying musicians stepped in every time to add beauty and depth to its expression.  It was fascinating to watch Rishabh’s control over such a variety of moods, musical and rhythmic styles in the classical genre.

With 3 more compositions left to finish his formal classical segment, Rishabh moved on to another favorite devotional song of his: Man Mandiraa.  This Marathi song in Raag Des set to Adha-Teental (16 beat cycle) talked about attaining enlightenment through discipline and belief in one’s self. With intricate sargams and tans built into the song, Rishabh tapped well into both the beauty as well as the technicality of this challenging piece.

The next song represented yet another musical genre: a ghazal.  It is an ancient musical form, originating from Arabic poetry in Arabia long before the birth of Islam.  Ghazal is a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. Composed in Raag Darbari and set to Dadra (6 beat cycle), Rishabh’s execution of “Dareecha Besada Koi Nahi Hai” was stylish, playful and surprisingly mature.  The singing as well as the accompaniment was outstanding, resulting in deafening applause and an encore presentation. 

Now was the time for Rishabh to finish his concert with a bhajan set to Bhajani (8 beat cycle) in Raag Bhairavi, an anytime (sarvakaaleen) raga, which follows the contemporary practice of generally being presented at the end of a recital.  Composed by the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak, the song talked about the futility of life without Remembrance of God.  Beautifully evoking the mood of surrender to the Divine, Rishabh came to the end of his recital while letting the musicians create a collaborative and resounding crescendo and bring his concert to a memorable end.  The brilliance of all three instruments, the singing Sarangi, the masterful harmonium and the vibrating tabla was unmistakable and led to a rousing grand finale.

There was an announcement at the end that Rishabh had prepared a small surprise medley.  Rishabh announced to all that this musical medley was dedicated to the memories of his late grandfathers and to celebrate his childhood friends from different regional backgrounds in India, during his growing years. In a short 10-minute segment, Rishabh sang engagingly in a variety of languages to different music tracks - English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi.  His singing was melodious and pronunciation impeccable.  His friends and family joined in to dance their way to his musical signing off for the night.

The program came to an emotional end with moving speeches from Rishabh and his parents.  Guru and musicians were felicitated, audience were thanked and everyone ventured to the cafeteria to enjoy a delicious catered dinner.

A lesser known fact was that some of the majorly challenging light pieces, such as the Marathi songs and the final medley were mostly prepared by Rishabh on his own, with minimal direction.

Rishabh’s concert, aptly named Upaasanaa (prayerful perseverance) by Raganjali, was a symbol of his overcoming challenges at every level - physical, emotional, intellectual, time-management and more.  Rishabh met every challenge with new energy, scaling new heights with his practice regimen, as was evident in the concert.  In this entire process of his arduous preparation, he made yet another decision, that he wanted to share his joy with children who were disadvantaged.  He wanted to donate all his gift money towards children’s education via EKAL.

(The above section is paraphrased from Rishabh’s speech)

Experiences such as these serve as a reminder to all - that hard work is the key to achieving success and sharing your success brings the greatest of joy.

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