“I would often sing abhangas or bhakti-geet in my own concerts as a concluding piece. While I sang these, I wanted to read and understand what they meant. That’s when someone recommended I read a column  written by the great author Dr Aruna Dhere. I met her and she gave me her book called Bhagvya Vata, which means saffron path. In her book, she combined short stories about various women saints of India, which allowed me to get a glimpse of their lives. I was intrigued and went on to read the original poetry by these saints, both in the original texts as well as translations in English and Hindi, and watched people perform them on YouTube,” recalls Pandit. “Each poet had a strong personality. Meerabai was a queen from the desert; Lalleshwari hailed from a poor family in snow-covered surroundings. This was reflected in their art,” she adds.

The two-and-a-half-hour programme will feature the works of Andal of Tamil Nadu, Akka Mahadevi of Karnataka, Janabai and Muktabai of Maharashtra, Gangasati of Gujarat, Mirabai of Rajasthan and Lalleshwari of Kashmir. Two works from each poet’s repertoire will be presented during the evening.

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Vaibhav Joshi

While the idea sounds fairly simple, the execution has been a massive challenge. “The writings of these saint-poets are in different languages. If you want the audience to connect with them, literal translations do not work. The translations of these vachanas, abhangas, vaakh, dohas and bhajans available in English and Hindi were literal and missed out on the essence, so we had to re-translate these in Hindi for a wider audience,” Joshi tells us. “There is storytelling, poetry and music stitched into this act. We had to script it in a way that it flowed seamlessly. You have to understand the artistes, and what they went through when they wrote these. It is said that when an artist is talented, the period they lived in is also reflected in their work. They rebelled against social and domestic restrictions and focused on their beliefs. We had to understand their spirituality to link them together,” Joshi explains.

Devaki Pandit

While the singing style had to be adapted keeping folk traditions in mind, understanding the nuances of so many languages wasn’t easy either. “Language from the 11th and 12th centuries has evolved ,and people don’t understand it anymore. I met the late Pandit Bhajan Sopori, who was a santoor player from Kashmir. In 2015, he presented me with a lot of literature and helped me with my pronunciation. He had composed quite a bit of Lalleshwari poetry for Kashmir Radio. Similarly, I met Puttur Narasimha Nayak who told me about Akka Mahadevi — her work and how people perceive and revere her,” 
says Pandit. Along with Pandit’s vocals, instruments such as the mridangam, rabab, pakhawaj, flute and violin, among others, will help recreate the ambiance of the era and place.  

On: March 4; 6.30 pm
At: Nehru Centre Auditorium, Dr Annie Besant Road, Lotus Colony, Worli
Call: 24920510
Log on to: in.bookmyshow.com 
Cost: Rs 300 onwards