A tribute to a legend: a young musician recalls the magic that late Pandit Rajan Mishra wove

Years ago, I purchased an audio cassette which had a compilation of evening raagas. Pandit.Rajan-Sajan Mishra's Pooriya, Ustad.Amjad Ali Khan's Shyam Kalyan and Pandit Mallikarjun Mansoor's Nand.

I can't put in words how these masterpieces impacted me as a student of music, especially the Pooriya. The serenity of an expansive lake, intricately bordered with motifs of shadows and the tender ripples of its waters becoming larger and larger—the image was painted so beautifully in the music.

Pandit Rajan-Sajan Mishra are often spoken of as one soul singing in two bodies, and what a solid musical edifice they created together! Rajan-Sajan expanded their Banaras taleem to design their own elaborate Khayal.

They had a beautiful way of presentation too.

It was the eve of Rankala festival in Kolhapur, Shubha Mudgal had mesmerized the audience with an illustrious Pooriya Dhanashree after which Rajan-Sajan came on stage. They sat there glowing like two pearls in a shell, pearly white hair, pearly white kurtas and light shawls. They took a patient while to tune in, and in the rumbling of two tanpuras, they actually opened their paandaan and made a paan on stage.

I couldn't suppress my surprise and smile. Nerve of them I thought. The performance that followed was amazingly authentic and rooted. With swaramandal's preamble the maestros summoned a magnum opus—Kaunsi Kanhada. An enthralling journey that none of the rasikas would have forgotten.

Rajan-Sajan have delivered many such gems. Taal would simply flow effortlessly in their singing. They would use many elements suitable to a particular Raag. May it be Jaijaivanti or Chhayanat their style had an architectural quality, as though they were constructing a musical monument, brick by brick.

One that had a solid structure, a rich design and the touch of the eternal. The legacy of Pandit Rajan Mishra will live on.