Despite their affinity to the Brahmo Samaj school of thought and training in Hindustani classical tradition, both Rabindranath Tagore and Rajanikanta Sen shared an affinity towards an omnipotent god; both picked up tunes from indigenous folk tradition. Otherwise, they were different. However, random juxtapositions often yield amazing similarities and that was precisely what ‘Oikantik’ aimed at in a soiree at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan (May 28). A brain child of Anubha Ghosh (in picture), it started off quite impressively with back-to-back renditions of Tagore’s Dnarao amaar ankhir age and Sen’s Shunao tomar amritabani, both based on Behag and set in the seven-beat teora cycle.

As Prabir Brahmachari and Sukriti Lahari did the narration, competent performance came from the singers. Although Ghosh’s timbre cracked, there was an element of conviction in her presentation of devotional compositions that made her rendition of Ami swapane tahare kurhaye peyechhi stand out.

Arpita Bandyopadhyaya showed unmistakable poise in Tagore’s Deep nibe gechhe mama. A distinguished gayaki underlined by controlled use of gamaks shone through Agnibin Chattopadhyay’s Maa ami jeman tor manda chhele.