At Upma’s, the Coziness of Singers Wards off a Wintry Blast of Cold Air

By Jawahar Malhotra
SUGAR LAND: The wintry blast of sub-zero air that barreled down through the Southwest could not dampen the characteristic warmth and enthusiasm which Upma Shah and her husband Mukulesh exuded to the nearly 70 people who came to attend the first concert of the New Year in their spacious and vaulted ceiling living room as once again the Shah’s opened up their home to make a cozy hall for the year’s first concert by four talented artists from the Bayou City area.

Ever since they moved in 2008 into their house by the lake, with the floor to ceiling 20-foot high glass wall that offers a view of palm trees and the water jet in the lake beyond, the Shahs have wasted no time in indulging in their passion for finding and promoting singers and musicians from the Indian community scattered over our five-county area. Every other month, they turn their living room into an impromptu concert venue – the sofas and center tables moved to the side and plastic patio chairs making several rows for the invited guests.

Just about anyone can come, as long as they are with a guest, and over the past five years – especially after their kids went off to college – the venue has come to be known as “Upma’s”, not taking anything away from her husband Mukulesh who is always behind the scenes helping orchestrate the seating, sound and stage. But it is more of a testimonial to the passion for music that burns inside Upma, ever since her student days in Bombay, as she seeks out artistic talent hidden in the forests of the Indian community and promotes them in her own style in these musical events. As she is wont to say, “I truly believe that some sort of a divine power is working to motivate me to do this,” exuding a warm smile. Her generosity doesn’t end there: after the performance, she insists that all stay for a delicious Gujarati dinner, in which she has been aided for the past few years by Trupti and Kiran Sheth.
This past Sunday, January 5, the Shahs featured the musical virtuosity of two women who are talented singers from the Marathi community – Varsha Habale and Sucheta Karandikar – whose voices complement each other. Sucheta comes from a family of talented artistes and though she is mostly a self-taught improvisationist with a melodious voice, she is also taking lessons from Houston’s own accomplished singer Jamuna Murali. Varsha has learnt classical Indian music as a child, taking classes from Mr. Marathe of the Gandharv Mahavidyalaya in Pune and many other famous singers in the city. She has performed in India, the UK and the US and recently at the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal Convention in Providence, Rhode Island in July 2013. Varsha sang superbly, despite some hoarseness due to a lingering cold.
Rounding out the ensemble, and providing the music were the father-son duo of Jayendra Prabhukhot whose fingers just whiz over the table and his son Ambarish who quickly picks up the melody on the harmonium and keyboards. Both are mainstays of Upma’s mini-concerts and are well-known artistes who have performed on stage and TV in India. Despite a mishap on an unbalanced stage which cut his upper left arm, Jayendra continued to play with his usual robust way, ending the evening on a high note crescendo with the harmonium.
The evening’s performance was emceed entirely in Hindi by the svelte Sonali Patil, a Houstonian for 20 years, who has worked in cancer research for the past decade and is also a certified yoga instructor for the past eight years. “With the entire ensemble being Marathis”, Upma laughed, “I thank you all for your love of music and sharing it with us this evening.”
And share they did, for an hour, with a short 15 minute interval for tea and snacks. They went through a repertoire of songs, both classical and many Oldies from the silver screen before Bombay was known as Bollywood. Varsha and Sucheta sang solo and also duets, sometimes taking the roles sung by the male in the song, and the results for the guests were wonderful, judging by their interaction and response. They brought the house down with the last numbers from the movie “Ghodda Gaddi”, all famous hits like “Zera hole hole chalo more sajana” which formed a medley since they beat of a marching horse was the same throughout. Many of the songs resonated in people’s minds long after they were sung.
The other break, just after the intermission, was for a much appreciated song “Allah tero naam” sung by Varsha’s two young daughters Avni and Neha and the young boy Arun who has been learning table for the past two years.
The evening also featured a small presentation by Indian American Cancer Network President Kanchan Kabad who gave a brief description of the work and seminars that the group has been holding since its inception to better educate the community about cancer and how to deal with it. She showed her appreciation for the Shahs by offering them, and cladding them, in individual, colorful embroidered silk shawls as a sign of respect for their dedication to brining music and performers to the front.
An additional aspect of the evening was the display of large, intricate ink drawings called “one line drawings” made by Kanchan’s mother, Kumud S. Nilekani who discovered that she had the innate skill for drawing though she had never touched a pen until she was in her late sixties. “As I was growing up, I would see my father make these drawings, but I never got into it”, she explained. “Years after he died, I one day took up this a pen and started to draw, all without any prior teaching. It’s as if my father is guiding my hand, it’s truly a miracle, a divine gift”, she added. Now she draws every night, almost all night through, but still feels refreshed afterwards. She sends all the proceeds from the sale of her artwork to the Rotary Hospital in Sirsi, Karnataka.
Nilekani sang the invocation before the start of the program and later, just shy of the final song, Meena Kapasi recited from memory the entire shlokas of the Jain Shanti Path in her melodious voice.