It is easy to use superlatives to describe her voice; tonal quality, purity of tone, fantastic range. But one must look beyond these to a fully integrated and spiritual personality, dedicated to her art and above all, disciplined and professional. A mark of this last, is the fact, that Vaniji made it all sound so easy! Her mellifluous voice flowed round all the complexities of melody and ‘gamaka’ with which she regaled us for over three hours. No wonder, audiences at her twenty concerts in Britain have been captivated. Such a voice is rare indeed.

One could hear every syllable she sang, in whatever language: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi or Bengali. Her enunciation is faultless, so whatever one’s mother tongue, the appeal to the soul was direct.

It is difficult to single out any one jewel in such an offering. I thought her rendering of the Marathi Abhang to Lord Vitthala was superb and the settings from Orissa of two Ashtapadis fascinating. Her delightful rendering of Manasa Sancharare was a treasure to cherish. Perhaps the emotional climax certainly of the first part of the concert – was the Bengali song in praise of the Mother. In it she scaled the peaks of feeling and reminded me of the ‘Trikutachala’ concept of the temple’s architecture whereby each pinnacle is higher than the last as in three peaked mountain. The purity of the snow clad peaks of the Karakorams against a vivid blue sky, which I have recently seen, came into mind!

But not all was serious, and Vaniji was almost playful in her rendering of one or two ghazals. It was indeed an experience to hear live the delightful voice that one knew from the tracks of our dance-dramas, such as Shankualam and Amarapali.

Smt. Vani Jairam was ably supported by Shri. Mohammed Kasim on Harmonium and Shri. Sirish Kumar on Tabla. They responded beautifully to her every nuances and melodic need.

An evening to remember, indeed. No wonder Vaniji was cheered to the echo in a standing ovation!

- J.R. Marr.