Appreciation post : Songs of the River Ganga

 This is an appreciation post for the travel documentary Songs of the River Ganga. It is not a review, it is just a record of what I liked about the web series

Out of the blue, a friend messaged, “Watch Songs of the River on Disney Hotstar”. Usually her recommendations are good, so I made a mental note of that. But then I did not have a subscription. “You won’t need one”, she said. It was free to watch. A couple of days on, I clicked the trailer. 

The trailer featured Shantanu Moitra.“The music director of Parineeta”, I noted. 

He went on a cycling expedition. Interesting! 

Few thousand kms. Wow! 

From Gangotri to Gangasagar. Very interesting! 

I decided it was worth giving it a try. Episode length - 45 min. Will definitely need to set aside time for this.

After all these mental notes, I made time and started watching. From the first episode itself, I realised that the tale is special. It is genuine; it is an unhindered sharing of emotions and experience. I will indeed accompany Shantanu and his team on his journey, starting from the Himalayas, through the plains to the sea. 

I was taking it slow, watching each episode only when I had 45 min of peaceful time to watch without distraction.

As it unfolded, I realised - Is story mein emotion hai, drraama hai, some tragedy too, but also a lot of self-realisation and solace. Shantanu and team take us through villages and cities along the route, along maa Ganga. It is heartwarming to see how Shantanu connects to people, walks us through some interesting initiatives and enterprises, highlighting small and big contributions of people he meets along the way. 

At every stage, Shantanu keeps highlighting the contribution of his team, how each member contributes towards making the expedition a success. The cinematography is good throughout the film, but superlative at some instances, songs for example. 

The travelogue shows us the different landscapes and how the weather, houses and people change according to the region. It lets us witness the challenges Shantanu faces while cycling through cold, wind, heat, rain and floods. We see the celebration of achievements, overcoming of obstacles and small victories. His search for ‘shanti’, and his freeing from turmoil is conveyed well.

It is very heartwarming to watch him converse with children, villagers and citizens on the way.  Some of the people that are featured in the travelogue are Rock adr (Amardeep), the rapper who rapped about covid, Jayprakash Rana and Ajay Nautiyal (Samvedana) who do street plays for social awareness in Gadhwal, Yamuna devi, the only woman dom and Kanchan Devi of Karn bhumi krishak producing company ltd.

Shantanu mentions in the first episode that he will be making music as he rides alongside Ganga. I had not properly absorbed this sentence. As the journey unfolded, I could see and hear songs being made and sung and presented. At the end of each episode, there was a song. But I was too engrossed in the journey. I was busy travelling with Shantanu and team; as a part of that journey, I was also enjoying the songs, but their independent existence had still not registered in my mind. 

Come fourth episode, and there is this song sung by Sid Sriram, shot beautifully with the wide basin of Ganga, blue skies, and a lovely feel of enjoying solitude and a quiet conversation with ma Ganga. That is when the music started growing on me. Then I went back to the first song. Found the album on all streaming channels, and listened to the first four songs as an album. I was yet to watch episodes 5 and 6, and I did not want to rush through anything. I wanted to follow the sequence. First the episode and then the song.

Mind blowing, wasn’t it?! Four songs played in a loop and after I finished watching all episodes, I played the whole album in loop. Surreal it was. After a long time I came across an album that does not have a track that you love to skip! 

What I appreciate is that Shantanu collaborated with a variety of artists and made very distinct tracks, each in a different style and genre. He has recorded the songs at different locations on the way. From the travelogue you can see that they had fun making the songs. On listening to the songs you can feel the enjoyment. The lyrics, the mood and the music fit in very well. The album itself can convey very well the gist of the journey, physical as well as emotional, of people and the river.

The first song, sung by Mohit Chauhan and written by Tanveer Ghazi nicely reflects the emotions of just beginning the journey, getting into the unknown. The harmonica piece at the end of the song is a nice touch.

The second song helped me discover two things : the awesome voice of Taba Chake and the band with many collaborations, Maati Baani. The song prompts a view of the river in her infancy– rapid, clear, innocent and hopeful. Loved the sounds of the bicycle used as percussion, the local percussion instruments and the vichitra veena. 

The third song written by Swanand Kirkire and sung by Bombay Jayashree switches mood, but in a very natural progression of the Ganga. Shot and recorded in Varanasi, it also brings out the moment of reflection and discovery of Shantanu; very natural at the place with spiritual vibes. Bombay Jayashree’s voice brings a sense of peace, tranquillity and serenity. Another musical instrument, different from previous songs used here is Sarod. 

The fourth track is my most favourite one. The mood, the music, Sid Sriram’s voice and Tanveer’s lyrics makes it just so surreal. With minimal percussion, it is a true silent conversation with self! In addition, watching the song is a treat too. In all, the song is a complete package!

The fifth song is a change in mood again. New experiments, making people get out of their comfort zones. Ambi Subramaniam’s gypsy style violin is very refreshing and its pairing with the Bengali dhak and dhol elevate the music. The peppy tune and Kaushiki’s voice pack playfulness. For me it has instantly become my happy song.

The final track is a rendition of a traditional Bengali folk song. Thanks to its inclusion here, I was able to learn about his awesome song. An internet search indicated that it is the song of Radha, about her love for Krishna. But at a very subtle level, it is indicative of the autonomy and freedom of the soul and the mind. A very fitting end for the journey- of the physical as well as emotional roller coaster ride. 

I am so thankful to Shantanu and his team for embarking on this journey and sharing it with us. Finally, I think we must thank Sangeeta and Sajjan Jindal for making this travelogue possible, and letting people like us experience the Ganga through the eyes of a cyclist musician traveller.