KARACHI, Feb 11: The Indian sitarist, Ustad Shahid Parvez, was in Karachi this week for two concerts.

One concert took place at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs auditorium in Karachi last Wednesday, organized by the Rauf Ansari Foundation (Mr Rauf Ansari was one of the pioneers of the All Pakistan Music Conference in Lahore, way back in 1959).

The Ustad's performance of Rageshri, Des and Bhairveen was out of this world. The sitarist lives in Pune, India. He was born in Bombay in 1958. Coming from the illustrious family of Ustad Inayat Khan and his brother, Ustad Wahid Khan, Shahid Parvez's mastery over the sitar - rightly called the "Queen of Instruments" - is quite natural for it runs in the family.

His superb command over sur and taal, the intricate use of meendh and kampat, the technically in defectible barath of the raag, endless variations in taan and the delicate execution of zamzama, as well as mastery over laye, speak volumes for his hard work and riaz.

One had never heard such variations in jore and jhala and I was amazed at the speed at which he played them. In fact, he played the jhala, deviating from the traditional technique (three strokes on the chikari and one on the baaj) and in the reverse order (three strokes on the baaj and one on the chikari).

While playing Rageshri, he presented no less than five different bandishes of great beauty. His body language and stage presence was totally relaxed. From the way he pulled at the strings of his sitar, it looked as if they would snap.

This shows how sturdy and heavy the steel wire must be which he uses in his sitar. There is no doubt that he is blessed with abundant creativity which makes him one of the great sitar players of his time - no mean achievement when you are still in your 40s. Shahid Parvez was ably accompanied on the tabla by the Indian tablanawaz, Akram.

What disturb one a little were the loud and strong strokes (which no doubt, in the next moment, turned into delicate and soft execution of the phrase that followed) which perhaps reflected his personality. May be he likes to express every small point with authority and in many different ways.

He plays a note loudly, and the next moment says the same thing with different, softer expressions that ensures a continuation of the blissful effect his sitar has on his audience.

In that way, I think the melodic ambiance of Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ustad Rais Khan (both closely related to him) is ever present in Shahid Parvez's performance.