The 38th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Festival began with a curtain raiser titled "Indian Classical Music and its Aesthetics". This was one of the best interactive session and curtain raiser event in last 4-5 years of festival. The key takeaways were :
1) Virah ras is a dominant ras in ICM
2) "Nayika" is the key player in a Bandish
3) Most bandishes are "Female oriented" ( स्त्रीवादी ) and explore the mind of the "nayika" , though the bandishes are written mostly by males!
4) The general "bhaav" of a thumri is common .. mostly romantic
5) The ultimate goal of Sangit or ICM is Anand (आनंद ) , achieve Bramhanand ( ब्रह्मानंद ), Kaivalyanand ( कैवाल्यानंद )
6) Creativity in ICM is most important , it goes through four stages generally : Copying the guru- Imitation , Inspiration , Imbibation and then creation
The main festival was in 5 session over three days. The first session was on Friday , Nov 2nd evening Arshad Ali Khan of Kirana , vocals kicked off with Puriya Kalyan and was followed by Pt Satish Vyas, santoor with Chandrakauns closing the evening.
Day 2 - Morning session
After the local artist Veena Mopkar's efforts at Lalat Pancham came the priced concert of Dr Arun Dravid , the first and foremost disciple of Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar, who presented Devgiri Bilawal and Khat - a Jaipur speciality.
Pt Vishwanath Kanhere with his singing harmonium entertained the connoisseurs with Bilaskhani Todi , Hindol-Bahar and a Sarang dhun to close the morning session
Day 2 - Evening session 
Bharathi Pratap of Agra gharana started with Dhanaashree where her previous training in Carnatic style was apparent. She enthralled the audience with her spell binding Purvi alap and Nom-Tom, a trademark of Agra ! She concluded with a Tarana
Dhanashree Pandit Rai was next with her bouquet of Thumris.
Pt Arnab Chatterjee of Kirana started with Shree and concluded with Hansdhwani. A strong Patiala influence of sargam ( or may be Bengal influence) was apparent inspite of Kirana training.
The Final presentation of the evening was by Pt Kushal Das whose Sitar sang like a vocalist. The perfect soft accompaniment by Ut Mohd Akram Khan was icing on the cake. Bageshree alaap , Jod and Jhala concluded the evening.
Day 3 - Morning Session
The Sunday morning starter of the day was by Shobha Chaudhary who presented Nat-Bhairav , Bilaskhani Todi bhajan and Mishra Khambavati Thumri.
Anuradha Kuber of Bhendi Bazar gharana was delight of the morning, who presented crisp Bhupaal Todi and Vrundavani Sarang.
Sarangiya Ut Moinuddin Khan with accompaniment of Ut Mohd Akram Khan on Tabla was a concert that made the Sunday morning worthwhile on the banks of Mandovi. They presented Nat-Bhairav and concluded with Bhairavi that brought a kind of serenity.
After the opening concert effort by a local artist ( that was worth a miss and should have been dropped to give more time to senior artists that were to follow ), came a young and promising Agra torchbearer , Waseem Ahemad Khan who presented the trademark Purvi alap and Nom-Tom , a madhyalay bandish "Paar Karo naiyya mori"(पार करो नैय्या मोरी ) and a rare Agra bandish "Mathura na Jayyo" (मथुरा न जैय्यो). With the applause of audience came an impromptu Barwa , an authentic Agra style presentation.
The final vocal concert of the festival was by Pt Kedar Bodas of Gwalior and Bhendi Bazar gharana, who presented Bhoop-Kalyan , a tarana and a tappa in Khamaj.
I did not wait for the final concert of the festival, Instrumental Jugalbandi by Pt Kumar Bose and Vidwan Thiruvaarur Bakthavatsalam.
My observation about Surashree Kesarbai Festival over last 5 years is that it is a festival that brings together top class artists and concerts from diverse spread of gharanas. Also , the arrangements for audience and auditorium is excellent and world class. However , the quality of local audience and also their numbers is abysmally low.
The best part of the festival, as I mention every year, is the brilliant compere , Dr Roopa Chari. Her command over languages and rich store of words and philosophical anecdotes keeps the festival lively for all three days!
Looking forward to the 39th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroh in November 2019 !
Adieu ! Viva Goa !
Here are the links to various related clicks and clips :
38th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroha-2018 - clicks and clips
Curtain raiser event : A Symposium "Indian Classical Music and its Aesthetics"
Beautiful Goa - 2018
37th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroha - Album of year 2017
36th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaroah Album of 2016
Previous Blogposts of year 2017 and Blogpost of year 2016
Pt Jitendra Abhisheki Festival Sept 2017 and misc photos
Viva Goa
Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary
Goa - Miramar, Panji, Don Paula 2016