First appeared in www.scroll.in on May 16, 2015. Kesarbai Kerkar’s austere khayal renditions did not prevent her from singing thumri, a form associated earlier with Kathak.  There is a clear emphasis in thumri on expressing the mood of the composition through a skillful playing with the song-text.  Kesarbai Kerkar’s thumri renditions adhere to this requirement, and are therefore, significantly different from her khayal presentations that primarily use the aakaar or the vowel “aa” for melodic elaboration.  She also uses the pukaar element or the projection