Section Synopsis (September 2006)

NEWS & NOTES

DHRUPAD FESTIVAL IN CHENNAI -LAKSHMI SREERAM

Prakriti Foundation, Chennai, in association with the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, organised a three-day Dhrupad Festival from 16-18 February at the Museum Theatre, Egmore in Chennai. The artists featured were vocalists Uday Bhawalkar, Abhay Narayan Mallick, Umakanth and Ramakanth Gundecha, Wasifuddin Dagar, and Rudra veena exponents Bahauddin Dagar and Asad Ali Khan.

Dhrupad is "the other" tradition of North Indian classical music, the mainstream classical music style in the North today being the khayal. Not very long ago, however, the situation was quite the reverse. If, today, Bhimsen Joshi and Kishori Amonkar-- well known names in the North Indian classical music tradition, are khayal singers, a few centuries ago Mian Tansen, Swami Haridas, and Baiju-- well known names then and now, were dhrupad singers. To call the dhrupad the "other" tradition may be misleading since the dhrupad is the older tradition. It was the khayal that began as an upstart, different from the mainstream dhrupad. Dhrupadia-s constantly aver that the nature of their music is spiritual; they sing not to entertain, but to evoke feelings of devotion, and indeed, spiritual peace and calm. But the dhrupad is the "other" tradition in the sense it is conscious and jealously protective of its separate identity, seeking to uphold its "different-ness" and prestige.

As Ustad Asad Ali Khan said in a poignant preamble to his concert, much has been said and written about the difficulties faced by dhrupad because of its waning popularity, and about the charges and criticisms levelled against it. But it is an intimate aspect of our cultural psyche, a glorious cultural inheritance, and so, the efforts to preserve and propagate it cannot ever be enough.

Prakriti Foundation has made a niche for itself in the Chennai cultural landscape, organising serious talks and programmes that are not always encountered along well trodden paths. And it is the agenda of the SNA to step in and help precious cultural traditions survive-- supporting this venture of Prakriti Foundation was one such measure.

Uday Bhawalkar of the Dagar gharana, the first artist in the festival, and regarded by many as the next star, sang a finely controlled Yaman. The movements from ni to dha and ma to ga were carefully detailed and he came up with some inspired movements around the tara shadja. The pulsating jod and jhala built up a fine climax. The last portion saw the pakhawaj accompanist joining in. It is more common for the pakhawaj to only step in during the rendition of the bandish (composition). (This is much like the tanam portion in the ragam-tanam-pallavi; some musicians like to take the mridanga accompaniment even during the tanam, before the pallavi). Kesara ghola ke ranga bano hain-- a dhamar composition followed. Dhamar is a particular kind of composition used in dhrupad performance. Also called Pakki hori, it is descriptive of the festival Holi and is in a tala (also called Dhamar) of 14 beats. Bhawalkar did not perform the dugun - tigun - chaugun exercises which one typically associates with dhrupad singing. He clarified that his teachers had encouraged him to sing in the upaj ang which emphasises spontaneity. Sohoni and Adana were the other raga-s he took up for detailing.
Most of the artists came up with small tidbits about dhrupad, educating the audience about what dhrupad is all about. Bhawalkar pointed out that the same note when pronounced with different syllables, leaves a different impression-- a different timbre, different mood. Dhrupad singers employ syllables such as om, num, re, ri, na, ta, tom, etc. during the alap. And these are employed as a painter would employ colours.

The first artist the next day, Bahauddin Dagar, chose Yaman too. That he represents the 20th generation of dhrupadia-s in the Dagar family is itself awe inspiring. The alap was scrupulously detailed and Yaman emerged in soft majesty on the Rudra veena. The jod created a rippling effect. But then, softness is a hallmark of the Dagar vani. The audience, however, turned restless as he explored the raga in the mandra saptak for over 20 minutes. A friend sitting next to me whispered "Do you think something could be wrong? Can he not hit the middle octave?" The Chennai audience is as good as one gets and it is possible Dagar sahib might not have had his pulse on the audience mood.

Vardhini raga followed, but the audience was kept guessing about the raga. This was the Dagar interpretation of Ragavardhini, the 32nd melakarta of the Venkatamakhi scheme. The Dagar family renders some of the "vivadi" melakarta-s, even Kanakangi, giving them their own interpretation. The pakhawaj accompaniment by Akhi
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