Guruji - Miya malhar and Chayanat

'Gharana' is the main piller in Hindustani Classical Music. Over a period, many gharanas have grown and evolved. Basically, gharana originated from a place where a particular style started emerging and set a trend in classical music. Each gharana has a unique style of rendition. Every gharana mastered one or more aspects of presentation and developed further. Some examples of the specialties of gharanas are Kirana gharana's aalap, Agra gharana's nom tom aalap, Gwalior gharana's laykari, Jaipur gharana's rare raga presentation.

Music is going through a lot of changes in the modern times. Changes are inevitable in society. There have been many discussions about whether or not Gharanas are relevant today. How many artists can actually claim that they sing purely in a certain Gharana? Experiments are natural for human beings and especially artists like to explore new ideas and bring that into their experience. Experiments lead to new styles in renditions. This gives ‘singing’ a new identity which we might refer to as Gharana in the present day. The new style/identity grows, develops and becomes popular through an artiste teaching many students and hence propagating that style. It surely will not happen in a short amount of time. It may take 3-4 decades or 1-2 generations. If the style has substantial potential then it will register as a Gharana in the music arena.

My Guruji Pt. Vinayak Torvi had rigorous training under Gayanacharya Gururao Deshpande, who is a doyen of Gwalior gharana and had the influence of Agra and Jaipur gharanas as well. Training under such a Guru, who not only has a strong base in one gharana, but also has an idea and influence of few other gharanas, the disciple gets a clear picture of what a gharana is. Although back in those days, the discussions or question and answer sessions were unimaginable. Guruji grasped the essence of Gwalior gayaki which is known as "Ashtapailu" (8 dimension presentation) and Agra-Jaipur flavor as a bonus from Gururao. He understood, contemplated and practiced using his own capacity without any specific directions from anyone. After 1983, Guruji started taking lessons from the legendary singer in the Kirana Gharana, Bharataratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. Mixing different Gharana's music without proper knowledge may lead to confusion both for the artiste and the audience. When trained properly by gunijan, the beautiful blend becomes evident. For example, one can observe neat, proportionate mixture of gharanas in Guruji Pt. Kashalkar-ji's singing. After a few years of contemplation in this regard, a new style emerges. In a few decades it might become a new gharana in itself.

Guruji portrays every raaga with a particular gharana as the backdrop and adds treatment of other gharanas. For example, while singing Miya Malhar, Todi, Puriya, Kirana Gharana's share will be more. That is not to say that we cannot see the influence of other gharanas. While singing Chayanat or Jaijaivanti his approach is different. Some artistes present all the raagas according to their style. Irrespective of the raagas, their design will not change. But every raaga will have its special and unique features. My Guruji says "Every raaga has its own picture, size and nature. You can’t sing all the raagas for one hour or fit all the raagas in 10-15 mins duration. Few of the raagas blossom slowly but its impact remains for a very long time." There are occasions where we have heard people exclaim "Oh that day (maybe 10-20 years ago) Bua (singer) sang superb Marwa, it still rings in my ears!”. Every singer sings the same notes or same scale for a particular raaga, but what is it that makes some renditions remain etched in the listener's memory for a very long time?! We do not have a scientific theory or proven formula to predict a certain result. But when we study the lives of legendary singers and their way of thinking, we can uncover many aspects. Among them Gharana or style is one of the prominent ones. Kumar-ji's music is extraordinary and experts opine that it was beyond the Gharana boundary. That extra ordinary view beyond the Gharana or within the Gharana is what I am trying to explore with this small write-up. We can refer to it as 'style'. Say, Kumar-ji's style or Bhimsen-ji's style or Jasraj-ji's style. When you study these styles you might observe that it may not belong to one particular gharana. We, as music students study, observe and preserve these styles. Not by merely copying but by imbibing the style with an open mind and giving it a personal touch.

Guruji is very clear in this matter. He observed the raaga's nature and thought thoroughly to give his own shade to it. His Miya Malhar is different from Shankara in terms of style with which they are sung. He gives the following example to get his point across: "You cannot play 20-20 cricket like test match or vice versa". His blend of Kirana inputs with Gwalior Agra Jaipur is superb and it does not feel like a forcible inclusion.

Natural stillness of Kirana, naughty restless of Gwalior. Soothing aalap of Kirana, mesmerizing laykari taan patterns of Gwalior. All of these sound simple but they have evolved through this long musical journey. We should consider ourselves lucky that we are getting this as one pack. It is ready to present as a model. Paying close attention to the changing approach during practice is crucial. It requires a lot of sadhana and chintan.

Let us walk towards that. The journey is long and hard but it is fun.......