Visit to Goa and Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaaroh 2019

Every November finds me in Goa , one of the reasons being the Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Sangeet Samaaroh. The venue for this year was Ponda's Rajiv Gandhi Kala Mandir instead of the beautiful Kala Academy of Panjim. This gave me a chance to explore South Goa beaches , Madgaon ( Margaon ) and Ponda region.
The Highlights of my Goa trip of November 2019 were 
1) 39th Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Samaaroh , Ponda Goa 2019
2) Curtain raiser event of symposium on Jaipur Gharana
3) Beautiful beaches of South Goa
4) Exploration of wonderful Madgaon and Ponda area
5) Hospitality of some of the best hotels and restaurants of South Goa
6) Wonderful traditional veg food

Here is a link to the FB album of 2019 Goa Trip

I decided to attend only certain chosen events and concerts during the festival. The important one being the Curtain Raiser event on the gayaki of Jaipur Gharana. Among the concerts I chose the morning concerts on Saturday and Sunday giving a pass to rest.
My favorite performances during the festival were that of upcoming local artist Subhash Parwar , whose style and tonal quality seemed like that of Abhisheki bua. Pt Narendra Nath Dhar 's Todi and Charukeshi on Sarod , Vid Shubhada Paradkar ( who has training from Gwalior, Kirana, Agra and Jaipur gharana ) presenting in Agra Style , Shuddha Sarang and Pancham were notable performances that concluded the morning session.

The morning session on Sunday was special due to performance by Shri Mahendra Toke ( Indore Gharana ) who was trained directly under Ut Amir Khan, presenting Shuddha Sarang and Bhimpalas in the classical Jhumara taal in madhya lay ! The evening session was marked by upcoming young talented artist from ITC Sangeet Research Academy ,Omkar Dadarkar who seemed to have a mix influence of Gwalior , Jaipur and Agra presenting wonderful Bhimpalas and Marwa.
Many clips of these performances could be enjoyed in this FB album here.

The symposium on Jaipur Gharana and gayaki was one of the most interesting , enlightening  and worth attending. It gave an understanding of the intricacies and depth of true Jaipur gayaki and gharana.

For me, the key takeaways from the Symposium on Jaipur Gharana were following :
1) The roots of Jaipur Gharana are in the three "baanis" of Dhrupad gayaki. Earlier singers of Jaipur were Dhrupadiyas and many of the bandishes are derived from Dhrupad bandishes. Even many of the later years Khyaal bandishes have roots in their respective Dhrupad bandishes.
2) It is highly disciplined gayaki and gharana. There are strict rules of even training (Talim) by gurus. The gurus are highly disciplined and strict. No variations are tolerated easily.
3) Alaap , Boltaan , taans is the sequence of progression of Raag, Balance of Sur and taal is critical in the progression.
4) Typically a Raag is not extended beyond 30 mins
5) The taan patterns are "vakra" (twisty) and not "sapaat" ( flat ) , meaning , they are not really in order of arohi or avarohi swar sequences.
6) They have special Jod Raags , Anvat Raags, Mishra Raags that are distinct from the raags that they are made from  e.g  Shuddha Kalyan ( Bhup and Yaman ) , Maru-Bihag , Basanti - Kedar etc

Here are the recordings / Clips from the first part of symposium on Youtube ( 7 short videos ) and the second part of symposium in many short clips on FB album

My views based on symposium :
a) Jaipur gayaki is the "Classical" of the Hindustani Classical Music. It is not easy to grasp , understand or even appreciate unless one is truly immersed in music. Hence many of the classical connoisseurs tend to be fans of Jaipur gayaki in later stage after listening to other gharanas. ( This is definitely the case with myself ! )
b) Jaipur gayaki is an expression in Khyaal but has characteristics of Dhrupad ( may be because of the roots in the three "baanis" of Dhrupad )
c) The traditional bandishes of Jaipur gharana are amalgamation of Dhrupad bandishes with lyrics of Khyaal. They have deep philosophy behind them and are precise in expressing certain philosophical ideas through precise words. The lyrics of bandishes of Jaipur gharana have high philosophical value and are very meaningful but stress the expression of "Bhaav" of the the Raag through musical patterns of aalaap and taans, often short phrases.
d) Jaipur gayaki is truly intellectual musical expression and is NOT for everyone !

Final note :
The "true" Jaipur gharana gayaki has become rare now. For excelling in this gayaki, intense  disciplined efforts and intense training (talim) is needed from right kind of guru for years. Very few singers who label themselves belonging to Jaipur - Atrauli gharana truly follow the traditional Jaipur gayaki. A general view in vouge is that , the current Jaipur gayaki is  diluted and made light by many of the singers in recent past. Some have introduced their own bandishes that dont match the philosophy and dhrupad tradition of Jaipur gayaki. Hence true Jaipur gayaki is preserved in only few currently living performers.  Vid Shruti Sadolikar-Katkar is one such true Jaipur ( and Haveli) performer and Teacher ( Guru ) who has preserved the tradition and continues to guide students.
  

Sadraa (सदरा) - The link between Dhrupad and Khyaal

My first tête-à-tête with Sadaraa was when I heard Purbayan Chatterjee presenting vocal during his Sitar recital of Raag Kedar .. "जागे कौन महल में  सोया रे" (jaage kaun mahal mein soya re ). Subsequently I realized that I had heard many bandishes in Dhrupad and Khyaal style renditions , that were basically to labelled as "Sadraa". The most popular of such Sadraas is the Bhairavi by Begum Parveen Sultana "Bhavani Dayani" ( भवानी दयानी ).

Sadaraa , Sadara or Sadra (सदरा) is a form of Indian Classical Vocal genre , that connects Dhrupad style to that of Khyaal. The characteristic feature of Sadra is that, it is always composed in a  ten (10) beat cycle taal such as Jhaptaal.
A single line or sentence is repeated (similar to Dhrupad), decorated with meend , gamaks and bolbaat taans. In addition , it has decorative tools of murkis and taankaari that is typically characteristic of Khyaal genre. One important characteristic of Sadraa is that the bols or lyrics have a blend of devotion , spiritualism and deeper philosophy.

Here Pt Ajoy Chakraborty sings the Sadraa in Kedar ( starting 34.10 )
Jage kaun Mahal me soya.

The quintessential Bhavani Dayani by Begum Parveen Sultana 

Bhavani Dayani of Pt Ajoy Chakraborty


Reference
Sadra (music) on wiki

Musings - Pondering and other stuff 

Dhrupad-Khyaal Sanvaad

Khyaal (ख्याल)

Khyaal ( ख्याल ) : A poetic musical tweet

As a connoisseur of  "Khyaal" gayaki , one realizes how Khyaal represents a composite intervening of various artistic forms of India. It truly expresses in musical form , complex interpretations of poetry, melody , rhythm , philosophy and even science of sound to provide a complete entertainment to mind and soul. 95% of the Indian Classical Music or Hindustani Classical Music is in form of Khyaal , presenting the raagdari through bandishes, sadras, thumris , bhajans and gazals. Khyaal truly represents the culture and philosophy of the Indian Sub-continent and the concept of  "Sangeet" ( music , dance and poetry )

Khyaal (or Khayal, Urdu: خیال, Hindi: ख़्याल, ) is the modern genre of classical singing in North India. Its name comes from an Arabic word meaning “imagination”. It appeared more recently than dhrupad, is a more free and flexible form, and it provides greater scope for improvisation. Like all Indian classical music, khyal is modal, with a single melodic line and no harmonic parts. The modes are called raga, and each raga is a complicated framework of melodic rules.

Khyaal is a Contemplation , Musing, Imagination , a poetic expression of emotions (bhaav - ras ) through musical notes.
Dhrupad , the art (and science) of expressing through sound .. is regarded as the language of sound. It is essentially the primary basis of the classical music of India as we know it today. The development of Khyaal , the use of poetry to express in musical form , gives it a more practical and grounding characteristic. The combination of poetry with the classical basis of raag system ( as envisioned in Dhrupad) has become popular means for musical expression in Hindustani Classical Music.
A Khyaal has a thought ,a story , an intense feeling and more worldly situation to express emotions. ( bhaav / ras  as we know it in classical music ) One is stimulated to think, imagine, fantasize and experience the immense possibilities of situations and blissful experiences encompassed or described in a single sentence. The interpretations of the situation described in a khyaal is the crux, expanded and explored through musical expressions, creating a milieu that often is the "Bhaav" and "Ras" of a bandish.
I am often tempted towards comparing "Khyaal" to a modern day "Twitter" where a precise thought is expressed in 140 characters ! Bandishes could be analogous to poetic "Tweets" that describe a worldly  interpretation of a "Bhaav" / "Ras" or sometimes even a deeper philosophy through a description of situation or act , leaving us with a broader imagination and pondering !
Here are some examples :

"लट उलझी सुलझा जा बलमा" : बिहाग
"ढूंढू वारी सैयाँ" : नन्द
"कटत नाही साजन बिन" :अहीर भैरव
"मैं तो कर आई पिया संग रंगरलियाँ" : पुरिया
"देख बेक मन ललचाए" : सोहनी
"ना मानोगे तो दूंगी तोरे गाली" : मालकौंस
"झगडा करत पकड़ी मोरी बैयाँ मरोड़ी" : बागेश्री 
"साजन मोरे घर आए" : जोग
"ढूंढन जाऊं,शाम मुरारी बनवारी गिरिधारी" : पुरिया धनाश्री
 "मोरी गगर ना भरन देत" : यमन
"अब मोरी नैया पार करो तुम": तोड़ी
"जो भजे हरी को सदा सोही परम पद पावेगा" : भैरवी
"बिन देखे पड़े ना चैन" : भैरवी


This brings me to an interesting dialogue by Ut Bade Gulam Ali Khan saheb recorded in 1950s while delivering his quintessential ChayaNat where he succinctly explains what Khyaal Gayaki is … Thanks to Rajan Parrikar for this ten minute edited recording. The full live concert is here.

( To translate this in English : In the beginning he says Sangeet is a very difficult thing. I am afraid of Lay and Sur ..these two are very big things.. We are all “Pujari” (worshippers) of lay and sur.. we worship lay and sur.. it is only the favor and blessings of the Almighty that it creates something special.. otherwise it is just a play with air and wind ! Explaining the Khyaal gayaki (4.35) the Ustad  drawing example of the bols of bandish “Nehvar baaje re” , “jhanana jhanana jhan jhan jhan jhananana baje” .. says, “if you see , these are simple day-to-day words , phrases or sentences, sometimes meaningless too, but when they come out of the mouth of Ustad as a bandish ,in a certain way , they really make huge sense !” )



References :

Dhrupad - Khyaal Sanvaad

How old is Indian Classical Music 

The Story of Bundu Khan

ख्याल गायकी के घराने एक दृष्टी