raag | madhuvanti { my longings };

Attended the Ghulam Ali concert last saturday at Ambedkar bhawan. It was very heartening to see that there were a lot of ghazal enthusiasts assembled for the concert much before the scheduled time. A great gesture to show you actually love the art and respect the musician. On the downside we also had the Memsaahibs in ethnic costimes with heavy jewellery and makeup and cell phones that resembled space shuttles walking in to the hall at 8:00PM with the expression in their face which gives you the feeling that they are in their nephew's wedding reception. MORONS!! I have utter disrespect for such people. There was also this kurta clad middle aged man stting right next to me instructing somebody the route to Ambedkar Bhawan during the concert. Whatta loser! the guy coming late is a loser indeed but this cartoon who insists on attending the call right inside the hall in the middle of a concert is the King of losers ever.

Well well... I started writing this post with the intent of covering the concert by Ghulam Ali saab rather than criticize the un-interested morons who came for the concert. Let me come to that now! It was indeed a great experience! Age is definitley taking some toll on this maestro but not to the extent that the listener feels it! What poise!! I was dumbfounded by the way this ghazal magician sing the alaaps and swaras in between the ghazal completely in sync with what he was playing on Harmonium. amazing. Chup ke chup ke raat din was the pick of the lot! He made it extremely engaging by explaining the meanings of the tough urdu words before the rendition. Lots of folks loved the rendition, but there were also this set of "Wannabe Ghazal Fans" who just waited with bated breath for him to complete the sher to start clapping! Sad state of affairs indeed. Knowing the meaning is definitely icing on cake, but waiting for the key-word in the ghazal to applaud is just plain ridiculous.

The concert ended with "Hungama hai kyon barpa.... " the alaaps in darbari were breathtaking. The ease at which he shifted between shudha madhyam and prathimadhyam made my jaws drop in awe. A person like me who has been trained to sing darbari in the arohana avarohana progressions only, this was phenomenal.. it wasnt the pure darbari that enthralled , it was the innovation and risk taking mentality of the artiste that made all the difference. the concert also featured many of his other popular ghazals "dil mein ik lehar", "Kal chaudhvi ki raat" etc. He also sang Daag Dehlvi's vintage Ghazal "Ranj Ki Jab guftgoo hone lagi.." I loved it but prefer Haiharan Ji's version from the album Swar Utsav 2003

It was a very rewarding experience and I was amazed by the effect that the concert produced which was an amalgamation of Hindustani , Sufi , Punjabi Folk styles of music. For all the purists who boast of their interes in music being limited to "Strictly Pure Traditional Indian Classical Music", I wish to quote a sher from the ghazal "Hungama hai kyon barpa..."

Natajurbaakaari se waais ki yeh baatein hai
is rang ko kya jaane, poocho jo kabhe pi hai

Means: a person who has never experience the intoxication of wine is commenting about the evils of it, what does he know about the bliss, he has never tasted the wine!
(Wine = Form of music for understanding what I mean!)