makessense. Antarnaad: Sur aur Saaz c. It highlights our musicians' widely shared VijayShankar Mishra emphasischatthe worldofsangeetisutterly free from the taintofcommunalism. KanishkaPublishers, Delhi,2004 d. Carehasalsobeentakentodeterminetheduty 471pages,Rs900 and responsibility ofthe media, the society and the governmenttowards ourmusic. e. Finally, besides beingvery well written, the This isdoubtless a work ofsingularvalue.As a recordofinterviews-generallypointed-with bookisdistinguishedbytheauthor'sabilityto putquestionstotheartistesinsuchawaythat thirty-nine leading musicians, four fascinating is sensible, penetrating and determined, hut essaysonBharatRatnaawardees,andseventeen neverimpolite. honorific, yet truthful ones on those musicians whoare no longer with us but whose memories A. for the author.pretsce(tilled ai7rall< '"l wesurelycherish,itistomymind theonlybook ~)Ifindit,verylikeable.Itconvincesmeof ofitskindsotui ;andhenceitsreviewtoo hasto hiseligibilityforwritingabookofthiskind.What take a somewhat unusual form. I have gone is more, in acknowledeging the author's own throughitmore thanonce;Ihadto,becauseitis indebtedness to those who have assisted and packed with very interesting material and is,at encouragedhim,hisprefacenotonlyrevealshis places.instructiveandquiteinformativeaswell.It innatehumilitybuthisuncannyeyefordetailwhich hasnet beeneasy forme topick all its salient isperhapsduetoabasicdemandoftabla-rhythm features,buthereIhavebeenhelped,inpart.bya in which he specializes, namely, scrupulous closereadingoftwo(ofthethree)prefatorynotes, attention totheproperexecutionandorderingof onebyProfessor(Mrs.) KrishnaBisht,aformer thebolswhichtheartbuildsupon,soastoproject HeadofDelhiUniversity'sFacultyofMusicand their individual sonant uniqueness. what, FineArts and herselfaverycompetentmusician however,lendsexceptionalvaluetothebookisits andmusicologist;andtheotherbyShriAnilSinha potentialtoprovokethereaders'ownthinking,in whichhasgiven mesuchinformationastheauthor addition to providing them with a gooddealof himself could not provide in his own interestinginformationandafarbetterideaofour autobiographicalpreface (pp.XIIl·XVIU)whieh musician's ability to think and oftheir sense of is,however,notonlyreadable,butalsorevelatory .values.Thismany-sidedutilityoftheworkshould oftheauthor'sinnatehumility.Luckily,some of beclearlyborneoutasInowproceedtodealwith thebook'skeyfeatureshavebeenwellchosenby its.actualcontent. Mrs. Bisht; my own reading of the work has However, in so far as this content is very confirmedthem;and Imaylistthemasfollows: diverse, I propose to divide my reflections into a. It provides truthful accounts ofthe artistes' separatesegmentsas follows: 0\\11experience,reflectionsonmusic,personal A. InformativePassages strugglesand familialenvironment,and thus Here,Iwillrefertothosepageswhichprovide fillsalacunainourconcernwiththeworldof such details about the lives and work ofour musicas itpresentlyis. musiciansasdeserve tobebetterknown.Someof h. Italsopresentssomecontroversialviews,such thesepages recountincidents thatare verylikely as theone relatingto theorigin ofsarod, in tomakethereaderchucklewithdelight;andsome such abalancedway thatthereaderisableto otherwouldmakehimfeelalittleedifiedbecause decideon hisownastowhichofthemreally ofthenobility(oratleastgentility)exudingfrom BOOK REVIEWS 75 themusicians'exemplaryattitudeorattemptsto Kendra(NewDelhi) whoiswidelyknownnot makesense ofsomepresentstateofaffairsina only as asuperlative harmoniumaccompanist. verybalancedway. butforhispainstakingresearchesinthefieldof S. OuestioasandAnsll't'rs MarathiNaryaSangeet.jhefirstparaonp.98which UnderthisheadIwillJistmainlythosepages recountsTarunBhattacharya'ssantoorrecitalas where the more penetrating questions and aninvocationofpeaceforthesoulsofthosewho satisfying answers occur, with occasional lost their lives in the World Trade Center commentsfrommysidetohelpthereadertoreact cataclysm;verytouchingaccountsoftheimpact more readily to the verbal exchanges. The of some memorable Odissi performances by questioner,ineachcase.istheauthorhimself;so, SanchitaBhattacharya(pp.I().I..I05);p.161which torefertohim,thelatterQshouldsuffice;butin tellsushowBuddhadityaMukerji,oneofourtop the case of respondents-the artistes sitarists,heavedasighofreliefonbeingtoldthat interviewed-Lwhearesomany.individualnames therhythmicclappingwhichoncegreetedtheend willhavetobegiven. WheretheQAduelsare ofhis 5·minute recital in Yugoslavia was an speciallystriking.someextractsmayhavetobe expression of hearty applause, and nOIof cited.Thisshouldmakeusrealizethatquiteafew disapprovalasitgenerallyisintheWest;asimilar ofourbetterknownmusiciansarenotonlygood rarityonp.180whereManilalNag,anothersitar performersbutwatchfulandbalancedthinkersas maestro,gratefuUy recallshowin hisup-and. well comingyears,andatabsolutevariancewiththe C. AccordandDissent practicetoday,hewasopen-heartedlyacclaimed-c. Thissegmentwilldrawthereaders'attention andsoencouraged-bysucha seniorartistas PanditOmkarnathThakur;and,onp.I9t,aquite tothosepageswhichshowtwomusiciansgiving heart-warmingaccountofhowourmusicians,like utterance either to different viewsonthesame PanditMohinderSarin.aresensitivetoourarmed subjector to commongrievancesorproblems. forces'sacrifices. Generally,however.mostofthechapterscallfor thorough reading.just because theyteem with 1Iwouldhoweverbewrongtobelievethatthe interestingmaterial. workbeing reviewedisgoodonly atnarrating A. AsJsaid,Jhaveinmindthemanyincidents incidents.Italsoprojectsourmusicians'tendency describedinthebookbutthemostdelightfulof to respond, sometimesa little .....aywardly,but these,involvingSharanRani(sarod)andthetabla mostlyquitesensiblytosearchingquestions,and maestro UstadAhmadJanThirakwa,occurson generallywith therequisitemeasureofpoise. p.252;andthemostgrippingone,becauseofits Good or bad. the answers are almost always sheer bizarreness. relates to a detail ofUstad provocative,theveryfirstinterview(withUstad Bismillah Khan's riyaz(p.3J8-319). However. AbdulHalimJafferKhan.pp.3~IJ) beingafine example. thesearenottheonlyincidentsthatmakethework fascinating,andevenaquicktookatthefollowing B.Q. WhyisyourAlipasobrief! pagesIparagraphsshouldkeepthereadergluedto A.Blaffer::Alipa isreallymeanttopreface thebook. dhrupadsinging,notforsitarplaying.Further,a Thebig.middleparaonp.S5whichspeaksof vilambitgatprovidesamplegroundforplaying a very queer challenge faced and met with reposefultonalphrases.Hence.alongandleisurely 'devastating' effect bythetablamaestro,Pandit iilapa before (iJ.rbound playing is relatively KishanMaharaj;firstparaonp.77inthechapter unnecessary(p.4). on Jairam Potdar, presentlydirectorofKathak Q. In the fight of the fact that our 76 S.K.SAXENA instrumentalists today vie with each other in expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, and relating their gharana to the legendary Tansen, Minimalism.,isthistobetakenasadisruptionof wouldyouliketosaysomethingaboutyourown thisvisualartorasaproofofthe infinitescopeit gharana? providesforcreativity?Thedesiretobeinnovative A. Gharilnil!Tansen! Iopenlydeclarethat I isperfectly fair, but aglib condemnationofan andmybaajhave nothingtodowithTansen,As establishedtraditionwhichhasgivenusmaestros for the word ghar3n3,it isto me quitevacuous. ofdiverse,yetcomparableexcellenceisquiteas Nordo1attachanyvaluetothegharanasassuch. improper. How are they necessary? Isnot Camatic music Yet,tobe fairtothe totality ofthismaestro's flourishing without being hemmed in by answersinthisopeninginterview,Imustaddthat gharanas?Itisreallyverypainfulthatpeoplehave his other utterances (in this chapter) make succeededindividing(theworld00surandlaya admirablesense.andthatthewayheemphasizes. on thebasisofghar3nas.(5) with thehelpofanactualexample.theabsolute Now, such unusual answers are bound to absenceofconununaIism in the world ofmusic provoke any thoughtful reader into many (po9, 4th regular para) or the pointed way he questions.Personally, Iregard thismaestro asa bemoans the state of music in Pakistan (in the superlative virtuoso. but here. to besure. his immediately followinglines)are refreshingeye thinking is awry. In innovating his distinctive openers. Jafferkhanibaa], ] ask. ishe dividing the art of However,not merelyitsopeningchapterbut sitarplaying (onthebasisofsur,talaandformal theentirebookisrepletenotjustwithprovocative, graces) or just diversifying it? Ifthe different and (at places) questionable answers, but also ghacinasspecializeindifferentragas,orif.without withquite afewspiritedyet well arguedand (at anydamagetoitsgrammaticalschema.they(the places)evenilluminatingrejoinderswhichbespeak gharin3s)presentthesameraga differently(yet ofourmusicians'c-ceventablaplayers'-ability winsomely) by availing of varyingly designed to think and argue competently. Here, at once, compositionsandutilizingformalgracesandtexts IfeelimpelledtorefertoChapter27whichrecords ofdissimilarlook,meaningand emotivehue. do the interview with Prof. Rangnath Mishra who theynotmakeusawareoftheexhaustlessaesthetic nOIonly posesthe sensible questionwhy some potentialofoneandthesameriga?Diversifying. reputedgharanasoftabladonotmakeuseofthe Jrepeat,isnotthesomethingasdividing.(Itwas inkycirclewhenitissovisiblyapartof'theright wellafterexpressingmyselfthusthatIcameacross one' (215), but even questions the propriety of Pandit Bhim Sen Joshi's supportive views, on pronouncing yoga as yoga(214); and, what is p.l71). And, finally. does this sitar maestro more, even hints at the possibility that rhytlun proposeare-shapingofHindustanimusicon the maybegiven aplaceofpre-eminenceinsangeet modelofitsCamaticcolleague?Shouldourvery becauseitisabletocharmus withoutthe aid of way ofsinging the individual swara become wordsandtonesgradedinascale(218).Butinso similartothatofoursouthIndianvidwans?Above far as limitations of space prevent me from all, is it not a hard. unmistakable fact that it is dwellingonallthequestionsandanswersatlength. essentiallyourghacin5:sthathave preservedand Imaydilateonjustoneor two'interviews'more. broughtout the limitless creativereachesofour and then quickly list those pages, may beeven music.Ifthe artofpaintinghasthrownup such paragraphs, which contain some striking verbal diverse styles (or schools) in the West as interactions.Seeforexampletheverynext chapter Impressionism, Expressionism, Abstract whichrecordstheinterviewwiththesarodmaestro, BOOKREVIEWS 77 UstadAmjadAliKhan: outnumberthequestionableones. Some pointed (at places, even caustic) Inspiteofbeinganacknowledgedconcertartist. questions (p. 21, 2nd para). and some very Kalpana Komkali's very right emphasis on the satisfyinganswers, withoutevenasemblanceof valueoramother'sroleinthefamily(42-46);the getting irked; expressionoffme sentiments in courageous and quiteproper rebuttal ofKumar respect ofthe ideal nature ofmusicas also of Gandharva'sviewthattabla-playingcannotclaim sensibleviewson(a)creationofnewragas(20,21). toheanindependentart hyKishanMahar.lj,the (h) right tahla accompaniment (21,22), (c) firstevertabla-maestrotobe honoured withthe introductionofintervalsinthecourseofasingle Padma Vibhooshan award (50), and his quite recital (22,23), (c) fusion inthe realmofmusic warranted opposition to excessively slow and (thoughamuchbetterviewonthisspecificform quick paces ofIaya in music, as also to over ofcreativityhasbeenputforthbyVishwaMohan emphasisontheshffstnj-apakshaofthisan(SI); Bhattonp.233)and(d)onUstadBismillahKhan's Prof.G.c.Srivastava'sverysensibledisagreement own and othermusiclovers'attitudetohisneed withtheviewthatinstitutionalteachinginmusic forfinancialhelp(28-29). isnotproducinganyworthwhileresults(58)--a However, the crowning touches here are reaction whichissues,ifalittlemore spiritedly. provided, first, by the maestro's amazingly also from PrincipalMadhupMudgal(183-184); balanced remarkthat thoughhouses ofworship GundechaBrothers'correctdefinitionoftheright arenotabsolutelyessential(becausethelocusof waytosingjungalbandi(62).-aviewwhichis true religiousness is the human heart). itis yet notonlyechoedbytheRajan-Sajanduo.butquite very wrong to destroy them (29, last para); properly highlighted by them inthecontextof secondly, by due emphasis on communalamity interpersonalrelationstakenquitegenerally(198); (30);and,thirdly,bythesingularbuthynomeans the many inconveniences ofeveryday living to insignificantremarkthat,evenliketheelements, which ourtopmost musiciansare subjectto,as musicisnottieddowntoanyparticularreligion, listednotonlybyFahimuddinDagar(p.J48),bot and that though it cannot satisfy hunger,music by the famedVaranasiduoofvocalists,though can certainlynourishthesoul(31). the latteralone highlightthe matteragainst the The next 'interview' projects some very rampantcrazeforthegameofcricket(204);Gopal sensible'answers'by Ustad Asad AliKhan, our ChandraPanda'srevelationofthethreeragasand only Rudra Veena expert (33-37). What the the three specific gamakas which distinguish maestrosaysaboutthefutureof'veena-playingin Odissi classical music as rooted in the our country (34·35) should make us aUsit up compositionsofJaideva(67)(andofwhichIhave apprehensively.Luckily,however.somereliefis no knowledge at all); Sanchita Bhattacharya's providedbywhatwearetoldaboutadherenceto sensible explanation ofwhy an Odissi recital thegum-shishyspar.u1¥'anlofteachingatLI.C., generallybeginswithbhoomipr:J.pam(I0I),and Kolkata. Thenext interviewee, UstadAasheesh hermovingappealtoourpoliticalrulers(106); Khan, is likely to surprise the reader by his PrincipalMadhupMudgel'sbalancedremarkson preferring not only Buddhadev Oasgupta, bUI the differring value of words in classical and SharanRaniaswell10thefarbetterknown.Amjad sugamsangeel(184,186);Pdt.MohinderSateen's Ali(41).Butwhat!havefoonddifficulttodigest explanationofwhyexactlysuchsangeetshould is what Aasheesh Khan has said about A.R. beregardedassug301(188)andbismentionof3 Rahman(42).Luckily,however,satisfyingviews little known. but important detail which the expressed during the course ofinterviews far composerofsug.J111sangeethas10bearinmind. 78 s.K. SAXENA thatis,theprecisemomentwherethesingermay his recitals as memorable, because he still sees havetobreatherestfully(190),and(inmyview)a some lacunaein his singing (174); a somewhat rightfulprotestagainstthecontinuingtendencyto similarexpression ofthe same inability by the overrateK.L.Saigalasasinger(195). famous violinist Dr. N. Rajan (133); and Ustad Itwouldhoweverbewrongtobelievethatwhat Zia Fariduddin Dagar's contribution to the Ihavesaidsofar,onthebasisofmyfirstreading propagationofdhrupad,andhisemphasisonthree ofthebook, isallthatmakestheworkfascinating suchformal gracesas1hadneverheardofearlier, andrichly informative. The truth rather is that namely,padchedan,patjhad, andpataka(136). subsequentreadingsofthe bookhave struckme C. Beitnotedthat,ononepointatleast,this withanumberofotherfactsandargumentswhich dhrupadmaestroentirelydisagreeswith another 1justcannothelpbutreferringto. very senior member of the Dagar family. UstadAhmad Jan Thirakwa's 25·year long According to Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar, the stintasatablaaccompanistwithBalGandharvain wordbam·(andits4/5 fonns)arejusttheproduct various plays, and his noteworthy open-hearted ofsome individual's whims (138, last line). On admissionthathehadnotseenanyothervocalist the otherhand, UstadFahimuddinDagarinsists adaptingvariationsoflayatoexpressionofdifferent thattheDagarbanialoneisthatpurebaniwhich rasas aseffectivelyasBalGandharvacould(80); incorporatesand buildsuponallthe essentialsof admission ofthe intrinsicallyuntuneful tone of sangeet.Both,however,agreeinmaintainingthat gaand dhaastheysoundonaharmonium,along it is betterto regard dhrupad as an epitome of withanexpertplayer'sdevicetocoverthedefect, ancientIndianculturalvaluesthanasameregenre by such an admittedly competent harmonium ofclassicalvocalmusic(136, 146). accompanistasJairamPotdar(90);anaccountof All this should be enough to sustain the themainreasonwhyvocalistshaveoftenpreferred readers'interestin thebook. YetIcannotclose the harmonium to sarangi as an accompanying thisreviewwithoutinvitingtheirattentiontowhat instrument(91-92);the non-aestheticworriesof I regard as a superlative instance ofhow one's today'sprofessionalmusicianswhonolongerenjoy commitment to music can surpass every other anyroyal patronage(95); aC.D. forde-stressing interest.Once,whenUstadHafizAliKhan,father (producedbyTarunBhattacharya)whichisselling ofAmjad Ali, met the then President ofIndia, welleveninforeign countries(97); Buddhaditya Dr Rajendra Prasad, and when the First Mukerji(the sitarist)asthe firstIndianmusician Citizenanxiouslyenquiredifthe ageingmaestro to perform in the British House ofCommons needed any help, the latter's ready answerwas: (153); very interestinginformation(providedby 'Sir! Just protectragadarbari,please;itisfacing Bhajan Sopori) about the musical ancestry of mutilation;andnow,Sir,Ibegleavetogo--tobe santoor,asalsoabouttheartist'sowninnovations on time fornamilz(17). inre-structuringtheinstrumentandhisdistinctive Thebookaboundsinsuchfascinatingmaterial, playing ofsometaans(anduseofchi/din)which anditsmultifariousrichnessmakeusfeelbeholden is possible only on a santoor(167-168); Pandit totheauthor. BhimSen Joshi'sinabilitytocharacterizeany of S. K. SAXENA