Page 22 - seniors today August issue

holidays, the training would happen each day Early years
morning and evening. Thus, I had almost no
life left other than music and academic studies.
In hindsight, I feel very blessed that I could
assimilate the essence of Kishoritai’s avant-
garde treatment of a large number of complex
Raagas of Jaipur Gharana.
Kishoritai was a perfectionist when it came
to teaching. It was mostly one-on-one with me,
but sometime together with Mrs. Manik Bhide
(mother of Vidushi Ashwini Bhide Deshpande).
She would normally alternate “Avartans”
(cycles) between me and herself. However, when
a phrase did not come out right, she would
make me repeat it several times until it came to
her satisfaction. She was not as patient as her
mother (who also taught me many times when
Tai was unable to sit for a lesson or was out
of Mumbai). If I could not reproduce a given
phrase quickly, she would get upset. So there
was always pressure to get things right. The
Asthai and Antara of any new Raaga had to be
learnt precisely. There were no electronic pocket
recorders or smart phones. So I found myself
vigorously reciting those verses in the bus going
home after the lesson, much to the curiosity of
fellow passengers!
Much of the world saw Kishoritai as a stern,
hard-driving, demanding, and temperamental
artist. However, my personal relationship with
her as a disciple was very different. There
was a very loving, caring and soft side to her
persona that co-existed with her demanding
and strict teaching style. I remember vividly a
touching occasion which I am tempted to share
here. Once I had taken ill with high fever at IIT
campus and was hospitalized at the IIT hospital
in Powai. When I phoned Tai that I would not
be able to come for the weekend lessons, she
became so worried about me, that she came
all the way in a taxi to my hospital, got me
discharged under her care, and took me home,
covering me with the Pallav of her Sari to shield
me from the breeze! Such was her loving and
caring side.
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During those early years of my music training,
Kishoritai was not the same celebrity as she
became in later years. This was to my advantage,
as I used to get her undivided attention one-
on-one during the entire lesson. Also, since she
was living with her mother, my training was
indirectly under Mai’s keen ear and supervision.
I therefore received the beautiful blend of the
structural beauty of the Jaipur Gharana Raagas,
but also the romantic beauty that was the
hallmark of Tai’s own temperament. This golden
mean did not reach most other disciples of Tai
who came 20 years after me, by which time Tai
had started to de-emphasise the grammatical
or structural rigidity of the Raag and replace
it with an emotional touch to the rendering.
The most significant feature of her treatment of
any Raag was her very special attention to the
Shrutis (microtones) of the notes that formed the
Raag. For example, The extra flat treatment of
Komal Re in Raagas like Marwa and all varieties
of Todi, Dha in Bibhas that is neither Komal
nor Shuddh, but three quarters of the way from
Komal to Shuddh Dha! Similarly, her treatment
of Komal Ga and Komal Ni in Kaushi Kanada
is an example of the control she had mastered
in singing different Shrutis of the same two
notes. These two notes have different Shrutis
depending on whether one shows the Malkauns
component or Darbari Kanada component of
Kaushi Kanada. Thus, we, the senior disciples
had to strive to master these Shruti differences,
and she would get annoyed whenever we could
not achieve consistency in singing those Shrutis!
Such sessions were always a challenge and
source of immense happiness when I satisfied
Tai with the right Shrutis.
Since there was only a 12-year difference
between my age and Tai’s, apart from rigorous
one-on-one training, we used to spend hours
discussing nuances of Raagas, their specific
Shrutis (microtones of main notes), aesthetic
treatment of singing the Asthayi Aantaras,
tandem relationship between Sur and Taal,
and the special way in which words had to
be pronounced interlinked with the rhythm,
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