Page 25 - Seniors Today

difficult to present Shuddha Kalyan in its true
the music.” I am infinitely indebted to her for
giving me this insight and sensitivity to “Sur”
in music.
Since there was only a 12-year difference
between my age and Taai’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 pronunciation of the words had to be
interlinked with the rhythm.
On occasion, Taai would deviate from the
strict grammar of the Raag while she was
deep in the exploration of notes. If I pointed
out that deviation, she would graciously
accept it, but would explain her thought
behind making such deviations to enhance
the aesthetic appeal of such phrases, so long as
it did not depart radically from the grammar
of the Raag. Her use of Pancham in ascent in
Bageshree is objectionable to many. It is very
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #38 | AUGUST 2022
form. Madhayam and Nishad in this Raag are
not shown in Taans by most vocalists. She
showed how they can be skillfully injected.
Sometimes she even touched Ma and Ni in
the Aaroha of Shuddh Kalyan, and made it
especially delightful. Many traditionalists
didn’t like such deviations, however. She
refused to compromise aesthetics for the
sake of grammatical rules. The extent of this
freedom is debatable but that discussion is not
appropriate here. The title “Ganasaraswati”
given by Shankaracharya of Shringeri was
more valuable to her than “Padmavibhushan”
awarded by the Indian government. Even the
title of “Swaradevata” would be insufficient
for her because of the tonal accuracy of
her voice of the highest degree. She used
to be restless until the Taanpuras were set
perfectly. She wasn’t bothered if that made
the concert schedule run late. A few years ago,
Taai asked me to show the World true form
of Jaipur Gayaki. She asked me to conduct
lecture demonstration of Jaipur Gharana. As
per her wishes I presented a three hour long
program in Pune University. I continued that
programme in the US for several years.
After 1980, Kishoritai gave up the insistence
of presenting all 8 elements of Indian
Khayal music (“Ashtangas”). Adherence to
“Ashtangas” was, in her opinion, restrictive to
creativity. She even took a stance that Taan, as
one of the most important of these Ashtangas,
was also not necessary for the aesthetics
of the Raag, and should take a secondary
role. So she reduced singing the long, multi
layered and undulating Taan patterns that are
characteristic of Jaipur Gharana. I find myself
fortunate to have learned Maai’s music while
I was learning from Taai. At that time Taai’s
music used to be a perfect balance of emotive
beauty and Jaipur Gharana discipline. And
I am happy to continue to sing in her older
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