'WHEN YOU SING YOU BEGIN WITH DO-RE-MI'

'WHEN YOU SING YOU BEGIN WITH DO-RE-MI'

Many years ago, in fact over three decades now, a friend told me that an acquaintance of his had sought discipleship with Ustad Sagiruddin Khan. This young lady in her early twenties had learnt Hindustani classical vocal music from an earlier Guru for over ten years and had now embarked upon expanding her repertoire in the genre in which she wished to excel. Ustadji asked her pointblank to sing the 'Sa' and then sing the basic ascending and descending series (Arohan and Avarohan) of the musical octave once for his satisfaction. The young lady felt highly offended at this but did not quite exhibit her displeasure and proceeded to sing as directed. Ustadji heard attentively and then said, "Beti, aap ko pehele kuch din sargam riyaz karna hoga, uske baad hi raag sangeet ki taalim shuru hoga." ("My daughter, you will have to first practise for a while the basic notes of the octave. Only then will your training in raag music begin.") The young lady was completely flabbergasted by this unexpected opening remark of the Ustad and did not know what to say but grudgingly began her discipleship under the maestro from scratch. Her ego got badly bruised and all notions about her musical expertise that she had harboured thus far vaporised like mist before the morning sun.

Since hearing from my friend about this episode I have often wondered why Ustad Sagiruddin Khan, such a renowned sarangi player, had been so exacting in admitting someone to his tutelage that day. Was she not capable of doing the basics with ease after having already undergone musical training for over a decade? Was it necessary to make her go through this routine rudimentary work of musical practice? The answer has never been so clear as now when I hear so many so-called Ustads and Pandits of Hindustani classical music not knowing how to sing to tune, how to apply the Shadaj (Sa) in the manner that would please the connoisseur, how to economise their taankaari (singing combination notes in a series) and their inordinate meandering of notes, or how to manifest the mood of a raga. And this inefficiency of performance they foolishly attempt to hide by delectable body language, unnecessary smiles and exchanges of glances with the percussionist, short lectures on the ragas they are about to sing and by elaborate apparel and mannerisms to boot. But the public cannot be fooled by such ceremonials for long and quickly sift the grain from the chaff, withdrawing their favour from the pretender sooner or later. This is by no means an indictment against all Ustads and Pandits, some of whom honourably command the respect and even reverence of the audience by their stellar performances. But this is an observation on today's pretenders to this art of Hindustani classical music in general. Most of the performers quickly wish to climb the ladder of success without the requisite preliminary preparation or the basic talent that would merit such a rise. Even well-trained voices lack in musical depth -- for they essentially lack in depth of personality -- as also musical creativity and power of improvisation along lines of aesthetic economy that is so very essential for anyone to be a good performer. In such a scenario where the quick buck must be earned, the quick recognition to be received at the cost of quality of rendition, the standard of classical music is going down by the day and it does not at all augur well for the future despite some politically correct musical maestros voicing opinion to the contrary. Such stalwarts claim that more and more young people are flocking to the classical concerts and more are learning the art on which basis they pronounce the future of classical music to be quite healthy. But there are other more perceptive observers like Pandit Ravi Shankar who are much more despondent about the declining standard of classical music and are somewhat resigned to its floundering fate.

It is not good enough to learn and practise music even for years on end but one must have a degree of genuine musical talent to begin with if one is to raise the bar in performance of this classical art. Mere drilling, sheer diligence is not enough. One must have it in one, this element of aesthetics, poetry, lyricism, musicality of the soul, if one is to proceed towards perfection of performance, advance towards excellence in exposition of one's art. It is a decadent age in which we are living, unduly fast for the stilling of the mind necessary for mastery of classical music. The student of this art must battle against the tide of the times which tends to produce restlessness of the soul, and pacify his spirit in the sublimity of 'sur' (melody), 'taal' (beat) and 'laya' (tempo). He must devote a lifetime to the pursuit of perfection, the striking of the golden mean of the 'Shadaj' (Sa) or the 'Gandhar' (Ga), the middling of the 'Madhyam' (Ma), the perfect pitching of the 'Pancham' (Pa), the dhyan (meditation) on the 'Dhaivat' (Dha), the differentiation of shrutis of the 'Rishabh' (Re) or the 'Nishad' (Ni), and, above all, the awakening of the resonance between the rendition of notes and the environs, the soul of the audience beginning with the singer himself. May Mother Saraswati bless all aspirants to musical excellence with the real spirit of music so that Ustad Sagiruddin Khan Sahib's exhortation to all to work at rudiments may not go in vain! Jai Ma!

Written by Sugata Bose