Who can forget Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan’s hauntingly melodious ‘Aaye na balam’ or ‘Yaad piya ki aaye’. His singing epitomised the romance of thumri, an aspect of Hindustani music that was not celebrated as much as khayal. But not so any longer.
It’s that time of the year when the spotlight will be turned on thumri when the popular Purab Anga Gayaki Utsav (PAGU) will be held. The festival will bring together musicians who will focus on the nuances of this beautiful style of singing that talks of love and relationship.
Vinod Kapur, the man behind the event, says, ‘Initially, almost all the stalwarts refused my request to sing thumris on stage. I am happy today that the fest features eminent names such as Pt Rajan Sajan Mishra, Pt Chhannulal Mishra and many others. This year we have Ashwini Bhide, Shruti Sadolikar and Shubra Guha apart from the semi-finalists of Girija Devi Puraskar.”
Shruti Sadolikar
“Ammi (Begum Akhtar) had predicted,” says Rita Ganguly, thumri/ghazal exponent and one of the fest jury, “that thumri will mesmerise everyone one day. How correct she was! Then why not give thumri due respect as an independent classical genre? Why not remove the ‘Mishra’ epithet from ragas and why not authenticate all its varied singing styles other than just Purab?”
Subhra Guha
This festival may or may not be able to bridge the love-hate relationship between the classical and light classical; but it is an effort to revive thumri’ that is served as dessert after the main course of khayals. Ironically, even Vidushi Girija Devi, the queen of Purab Ang Gayaki of Benaras, offers khayals as (rather lacklustre) preamble. Maybe because not long ago thumri was the entertaining art practised only by courtesans. As a result, thumri was not considered purely classical and never entered the concert arena. With lack of patronage and support, it was on the verge of extinction.
Girija Devi
Girija Devi, who will perform on the last day of the festival , further clarifies, “Khayal breaks free of its composition after establishing its mood and moves towards the intangible depths of the raga, while thumri stays grounded on the lyrics and etches varied moods. This earthy quality of thumri is closer to life despite its deep philosophy. The shorter span of its tala-cycles give it a lighter character. Then there is laggi, actually associated with dance but very special feature of thumri idiom. All these factors worked behind this ‘light classical’ tag and I am not in favour of changing the age-old tradition.”
Independent genre
Ashwini Bhide Deshpande feels the same, “Since this genre evolved as dance-accompaniment, hence this ‘upa-shastriya’ label, I suppose. Thumri’s full potential as an independent genre was discovered gradually. Whatever be the label, music remains either good or bad. Though my mother initiated me into khayal, I got attracted to my paternal aunt Sarala Bhide’s music, who was an eminent disciple of Vidushi Shobha Gurtu. Unfortunately, my aunt died very young; but she had recorded 200-250 thumris.While listening to those I realised the difference between Maharashtra’s NatyaSangeet and thumri despite the fact that both are lokabhimukhi (entertaining) genre and grounded on abhinaya (drama element).”
Rita Ganguli
Another Maharashtra-based Jaipur gharana exponent Shruti Sadolikar Katkar says, “Mere liye gaana pahle, bhaasha baad mein (I sang first, spoke later)”; and that she, as a two-year old, would sing ‘Nahi mee bolat’, a NatyaSangeet set on a famous thumri ‘Hamse na bolo’; even before she was initiated to music by her renowned musician father, who would also participate in Marathi theatres as actor-singer-composer. “My father believed that while ‘classical music is ‘doodh’ (milk), light classical is ‘navneet’ (butter). I learnt a lot of thumri elements from him as he was active in Marathi theatre as actor, singer and composer. Neither my father nor his guruji discouraged me from singing thumri,” says Sadolikar. “Conversely, they made me listen to Begum Akhtar, Siddheshwari Devi, Rasoolan Bai; and I attended concerts of Girija Deviji at a time when her long braided hair were jet black! My involvement with Haveli Sangeet opened new vistas and when I first sang ‘Ab ke sawan ghar aaja’ at a Kolkata concert in 1977, it was hugely appreciated.”
Kolkata’s Subhra Guha does not hail from a musical family but since Bengal is steeped in a heady blend of melodies of varied genres, her Agra Gharana musical sensibilities did not clash with any.
“In fact exposure to an idiom like thumri nourishes one’s singing,” she says. “Dhrupad maestro Ustad Aminuddin Dagar had a fantastic collection of khayals and thumris that he would sing with finest possible harkat and murkis . They all learnt thumri to decode the nuances of musical language.”
Quoting Manna Dey’s immortal number she threw a question, “Kaw-jona hriday diye gaaite jaane” (How many can sing through heart)! The answer is: learn and sing Purab Anga Gayaki with all its adayegi (art of expression). Apparently, these khayal virtuosos are ready to break the socio-cultural shackles which had earlier restricted the masters of dhrupad and khayal from singing thumris in public. Both as performers and as gurus, they find that it hugely enriches their vocalism by injecting romanticism in classicism with a barrage of emotions that rise from the singer’s heart and reach the ultimate destination – listeners’ hearts!
(The finale of Purab Aanga Gayaki Utsav will be held in New Delhi at Godrej auditorium WWF, Lodhi Estate from August 25 to 27)
