The inheritance of Hindustani music tradition has certain mandatory rules for ragas. There is the vadi-samvadi approach to ragas which makes it possible for two or three ragas with the same aroha-avaroha (ascending and descending order of notes) to turn out strangely dissimilar and contrasting in their general spirit. Then there is the time theory that designates a certain hour of day or night for a particular raga to be sung or played. The seasonal ragas prescribed for a particular season, of course, could be sung any time during that season. Ragas like Basant and Bahar, for instance, in spring and the variants of Malhar and Desh, etc during the monsoon season.
The time-tested ‘Time Theory’ of Hindustani music affirmed its positive impact once again, when the throbbing voice of Vidushi Shruti Sadolikar illuminated the interiors of morning ragas like Miyan ki Todi, Ramkali, Yamni Bilawal, Khat and Bhairavi during the Morning Raga Concert, organised jointly by India Habitat Centre (IHC) and the SPIC MACAY (SM), at the Amphitheatre of the IHC and left the audience mesmerised. Her concert also affirmed the secret feeling nursed by musicians and connoisseurs alike that the timely ragas have a curious and disturbing life in them that affects not only the human beings but also plants and other organisms.
Shruti chose raga Miyan ki Todi to open her concert with. The introductory auchar (a brief Alap) lead to the traditional bada khayal, “Bajo re Momad Sha…”, adhering to the Jaipur gayaki convention, was set in Teentala. This challenging variant of Todi that is supposed to have been created by Miyan Tansen has a Pancham that requires proper training for its appropriate treatment, and the vocalist proved it beyond measure. Shruti’s rendition of the raga with sur dar sur badhat (a leisurely progression of swaras one after the other), reached this pivotal Pancham in a way that melted many hearts. The variety of aakar and bol taans reached her to the chhota khayal again in Teentala, which was an old time composition. The seasoned accompanists like Vinay Mishra on harmonium and Pt. Vinod Lele on tabla, followed her like a shadow.
Ramkali, her next raga, is hardly ever heard these days. Shruti presented a composition of Premrang “Bana sari rain ka jaaga…” and the Chhota Khayal “Machhariya….”, a composition of Sadarang with great aplomb. Vinay Mishra strikingly underlined her comely Komal Nishad on harmonium vouching for his own taalim of such rare ragas under stalwarts like Appasaheb Jalgaonkar. Vinay carefully tunes his harmonium according to the pitch of the vocalist he is going to accompany, hence his instrument is normally drenched in sur of the singer. He was just perfect this morning too up till Yamani Bilawal. Surprisingly, in this raga his harmonium could not merge in the precision of Shruti’s Gandhar.
Shruti revealed the reason for this and also talked about the subtle treatment of pancham in Miyan Ki Todi later (see box). In Yamani Bilawal, she sang the bada khayal, “Prem galiyan mein…” and as chhota khayal a beautiful poetic composition of Pt. Vinay Chandra Maudgalya, “Ab laun bhai avahelana, beete din daras bina…” (Deprived of your Darshan, I have been neglected by you up till now)
After Yamani Bilawal, she sang Khat, another rarely heard raga. Khat refers to Shat or six, i.e. a combination of six ragas. One could pinpoint Jaunpuri, Desi, Kanhada, Asavari and at times Komal Rishabh Asavari, but Shruti believes they are not six ragas as such but the Ang or shades of these ragas. Being equally proficient in Thumri she was requested to sing, “Ab ke sawan ghar aja…” and she obliged before concluding with a Kabir bhajan in Bhairavi. The concluding laggi on tabla by Pt. Vinod Lele, especially his Benarasi ‘Datinnada’, was incredible.
In tune with tanpura
The first thing that attracts listeners in Shruti’s performances is her full throated voice and total tunefulness. She gives full credit for this to her Guru and father Pt. Vamanrao Sadolikar. She recalled an incident when Baburao Patel, a staunch critic, asked him why did he bother so much about the tanpura? He said he will show him. He tuned a pair of tanpura and kept them standing in opposite corners of the hall and sat to sing in between the two. The moment he reached Shadja, the string broke. This was the precision of his Sur-Lagav. Shruti admitted that her father trained her meticulously for this kind of precision.
And since her sur was to true, the harmonium sounded just a little less than the desired accuracy. There are two things here, she explained. “Our sangeet is shruti (microtones) based. The same note will sound a little different in two or three different ragas. The Komal Gandhar of Multani is different from the same note in Todi. In Yamani-Bilawal, both Yaman and Bilawal have teevratar (higher) pitch of Gandhar which have to do with shruti (microtone) and not the swara. Harmonium, originally a Western instrument, has its own limitations. This is why harmonium was once debarred in AIR. My father always taught me with tanpura. He believed tanpura is a living being. It reacts to nature. You must have noticed that the morning sun affected it and I had to tune my tanpuras in between the concert.”
In response to the query about her treatment of pancham in Miyan Ki Todi, she said it has to do with her training of raga-dari, or how to treat a raga. “My father and Guru did a lot of chintan. He used to say follow the shastra religiously but take care it should not sound dry. Every note has a different character, feeling and persona in different raga. One has to treat these notes according to the demand of the raga. Likewise every bandish (composition) has a roadmap of the raga, treat it accordingly.”
