Skip to main content

‘Music has to be open and welcoming of all’

We go down memory lane with Pandit Jasraj, learn about him and his music while his daughter Durga explains why it’s necessary to make music more accessible to the layperson

In one of his previous interviews, Sangeet Martand Pt Jasraj had said, “If you see an artist approaching a stage, you can easily spot his particular gharana’. When we met him at his Pune residence on Thursday, the import of the sentence made sense. Meeting him and his senior disciple, Pt Sanjeev Abhyankar, you realise that they have no airs about their exalted status. They are warm, welcoming, humble and willing to share all that they have learnt over the years. Elaborating on the statement mentioned earlier, the octogenarian classical vocalist, says, “If you are a keen observer of classical music and the musicians, you will notice there are certain similarities amongst the musicians of the same gharana. Of course on the stage we have our distinct styles. That’s how it should be.”

Pt Jasraj will be performing in the city today, along with Pt Vishwamohan Bhatt, Taufiq Qureshi, Subhankar Banerjee, Sridhar Parthasarthy, Bangalore Amrit, Rattan Mohan Sharma, Ankita Joshi, Shashank S and Pravin Godkhindi at SBI-Panchtatva. An initiative of Art and Artists, a company founded by Durga Jasraj and Neeraj Jaitly, the artists will bring to life one element of the Panchmahabhuta — Earth, Water, Fire, Space and Wind — to life, through their music.

It’s a little easier to imagine the compositions related to water and fire, but earth which refers to both the planet and the life-giving qualities, is difficult to discern. Pt Jasraj will be presenting the composition on this element. When asked if there are any specific ragas that he would be presenting to the audience, he smiles and lifting his hands, gestures upwards, indicating that the divine presence would dictate his choice. “I can’t tell you what I am going to play now. I never plan,” he says slowly.

His daughter, Durga, steps in to explain, “Music is intangible. It’s a surreal experience and the way the singer sings and how the audience relates to it, is different each time.”

While this sounds intimidating to those uninitiated in classical music, Durga wants to ‘open up the world of music from the rarefied atmosphere’. “In Lucknow, where we had taken this event (Panchtatva), some rickshaw pullers were a part of the audience. The organisers were miffed and objected to their presence. I had a big fight with them. I told them, ‘If Bapuji’s music or Rashidsahab’s composition resonate with the rickshaw-wallas, then why not? Who said classical music can only be appreciated by a certain section of society? The connoisseurs are our assets but in order to preserve our cultural heritage, we need a bigger audience. The initiation into classical music has to be taken up at mass level,” she blazes, just like her name.

That’s the reason why Durga and Jaitly have been working on their brands like Idea Jalsa, Jasrangi and Panchtatva, making it more accessible to the layperson, and in case of Panchtatva, making it an unticketed performance.

“We have researched a lot on this project and as I speak, we continue making additions, trying to make Panchtatva entertaining, but not trivial. We have roped in the best of the animators and VFX specialists; my mother and Shyam Gosaviji helped me with the Rig Ved shlokas. We have interspersed the compositions with poetry pieces. All these come together to represent ‘life’. The piece on ‘life’ is by Nida Fazli. All this in order to make us aware of the fragility of our existence in this world. We are just one part of the big order of life — Srishti. Music is a big influencer and that’s why we have the Panchtatva event to tell us to be a little conscientious about our eco-system. In the process, if someone also begins to take serious interest in classical music, then we are truly blessed. We have mentors like Sanjeev (Abhyankar) who can explain the finer nuances of music,” she adds.

Her father, who has been listening patiently all this while, says, “We have to be open and accepting of each other’s views. My spiritual guru, Raja Jaywant Singhji has said that music has to be open and welcoming of all. Unfortunately, now we have become matwale and refuse to listen to the other’s opinion.”

Jasrajji’s ethos are rooted in the past, and that’s what he has passed on to his students and family members. At the same time, he is at ease with technology. Reminiscing compositions like Aadha Hai Chandrama from his father-in-law Shantaramji’s film, he is stuck with the name of the film. Abhyankar turns to Google and the answer pops up — Navrang. “Google Guru ki jai ho,” chuckles Panditji. A perfect synthesis of the old and new.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Portrait of a poet

This has already been published in the Sunday supplement. Krishnaji Keshav Damle also known as Keshavsut --- Poetry never really appealed to me. And, so it was with great reluctance that I agreed to my husband's plan to visit Keshavsut Smarak – a memorial raised in memory of 'Father of Modern Marathi Poetry', Krishnaji Keshav Damle – in Malgund. We were in Ganapatipule at that time and decided to go to Malgund, a 10-minute drive (a kilometre) from the popular tourist destination. A sign-post told us to take a left turn and what greeted us, at the end of the lane, was tranquil silence. No security guards, no tourists, just a plaque announcing that Damle, popularly known as Keshavsut, was born in the red-roofed house, surrounded by green shrubbery. Keshavsut's house in Malgund  A poem by Keshavsut  The house, renovated in the old style, was near-empty, except for Keshavsut's portrait that was hanging from the wall in the front room. In the

Many ideas of ‘self’ (Review of Pratibimb, Marathi play)

With Mahesh Elkunchwar’s name as a writer associated with Pratibimb (Reflection), you know nothing in the play will be at face value. Nothing is what it seems. It is difficult for commoners to get into Elkunchwar’s mindspace, which is precisely the subject of the Marathi play, which was staged earlier in August and will now be performed again on Friday, September 15 at Sudarshan Rangmanch, Shaniwar Peth. While watching the play, it’s evident that the viewer has to peel various layers to get to the core of the story — Who are you? What does ‘self-identity’ mean? Is it so bad if your reflection goes missing or if you have no identity? Thokale (a white-collared office goer) wakes up one morning and finds his reflection missing. Enters Bai, his landlady, who tries to assure him that nothing is lost. In fact, it could be a ‘breaking news’ for the newspaper. This perhaps could have led to a lot of chaos physically. Instead, we are led to the darkness looming large in our dystopian minds

Pune: Road widening stirs debate on how citizen groups can be more effective (First published in Citizen Matters)

  A Prabhat Road bylane where road widening has been proposed. Pic: Ambika Shaligram “One of our neighbours suddenly saw notices, announcing the Pune Municipal Corporation’s proposal to widen six-metre roads to nine metres and inviting objections within a stipulated time frame, pasted randomly in the lanes of the Anand Park locality,” says Dr Dhananjay Rau, president of Anand Park Residents Association (APRA), a housing society in Aundh. “It took us completely by surprise. Thankfully, we still had time, so we submitted our objections to the PMC.” The six internal lanes of Anand Park are dead-ends and do not connect to the main road. So why widen the roads, the residents ask. Uncertain utility apart, there will also be an environmental fallout, they argue. “There are about 25-30 trees in each lane and these will have to be axed if the roads are widened,” adds Dr Rau. “We have to consider this environmental impact. Plus widening the main road will lead to more traffic and accidents. So w