Satguru mohae bhaavae

From my four CD Kabir album, called Kahe Kabir, this is one bhajan that I am now in a position to share.

It was recorded when I was in my late twenties, which means nearly 15 years ago. Kabir's poetry has long held the strings of my heart together and when I hear it after a long time today myself, I can see the reason why- the appeal is timeless, even if my singing style is markedly different.

Of course if I could have sung this now, it would be very different, more steeped in classical music, not so much embellishments of orchestral arrangements, perhaps  more stark. But the lyrics are powerful and their message is timeless. This reminds me of the one thing of that time today- that a younger me was very much in the search of the Satguru...for that stage had not yet come when the interface with the guru had happened.

Inappropriate graphics do not take away the message of a bhajan. It has taken a long time for us to upload this video, that too without the album cover depicted here, but I hope that does not distract from the message of the composition.

Todi and Kabir

9th March 2014

In my first classical music concert in Delhi I sang Kabir as khayal. Since it was a morning concert and fortunately for me I had a composition in Mian ki Todi I sang my own vilambit khayal, a Kabir doha. It is another matter that the timing was not exact- though i am not among those who are sticklers for the time based classification of ragas. I did take the liberty to stretch the timing of Todi to a little beyond 10 am, the real time when it is supposed to be stopped!

So mere ram, kabai ghari aawae
Jaa dekhe mera jiya sukh paave
सो मेरे राम कबै घरि आवैं
जा देखे मेरा जीया सुख पावै

the antra is not taken from kabir, but is my own addition-
ghari ghari jeevan beetat jaaye
pal beetae na bin raam dhiyaaye
घरि घरी जीवन बीतत जाये
पल बीते न बिन राम ध्याये

We are tuning together

After this khyal in vilambit laya, I also sang another drut bandish, though it was not Kabir's words but my own. I did not feel the need to say that to anyone.

Hae mann, jab paave raam- I am so fond of this khayal, my earliest or perhaps the very first composition in which I created the music in continuation of   Kabir's spirit of calling to the nirgun.

I followed this up with many Kabir bhajans because my whole theme was Kabir. Funnily enough though the organizers had given the name of EMOTIONS OF WOMEN THROUGH MUSIC, this aspect was only left for their banner perhaps because they never made a mention of it anywhere! So i wondered what was the reason of giving such a fanciful title to the whole program anyways! They did not ask artists what bhava was the dominant aspect of their music- for may be it did not seem necessary to them at all.

Mine is and always remains bhakti.:)  Even when I sing ghazal!

madhmaad sarang

This is the first raga of my life, that I learnt with the blessings of my inner guru. And who else's words would I use to awaken the raga within me, except for my own resident-guru Kabir.

The beauty of this raga is that it is a simple pentatonic melody- meaning a raga of five notes - sa ri ma pa ni, where all notes are pure ones except for a komal ni. The same notes are the ones we use for raga Megh- immortalised by Amir Khan Saheb, the main guru who awoke the Khyal within my soul. I can almost never stop singing his bandish- barkha rut aayi, boondan jhar lai (taught to me by yet another of my gurus, Amarjeet didi, in the Indore gharana tradition of Khan saheb) ...in vilambit tempo.

The guru of music for me, in most of my adult times for a lot of reasons, who i have time and again returned back to for little doubts and querries is Madhuri aunty (Smt.Madhuri Dandage, now based in Pune) For the last several years, I have been discussing ragas with her over the phone itself and when I touched this raga (imagine my fear, trying to dare to learn something by myself, when the tradition instills in you a need for a live teacher) I was unsure how to tread between Megh and Madhmaad Sarang. Aunty told me, with the crystal clarity she has...in one sentence how the usage of notes is different in ragas of the Malhar (Megh is an abbreviated name for Megh Malhar) family and Sarang family. That was it...viola! I sing Madhmaad Sarang with the blessings of both of these gurus...

in vilambit tempo, ektal-
हरी हीरा जन जौहरी, ले ले मांडी हात
जब रे मिलेगा पारखी, तब हीरा का saat 

hari heera jan jauhari, lae lae maandi haat

jab re milega paarakhi, tab heera ka saat

(Kabir Saakhi)

As Drut- in Punjabi taal
जो साँचा सो केवल राम
औं देव सों नाही काम 

Jo saancha so kewal ram

Aan dev soan naahi kaam.

after all these inputs can i really claim that i learnt this raga by myself!!!

btw, i did this composition in the summer of 2008- march or april.