A Veritable Treasure Trove - Raag Yaman On the Lighter Side...

Raag Yaman has given us innumerable songs that have stood the test of time and changing public tastes.  We look at some of the truly 'timeless' numbers from the Hindi Film-world in this post!

Having said that Rāg Yaman is one of the most versatile matrices capable of expressing a range of emotions, we can find numerous songs in the Hindi film and non-film domain. Practically every singer / composer has given us a few gems in Yaman and Yaman-Kalyān, but the melody-queen Latā Mangeshkar still reigns supreme in the domain.

We begin our day with Latā-didi’s ‘Shree Rāmchandra Krupālu’ in the early hours and drift off to sleep late in the night with ‘Beeti nā bitāyi rainä’ (Film: 'Parichay' with Bhupendra). The range of songs in-between is simply amazing! Consider just a few – ‘Sansārse bhāge phirate ho’ (Film: Chitralekha), ‘Lau lagāti’ (Film: Bhābhi ki Chudiyān), ‘Jeevan dor tumhi sang’ and ‘Tum gagan ke chandramā’ (both from Film: Sati Sāvitri), ‘Kinu sang khelu holi’ (Meerabāi’s devotional song), ‘Jāre badarā bairi jā’ (Film: Bahānā), ‘Jiyā le gayo ji’ (Film: Anpadh), ‘Mausam hai äshikānä’ (Film: Pākizāh), ‘Chhupālo yun dil mein pyār’ (Film: Mamtā with Hemant Kumar), ‘Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi’ (Film: Barsāt Ki Rāt) and a host of others truly memorable ones!

Other artists from film-world are not far behind. Talat Mehmood, with his velvety voice, has given us ‘Aānsoo samazke kyoon mujhe’ (Film: Chhāyā) and ‘Seene mein sulagate hai aramān’ (Film: Tarānā with Latā) while Mukesh has left behind ‘Tum bin jeevan’ (Film: Anitā), ‘Sārangā teri yād mein’ (Film: Sārangā), ‘Chandan sā badan’ (Film: Saraswatichandra) and ‘Bhooli hui yādon’ (Film: Sanjog) for posterity. Mohammed Rafi, the voice with an incredible range, sang ‘Man re tu kāhe na’ (Film: Chitralekhā), ‘Lagtā nahin hein dil merā’ (Film: Lāl Quilā), ‘Ehsān terā hogā mujhpar’ (Film: Junglee) and ‘Abhi na jāo chhodkar’ (Film: Hum Dono) in Rāg Yaman.

Late KL Saigal, the immortal singer, is also best remembered for ‘Mein kyā jānoo kyā jādoo hai’ (Film: Zindagi), ‘Diyā jalāo’ (Film: Sangeet Samrāt Tānsen) and ‘Do nainā matwāle’ (Film: Meri Bahen / aka My Sister) sung in Yaman-matrix.

Even Kishor Kumar, not particularly known for his classical leanings, has given us ‘Woh shām kuchh ajeeb thi’ (Film: Khāmoshi) and ‘Aāp ke anurodhpe’ (Film: Anurodh) based on this matrix. Yesudās, the southern superstar, is still best remembered for ‘Jab deep jale ānā’ (Film: Chitchor) from his forays in the Hindi film world. And who can forget veteran Mannā-dā  with Ashā Bhosale when they belt out effortless tāns in ‘Re man sur mein gā’ (Film: Lāl Patthar)...!

The younger generation also feels gravitated to the irresistible magic of Yaman’s scale and the evidence can be found in compositions like ‘Aāye ho meri jindagimein’ (Film: Rājā Hindustāni), ‘Ghar se nikalate hi’ (Film: Pāpā Kehte Hai) and ‘Sochenge tumhe pyär’ (Film: Deewānā). Shankar Mahādevan’s ‘Breathless’ composed in Rāg Yaman stayed atop the best-seller charts for a considerable time.

But the icing on the cake, also my personal favourite, in Yaman is ‘Ranjish hi sahi’ sung by Mehdi Hasan, the ghazal-maestro. Oh gosh, what a wealth of compositions and we have not even scratched the surface...!

To round off this lovely riot of songs, here's a 'fun-medley' of some evergreen Yaman songs for your pleasure – a true treasure trove indeed!!!  We will round-off this Yaman-trek with the next post especially devoted to Marathi compositions in this pleasure-domain...

Meet the Lord - Räg Yaman

With a complete scale and an impossible range of possibilities to match, Raag Yaman is treated with reverence. Let’s look at the matrix in its classical ‘avtär’…

कमल चरण करित स्मरण नमन सर्व मंगला,

तन-मन हो भाव सुमन, 'यमन' येथ रंगला...

This is without doubt the most popular räg-matrix really! A räg that uses the complete scale, capable of expressing an exhaustive range of emotions with an unfathomable depth of potential in presentation! It has also been referred to as the Lord of Rägs – come let’s get acquainted with Räg Yaman!

Technically speaking, Yaman belongs to the ‘Kalyän Thät’ and is sung in the first quadrant of night. The matrix uses all seven notes in the scale and, barring teevra madhyam (sharp fourth note), all others are flat. With typical phraseology that drops Sä or Pa in the ascent but uses them out of sequence in descent (e.g. ‘Ni-Re-Ga-Ma-Dha-Pa’ or ‘Ni-Dha-Ni-Re-Sä’), Yaman never fails to achieve an effect of well-being, serenity, and a pleasant ambience all around. Yaman-Kalyän, its sister-melody that’s very close in nature to Yaman, differs only in its usage of both shuddha and teevra madhyam (flat and sharp fourth notes) and both these matrices have been sung extensively by artists over past few centuries. Here is a typical layout and phraseology of Yaman for you -

With its enormous potential, Yaman has always beckoned artists to discover something new in its phrases and all great vocalists and instrumentalists have given us their own flavour of this räg over changing times. Recorded material from several all-time greats from earlier generations has left behind some sparkling gems in Yaman for posterity. The greats of current generation have also explored the vastness of Yaman in their own inimitable way.

To begin with, here’s Late Smt. Heerabai Barodekar’s Yaman that personifies ‘Kiränä Gäyaki’ with its emphasis on purity and completeness of ‘swar’ and serenity in presentation.

And listen to Pt Kumär Gandharva’s all-time hit recording of Kalyän (Kumar-ji always referred to this räg-matrix as ‘Kalyän’) that refuses to fade from popularity charts.

Or take ‘Swar-Bhäskar’ Pt Bhimsen Joshi’s Yaman recorded about thirty-five years ago. Although his ‘täleem’ is typically ‘Kiränä Gäyaki’, some ‘Punjab & ‘Patiyala’ influence is very much evident in this presentation by young Bhimsen-ji. Some very aggressive tän-patterns and the overall approach seems to have been borrowed from his early forays in the North India in search of a ‘Guru’! You will definitely discover new moments of pleasure every time you hear ‘Eeri äli piyä bin’.

In the instrumental territory, I have for you a wonderful ‘äläp-jod-jhälä’ on sitar by Pt. Budhäditya Mukherjee played recently in a concert in Pune. (The recording quality may not be top-drawer since this was recorded from the auditorium.)

To round off, here’s a traditional bandish from ‘Gwalior Gharänä’ presented by Vijay Koparkar that typically projects the pleasant personality of this evergreen räg-matrix.

It is inevitable that Räg Yaman, with its immense potential, presented an irresistible proposition to composers in light and popular music. The number of songs composed in this matrix and the range of emotions they express is really unbelievable. But more about Yaman’s versatility in its lighter form in the next post…