The mercurial ‘Chärukeshi’

This matrix puzzles me – on one hand, there are romantic songs like ‘Baiyä nä dharo’ (Film: Dastak) or a lively Marathi number like ‘Rutu hirawä’ by Asha Bhosale (Music: Shridhar Phadke), while there are equally sweet but sad numbers like ‘Akele hai chale äao’ (Mohd. Rafi, Film: Räz) or that famous Hridaynath Mangeshkar song ‘Gele te din gele’! These songs belong to the mercurial repertoire of Raag Chärukeshi.

Although Chärukeshi hails from the Kärnatic musical tradition, it has been assimilated in the Hindustani tradition for quite some time now. A sampoorna raag (employing all seven notes in the octave) that uses komal Dhaivat and Nishäd (minor sixth and seventh notes), Chärukeshi has found more favour with instrumentalists. Probably, the usage of all seven notes allows them, esp. the maestros of string instruments like sitär, santoor, more freedom of expression and better playing techniques. Pt Ravi Shankar’s recording of Chärukeshi from mid-‘70s is popular even today and memories of Pt Shivkumar Sharma’s early morning’s presentation of this raag in a concert at Pune in early ‘80s are still vivid. Pt Hariprasad Chaurasiyä had also recorded this raag for HMV once upon a time but the cassette seems unavailable these days.

The vocal tradition, however, seems to have sidelined Chärukeshi in a way. This may have been because of availability of other beautiful raag-matrix in the closer range like, for instance, Nat-Bhairav, Asävari, etc. But Gäna-Saraswati Kishori Amonkar used to sing Chärukeshi in her own inimitable style around twenty years ago. Others have rarely, if ever, included this raag in their repertoire. Popular music, on the other hand, has made extensive use of Chärukeshi’s captivating notes to belt out some of the most memorable songs. Lata Mangeshkar’s outstanding songs like ‘Chhod de sari duniya kisi ke liye’ (Film: Saraswatichandra), ‘Kisi räh mein kisi mod par’ (Film: Mere Humsafar) or ‘Aaj dil pe koi jor chalta nahin’ (Film: Milan) are all based on Raag Chärukeshi. But who can forget that nätyageet from ‘Yayäti Aäni Devayäni’, ‘He suräno chandra vhä’, composed by Pt Jitendra Abhisheki? Almost thirty years since its debut, the song still holds its forte as one of the all-time favourites and artists of current generation also seem to be enamored by its magic. This composition, in the late maestro's own voice, is now available for your listening pleasure elsewhere on this page as a link. Do enjoy the rousing 'peshkari' of this otherwise serene raag-matrix!

Although we borrowed it from the South Indian music, Chärukeshi is now here to stay, like the proverbial spoonful of sugar in a glass of milk!

Celebrating ‘Meghdoot’!

‘O cloud, the parching spirit stirs thy pity;
My bride is far, through Royal wrath and might;
Bring her my message to the Yaksha city,
Rich-gardened Alaka, where radiance bright
From Shiva’s crescent bathes the palaces in light.

Learn first, O cloud, the road that thou must go,
Then hear my message ere thou speed away;
Before thee mountains rise and rivers flow:
When thou art weary, on the mountains stay,
And when exhausted, drink the rivers’ driven spray.

’

Thus began Yaksha in Mahakavi Kalidas’s immortal epic requesting Meghdoot (Cloud-Messenger) to take his message to his wife at Alakanagari, Yaksha’s hometown. Kalidas, the Sanskrit poet, lived in approx 100 BC era and has written many other classics. But ‘Meghdoot’ is, by far, the most renowned of his works earning him and Sanskrit literature fame the world over. The narrative in ‘Meghdoot’ begins on the first day of Aashädh (fourth month in Hindu calendar) and we celebrate this day in the legendary poet’s memory.

‘Meghdoot’ has been translated in many languages all over the world and late CD Deshmukh, Sanskrit-scholar, economist and the former Finance Minister of India, proudly wore his love for Kalidas’s poetry on his sleeve. The above lines have been taken from his translation of the epic. Renowned Marathi poets like BB Borkar, Shanta Shelke, Kusumagraj and Vasant Bapat have also translated ‘Meghdoot’ and those readers not fortunate enough to follow Sanskrit can enjoy the same fluency and intensity of the classic in Marathi.

‘Kalidas Din’ as a tradition holds importance for celebrating age-old classics in Indian tradition and is a day to proudly remember and venerate the creative minds that made them happen. A feature based on compilations from Marathi translations of 'Meghdoot' specially recorded for AIR Nashik FM a few years back is also available for your listening pleasure here.

Although it may not be fashionable, in modern age, to read and appreciate ancient Sanskrit classics, who would deny the strong romanticism and lyrical value in verses such as –

The supremest woman from God’s workshop gone –
Young, slender; little teeth and red, red lips,
Slight waist and gentle eyes of timid fawn,
And idly graceful movement, generous hips,
Fair bosom into which the sloping shoulder slips…
And thunder not, O cloud, but let her keep
The dreaming vision of her lover’s face –

Loose not too soon the imagined knot of that embrace…

The ‘Jaunpuri’ Magic!

Continuing our overview of the early-morning repertoire, we look at one more magical raag...

What’s common between the songs ‘Jab dilko satäye gam’ (Lata Mangeshkar, Film: Sargam), ‘Jäye to jäye kahän’ (Talat Mehmood, Film: Taxi Driver) and the AR Rehman number ‘Pal pal hai bhäree’ (Alka Yagnik, Film: Swades)? Well, apart from the fact that all these are extremely hummable melodies, they are all based on Raag Jaunpuri. A few more examples like the famous Talat Mehmood song ‘Meri yäd mein tum na’ (Film: Madhosh), or Marathi bhajan ‘Tuze roop chitti räho’ (Sudhir Phadke) and what you have is a range of melancholy emotions expressed by this early morning raag.

Belonging to the Äsävari family, this is a sampoorna raag using all seven notes in the octave with Gandhär, Dhaivat and Nishäd (third, sixth and seventh notes, resp.) being komal (minor). The typical ascent of this raag leaves Gandhar out but takes in all the seven notes in the descent. Although this was a popular melody earlier, Jaunpuri (also known as Jeevanpuri) was not considered to be a major raag and was subsequently relegated to relatively lesser importance. However, artists from Kirana and Jaipur tradition still seem to revel in the beauty of this raag and include it in their performances. Instrumentalists somehow do not seem to take to this raag passionately (Ustäd Bismillah Khan, Amjad Ali Khan are some noted exceptions) and music lovers, therefore, rarely come across a presentation of this raag in an instrumental music concert.

Nashikites may remember Gän-Saraswati Kishori Amonkar’s memorable presentation of Jaunpuri at the early morning Pädwä-Pahät concert last year (a link to this recording is available elsewhere on this page). The traditional compositions sung by Kishori-tai were reminiscent of hardcore Jaipur training she received from her illustrious mother Late Smt Mogubai Kurdikar. Similarly, Pt Shankar Abhyankar, noted sitar-player and composer, has also composed a couple of sparkling bandishes in Jaunpuri. Whatever the composition, Jaunpuri has never failed to invoke its magic!

Although heard more in its melancholy mood, Jaunpuri can also express itself differently. Who can forget the impish yet romantic song ‘Chale jänä nahi’ by Lata Mangeshkar (Film: Badi Bahen), or not overwhelmed by the anger in ‘Mätä na tu vairini’ sung by Sudhir Phadke in his immortal Geet Rämäyan? Whether you subscribe to the belief or not, this ‘Jaunpuri’ magic never fails to cast its spell on the listeners!