In the second part of her series on the ancient instrument, the sarangi, Sumati Mehrishi compares its merits against the harmonium in accompanying Hindustani music and speaks to artistes who passionately believe in the one over the other.
Even though it was decades ago that Pandit Ram Narayan discontinued “accompanying” stalwarts of vocal music in the Hindustani concert scene, he had helped set the stage for a quiet rebellion — a subtle mark of protest, with strong hints of ambition. He says, “Initially, I would feel blessed to accompany stalwarts like Gwalior Gharana’s Pandit Krishna Rao Pandit. But gradually, I was getting tired of accompanying vocalists. There were times when I would sit alone and rue the fact that I was curbing my own imagination while giving way to the vocalists’ whims and demands during recordings and concerts.”
Then there are sarangi artistes who do not like carrying crumpled egos over to the performance dais — or so they would like to claim. Murad Ali Khan adds, “Sometimes, sarangi artistes are perceived as being arrogant by vocalists and listeners. The notion is really wrong.”
Khan was part of the beautiful trio including Ustad Mehmood Dhaulpuri, the celebrated harmonium artiste and world-renowned senior tabla artiste Akram Khan accompanying Lovleena Kumar, disciple of Ustad Munawar Ali Khan of the Patiala Gharana at a concert recently held in Delhi. At this particular concert, he had followed stoic restraint in approaching Raga Yaman, sung by Kumar. Raga Yaman, for starters, is one of the few melodies a person being initiated into the Hindustani genre is first taught. Owing to the presence of the teevra madhyam which, with the shuddh nishad, helps spin a myriad of
rasas, Yaman can sometimes be dangerously tempting for an artiste bound to the protocols for “accompaniment.”
But Murad would give in to neither. He would let Ustad Mehmood Dhaulpuri continue being his all-pervasive self.
A few months ago, Khan had performed with Shubhendra Rao on the sitar and Sanjeev Shankar on the Shahnai — Pandit Ravi Shankar’s disciples. The trio sounded piously Indian in character and spirit. The melody played was Charukeshi. Though led by the sitar, which is usually the self-assigned leader in such an arrangement, the composition in Charukeshi brought out the attitude of sacrifice, inherent in any sarangi artiste, from Murad Ali Khan.
His sarangi did not clash with the other two instruments. Why this unusual show of restraint? Murad adds, “Well the sarangi barely allows us to be competing with or dominating another instrument. Plus, a sarangi artiste knows the art of respecting the sound of the other instruments.”
Yet, the harmonium is preferred to the sarangi when it comes to vocalists choosing accompaniment. Reason: the sarangi, owing to its proximity to the human vocal chords sometimes unconsciously makes the vocalist feel challenged. “In a way, the sarangi’s advantage becomes its biggest disadvantage here. Also, this very technical aspect deters the sarangi artistes in experimenting with accompaniment,” laughs Murad Ali Khan.
Ironically, the presence of the chords in the harmonium — which is truly a western instrument — makes it very appropriate for Hindustani music. Sarwar Hussain adds, “Sarangi is the ‘father’ in accompaniment and harmonium, the ‘mother’. Like a mother, unforgiving in nature, the harmonium covers up for the mistakes and weaknesses in a vocalist. Sarangi, on the other hand, makes the frailties of a vocalist more starkly obvious. It is slightly harder on the vocalist that way. The harmonium shadows the vocalist at the right places with its drone and chords while the sarangi is dangerously soft.”
Purists like Pandit L K Pandit, the stalwart from Gwalior Gharana (son of Pandit Krishnarao Shankar Pandit) however, prefer the sarangi. He says, “It’s all a game of the shrutis when it comes to choosing the sarangi or harmonium for accompaniment. The harmonium, primarily structured for the West, lacks the provision for shrutis — which make Indian music so unique. Hence, it sometimes lacks accuracy and sounds besura. This is one reason why the All India Radio had discouraged the use of the harmonium during the 1940s and later.”
Ace harmonium artiste Jyoti Goho, who has accompanied maestros such as Pandit Bhim Sen Joshi and stalwarts such as Vidushi Girija Devi and Ustad Rashid Khan feels that the harmonium has a few plus points which have made it indispensable to Hindustani music since Ustad Abdul Karim Khan’s times.
He says over email, “One of the many advantages of the harmonium is its ability to play the taans, especially the sapaat (flat) taans. Plus, vocalists depend a lot on the feedback they get from the accompaniment. They go for the instrument that responds more to their improvisations.”
Fakruddin Dhaulpuri, the sarangi artiste, son of world-renowned harmonium artiste, the illustrious Ustad Mehmood Dhaulpuri, has lived the “star” presence and the technical advantages of the harmonium within his riyaz space. There are times when Fakruddin feels frustrated with the way that the sarangi gets shoved out of the scene only to be replaced by the harmonium.
Yet, Dhaulpuri junior continues to learn; he prefers to hug tradition and sticks to the traditional “accompanying. “Let others prosper with fusion music,” says Fakhruddin with immaculate pride and dramatic self-belief, “I will continue to dislike it. I have miles to go before I can become a true solo sarangi artiste, there is no room for lesser things.”
If sweet arrogance and self-restraint scare away vocalists from the sarangi, so be it.
(Concluded)
— The writer is a freelance journalist based in Delhi.
sumati.mehrishi@gmail.com