Raag Shuddh Dharwadi
02 Aug 2009 Leave a Comment
in Music Tags: culture, Dharwad, gangubai hangal, hubli, Jaipur Atrauli gharana, Kirana gharana, Music
Let me start by saying Raag Shuddh Dharwadi does not exist as a raag but as a spiritual town of music, literature, theatre and rich culture called Dharwad, in the heart of Karnataka that once inspired a journalist to coin this term. Who knows, it might become a raag some day. And Hubli, the twin city resonates mostly with the legacy of stalwarts who attained celestialhood (another coinage by an emotionally exalted journalist).
It all started one crushingly fine day when a lady, despondent and miserable was designated a mission. And this made her heart weep in joy. She shrieked in disbelief and marveled at this sudden spasm of fortune, till she went numb. Why, this was her distant, (yet long-nurtured-and -kept-close-to-soul) dream that had fallen right onto her lap like a sweet cherub’s bestowal of abundant riches! But how shall she tend to it, how shall she nurture it, how shall she begin and how shall she give it a befitting conclusion? With so many dreams, so much to look forward to, so much to write and so much to share, she went berserk. Well, sudden spasms of fortune can do that, you know. Besides, she was overcome by tremendous fear that she might not render justice to realizing her dream because this was her maiden awe-inspiring venture with her organization and her first dream encounter with these icons.
Feverish and mad with excitement, she slept zilch, ate zilch and spoke zilch, except for frequent yelps of disbelief. Damn these sudden spasms of fortune! Packing off, out she was, chugging along to reach her dream destination, to live out her life, all on her own. She knew no person, spoke not that tongue and lived never that culture. Braving more uncertainties than expected, she chugged along, anxiously. Expectedly, the miles took several more hours to cover. Meanwhile her thoughts frantically leaped across the imminent dream interactions.
And what happened when she reached, lived, experienced, relished and will forever cherish, eventually went on record. As an after thought, she reflects in her inimitable ramble-on-till- you-finally-get-there style: When the going gets smooth, thoughts become plausible, and fortune, well, sensing that you might be flourishing, begins to favour you. It seems Shahrukh Khan in Om Shanti Om kept saying that if you yearn for something earnestly, the whole world will seek it out for you. LOL!(rather, damn these moments of intense emotions which deprive of sane profundity) The sojourn was fruitful, the mission accomplished and the dream, satisfactorily fulfilled. So much ado about what really, one may wonder here. She wishes to unravel it all right here, right now and like this!
It began this way but was later tailored to the needs of various minds that are busy at various hours… So, heregoes…
Music is perceptibly vibrant in the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad. Even as one is customarily embraced by this ubiquitous feeling there, worries about whether an able heir to Gangubai’s legacy exists, irk the mind. Optimists however claim that they can render justice to Gangawwa’s Kirana gharana.
That the greatness of this land lies in its history is obvious. But today, this hub of culture has failed to inoculate itself from the effects of modernization that is changing the very approach to music. Now, music ceases to be that penance, which stalwarts who we worship, once swore by.
Creating more Gangubais is possible but the antiquated methodology holds no ground, opined, Pt Kaivalya Kumar Gurav, a disciple of Gangubai Hangal. “Adhering to a single gharana stunts one’s growth. A performer must present the essence of all gharanas. I profess that one can become a performer in merely two years, if the riyaaz is well-oriented and the technique, right.”
They say..