In sync with tradition
MANJARI SINHA
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Rashid Khan believes in sharing the authentic taste of raga vidya
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Ustad Rashid Khan
During his recent concert tour Ustad Rashid Khan was featured in `An Enchanting Musical Evening' at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts, California, presented by Basant Bahar in collaboration with The Harmony Ventures U.S. this past week. The sold out show spoke volumes for his repute and popularity in the U.S. which was once again reaffirmed by an hour-long leisurely elaboration of his main raga Bihag with a bara khayal in vilambit Ek tala, a chhota khayal and a tarana in medium and fast tempo of Teen tala respectively.
The slow exposition of the raga was evenly balanced with the fast impulses, specially the taans, having a compact integrated design and pattern besides being slickly executed. The leisurely tuneful stay on the cardinal notes like Gandhar, Nishad and the upper tonic sounded reposeful and exhilarating. The second half of the programme provided polished, well packed and aesthetically pleasing renderings of the immortal bandish of Ustaad Amaan Ali Khan, "Laagi lagan... " in the raga Hamsadhwani, a dadra in the raga Keeravani, "Deewana kiye Shyaam kya jaadu dara" and a bandish ki thumri in Bhairavi, "Aaj Radhe brija ko chali" that concluded the concert.
The ideal accompaniment on the harmonium by Jyoti Guhu and by Anand Gopal Bandopadyaya on tabla added charm to the musicality of the vocal recital.
Prasad Khaparde needs special mention for assisting his guru Rashid Khan drenched in the typical Rampur Sahaswan gharana flavour. A native of Ghatanji village of Vidarbha region, district Nagpur, Prasad stayed in the Sangit Research Academy Gurukul, Kolkata, for five years with Ustad Rashid Khan as a scholar of S.R.A. to imbibe the intricacies of this particular gharana.
This programme once again underlined the validity and importance of the guru shishya parampara in reference to the age-old inheritance of our classical performing arts, especially music. It was heartening to see Rashid in the role of a successful guru passing on the tradition in the same way that he himself was trained under Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan, the legendary doyen of the Rampur Sahaswan gharana at the S.R.A. itself. Rashid Khan is one of the leading vocalists of this style today. His recitals in a clear, supple and mature voice are backed by an articulate mind and deep involvement with his music.
He is trying to inculcate the same values in his shagird as well.
Deliberate effort
The unavoidable touches of Marathi Natya Sangit that were conspicuous by their absence in Prasad's sur-lagaav must have required a deliberate effort on Rashid's part as a guru.
After the concert, this critic asked him if he was apprehensive about the positive response by the audience in a foreign land, while dealing with his main raga in such detail. He replied, "We should not compromise with the dignity of our raga vidya. We should let them appreciate our music the way it is - the authentic version of our classical music. We unnecessarily dilute things, whether it is a detailed exposition of the raga or the ati vilambit laya of our bara khayal that spreads around 48 beats in a 12-beat cycle of Ek tala."
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