The Khamaj Kaleidoscope

“It is unbearable! It is beauty beyond description! With shuddha notes throughout and then playing games with me by using Komal Nishad in the descent!”

- Vasudev Murthy ,TheTanpura

A song titled after this Raag was the beginning of my tryst with the singing and music of Shafqat Amanat Ali. Adapted from a beautiful traditional Patiala Gharana bandish the song inspired a whole blog post as it is very special to me. Since I have already done an entire post on the song, I will not include any of Shafqat’s versions in this post. Here is his elder brother, Asad, singing the bandish, instead.

But this rendition by Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, is close to my heart and  you very likely will be mind- blown after hearing it , as I am, each time, I do

Khamaj is a very sweet, light raga, used extensively in lighter forms of Hindustani classical music like thumris ,dadras and the seasonal chaitis and horis. It has also captured the imagination of music composers in movies. Dhrupad and long khayals are rare in this raag.

Here is Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty of the Patiala Gharana performing a khayal in the raag

 “He sang Shuddha Nishad, Shadaj, Shuddha Gandhar, Shuddha Madhyam, Pancham, Shuddha Dhaivat, Shuddha Nishad and Shadaj. He stopped dramatically. Then he continued in a whisper, Shadaj, extending it long and soft. Then with a jerk, he crept down, singing Komal Nishad, like the bending branch of a Mango tree! He approached the note and seemed to study it from all angles – literally! He bent this way and that, stood up and looked downwards, fingers still on the harmonium. He looked sideways and then forward. He looked backwards and lowered his voice! He was possessed by the magic of the Nishads, traversing all the millions of ways in which they could be reached”
[1]

An evening time raga, it is the representative Raag of the Thaat by the same name under the Bhatkande system of classification of Hindustani Music

The beauty of the Raag indeed lies in the Komal Nishaad in the descent, which adds a pensive beauty to the Raag. Khamaj is Shadav sampoorna, Re is omitted in the ascent which utilizes a Shuddh Nishaad. A weak Dha in also ascent adds to its beauty. It is also recommended that Pa in its ascent be used less and that brings together the Ma and Dha in a joyous combination.

Vaadi - Ga

Samvaadi - Ni

Aaroh- S G M P D N S

Avroh  -S n D P M G R S

The nuances of the Raag are explained here :

Khamaj is commonly used for lighter forms like ghazals and bhajans as well.

M.S. Subbalakshmi with daughter Radha Vishwananth brings out the beauty of Khamaj in this bhajan

Muraliya ab kahe guman bhari  :

The Ghazal King Mehdi Hassan takes ghazal into the Khamaj zone with his very popular- “mohabbat karne waale kam na honge” in this vintage video

Khamaj Thumris

Thumris are a light semi classical form of Hindustani music, the shorter musical presentations  based on ragas, as compared to the Khayal which is a more elaborate presentation that slowly unfolds. The words usually talk of love and a reference to the Lord Krishna is a common feature. Thumris are commonly sung in Pilu, Bhairavi, Pahadi and of course Khamaj.

This blog talks in detail about one interesting aspect of thumris- how its singing flitted from gender to gender due to changing social norms and audience tastes. 

There’s a treasure trove of Thumris in Khamaj out there and one of the major reasons for the delay in posting this one has been. Choosing which ones to post and which ones to leave out has been the most difficult tasks. I classify them here as sung by male& female singers and you can decide which gender scores.

The ladies, first…

• Balam chedo mat jao, sings MissIndubala in this short clip. Indubala was a renowed artist who also was the official court musician of the King of Mysore

• Siddheshwari Devi- one of the greatest names in light Hindustani singing says Jao balam nahi bolun  

• And Roshnara Begum continues the sentiment with a  Jaotose na bolun

• Begum Akhtar  sings a Dadra

• Iqbal Bano,well known for ghazals, also sang some beautiful thumris like this one– kahe sataye mohe saawariya

• Prabha Atre , the  swarayogini with the very popular Khamaj piece, Kaun gali gayo shyam

• And this one is special because it is not just one but two great performers teaming up for this one Shobha Gurtu and Girija Devi ask- Najuk baiyan kyun marori Shaya

• Young and very talented Kaushiki Chakraborty , keeps the tradition alive for us even in the modern times with this personal favorite- kaahe karat mose

 Here's the YouTube playlist:

The gentlemen are up next :

• Starting with none other than  Bade Ghulam Ali Khan – Paniya bharan kaise jaaon 

• Ustad Faiyaz Khan - balam pardes na jaio, delightful to put it mildly

• Ab jao kadar nahi bolo , sings Ali Baksh Zahoor 

• And the same thumri sung by Bade Amanat Ali Kasuri, which I like even better

• Mehdi Hassan is singing a thumri and not a ghazal- Chanda re jaa re

• Ustad Amir Khan creates magic with Piya Ke Aavan ki na sunat khabariya

• Ajoy Chakraborty ‘s Koyaliya kook sunawe

• Barkat Ali Khan – Dekhe bina bechain

• Salmat Ali Khan of Sham Churasi gharana with son Sharafat Ali Khan sings -Nadiya kinare mora gaon…

And the YouTube playlist of the male singers :

The instrumental version of a Khamaj thumri with Pannalal Ghosh’s bansuri

There’s a long list of Khamaj songs in films. RD Burman for example used it for two songs in Amar prem.

But here is a gem, Bidhir Badhon written and composed by none other than Rabindranath Tagore and sung without any accompanying instruments by Kishore Kumar for Satayajit Ray’s Ghare Bare

And Salil da’s  O Sajna barkha bhaar aayi has been a favorite for as long as I can remember- this Bengali version makes it sound even sweeter…

And finally who would expect to find a beautiful Thumri in a film which is best remembered for its hero singlehandedly uprooting a hand pump with his bare hands

“Look”, he shouted, suddenly turning to us. “Have you seen a more exasperating and cunning Raag? I have spent fifty years trying to master it and still it eludes me! Today I was sure I would finally learn. But it smiles and goes away! It is a whore, whom all can love and enjoy and none possess! It is a gift of the Gods!"[1]

Khamaj, indeed is slippery- whenever I thought I was done writing about it, it would reveal one more beautiful form, another beautiful facet of it. So this post stretched on for a couple of months. And though I am ending this here, I think I will be starting to work on Khamaj-II right away!

___________

[1] Vasudev Murthy, The Tanpura

The First...& the Most Special

"The night came…and it brought the star(s) with it..."

Being a Shafqat fan is a joy for me…but the joy had always felt a little incomplete- reason being that I had not seen him perform live. A wish that had grown stronger with two very close missed chances of attending his concerts in the past.

My fascination for live concerts began as a child, years ago. It was when my dad bought our first tape recorder- the latest rage in the market at that point in time. And the first ever tape that he bought was titled “Lata in England” – the recording of the great singing legend in a live concert. It was absolutely amazing to hear the melodious voice speak directly to her audiences, the grand sounds of a live orchestra and the applause of the enchanted listeners- an absolutely different experience from hearing the recorded song on radio.

And over the years I watched many memorable ones- Have been a part of a massive crowd listening to Jagjit Singh on the Ridge at the famous Shimla Summer festival... Have listened and learnt a lot from the college and school concerts with many a bigwigs of Indian classical music as an active member of the SPICMACAY (names like Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma and many more)... Have been a part of a small intimate gathering that kept requesting n number of songs and getting happily obliged each time by the great Ghulam Ali  (sat there till the wee hours of morning with no thought of food, water or any other insignificant thing even crossing the mind…)

But this one was really special…as it gave me a sense of totality as far as my admiration for his work is concerned.  Had booked my tickets well in advance and the fact that it was an MTV unplugged concert made me look forward to it even more as I love the concept of the show.

It was surreal to watch him walk up on stage and then after some small talk to break the ice, he started straight away in top gear with Khamaj… and with that I knew this was an evening that I wouldn't forget very easily.

The music flowed through the night…and so did the love …and the humor-Was pleasantly surprised to see the funny bone in him as he made his way around the table- nibbling at a snack from someone’s plate at one, playfully pretending to steal a whiskey bottle from another. He happily obliged people with big hugs and photo ops and even remained smilingly patient with the over enthusiastic ones. He also sang along with a few and gave them memories to cherish forever.

If Khamaj happened, could Aankhon ke Saagar be far behind? Ye Hausla, Kyun main Jagoon followed…interspersed with an impromptu Khaideyan de Naal on the request of a very vocal and persistent fan in the audience and  then Aaj Jaane ki zid na Karo- the anthem of music lovers in both countries, as he put it, happened...  and it was magical as it always is. Darbari from Tabeer was a surprise and Manmaniyan, the new song that he did for MTV unplugged India, was a treat to hear.

He also teamed up with Shilpa Rao, the other star of the evening for a very beautiful Bin Tere. And they both sang together and ended the show on a high with the perennial favorite- Dama dam Mast Qalander. It was such a delight to hear the two great voices, one earthy and mellow- the other powerful and divine, collaborate, improvise, and add a new dimension to the wonderful song, which, he said, wasn't just a song for him but an Ibadat, a prayer.

And I sat there in the audience (mouth agape all the time, I have to admit, sheepishly) taking down mental notes of little things… like his touching his ear to say sorry for slightly faltering at a note (which no one could  have known beside him), his bowing down to touch the floor of the stage each time he climbed back onto it after a round of audience interaction, his open-hearted introduction to, and generous compliments for the musicians accompanying him, his obeisance to  the spiritual master each time he sang the name of Ali in ‘Dum Ali Ali Dum ’

It was heartwarming indeed, to see that even in this day and age where music in live concerts seems to take a backseat to food, booze and cellphones he still manages to preserve some of the adab , the etiquette, of the great tradition of music in the subcontinent. I just wish we, as audiences, would learn to do a bit of the same, for that’s the least we can do to show our reverence for our artists and the art

So that’s that…my first ever Shafqat concert and hopefully not the last. And firsts are always special aren't they...

The first born of the family, the first step of a toddler, your first salary, the first ray of the sun on a brand new day, the first star you spot in the evening sky, the first time you fell in love…So this too was very, very special indeed!

Mera Waala Gaana

“Beautiful songs could sometimes take a person out of themselves and carry them away to a place of magic.”

This one is for Shafqat's youngest fan, my friend's six-month old, who apparently sleeps to the sound of this song every night :)

Ever wondered what song would you choose to listen if it were the very last song that you would hear, ever… Most music lovers would have a very hard time just thinking about it. But I, for one, have it all sorted out. Because I have this one song.. .my most favorite across genres, across singers, and across eras… And the song is ‘Khamaj’ from the album Saagar by Fuzon

What is about the song that appeals to me? Is it the lyrics, or the melody… or the voice, I have often wondered…

They say that in the brain there isn’t just one specific area that gets stimulated by music. In fact music is that one thing which stimulates and utilizes the most parts of the brain. Both the right and left hemispheres are involved in its interpretation because one makes sense of the lyrics and the other imbibes the melody.  But music is something beyond the words and the melody- it evokes memories, creates imagery that is capable of transporting you far away, introduces you to  new emotions and reminds of you some old and forgotten ones.

If I were to sum it up scientifically- At the heart of liking a song lies the pleasurable feeling that it evokes as a result of some complex electrical activity happening in the brain. And that’s what makes us play it on the loop and never tire of it…

Saying, that I LOVE the voice that has rendered Khamaj would be stating the obvious…  the song sounds wonderful each time he sings it. Be it the Fuzon original or the Coke Studio version or more recently on MTV unplugged.

Then there are the lyrics… The song is based on a Patiala Gharana thumri and Shafqat has given it the form of a song by adding more words and extending the composition…

The lyrics…

Sawan beeto jaye piharwa / mann mora ghabraye re...

Aiso gaye pardes piya tum / Chein humein nahi aaye

Mora sayiyaan mose bole na , Mein laakh jatan kar haari /Mora sayiyan mose bole na

Tu jo nahi to aise piya hum / Jaise soona aangana

Nain tihari raah niharein /Nainon ko tarsao na

Mora sayiyaan mose bole na…

Pyaar tumhe kitna karte hein /Tum ye samajh nahi paaoge

Jab hum na honge to piharwa/ Bolo kya tab aaoge...

I read the lyrics in a slightly different way than most people do.  Most may consider this a love song, a romantic number; but for me the words speak of a spiritual desire of a soul… its longing to merge with the creator

My transcreation…

Life goes by, my restlessness abounds

Since you abandoned me no peace I’ve found

Won’t you say something to me?

Pay heed…to my desperate plea?

Without you my soul feels bare

Expectant eyes, into emptiness they stare

My cries are but all in vain

Won’t you ever understand this pain?

The depth of my love, you won’t comprehend

How can I wait, till beyond the end?

And my love for the song led me to discover some amazing cover versions of the song on YouTube. There are hundreds and sifting through them wasn’t an easy task. But here’s my pick of the ones that touched me in one way or another…

Parivartan

This has to be the most “intelligent” cover version.. (no wonder then that it comes from the IITK music club - a pleasant surprise to see that the IITs have music geeks as well) It fuses Khamaj so beautifully with another Bandish by Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan and the two gel so well ….the synergies of the mood and the essence of the two creates magic. My absolute favorite!

And here's the bonus when they get to perform it for the man himself...

Navneet/ Pallav-

The simplicity, the sincerity, the serenity… also some lovely guitar playing and some interesting improvisation…

Sandeep Batra

This one has an amazing Video… just goes to show how this song inspires people in so many different ways. Some good singing as well

Agatha Singh…

Crystal clear voice, technically brilliant… The dedication, the practice, the hardwork…

The perfect choice for reality music shows..

Asad Abbas sings in Sangeet Icon Pakistan

Sniti Misra in Saregamapa

Shafqat’s nephew Ali Amjad renders it here. 

You can hear bits of the traditional thumri creep in – as it was sung by Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and Ustand Amanat Ali Khan.  Music certainly runs in this family…

H.W. Longfellow said…

“God sent his Singers upon earth

With songs of sadness and of mirth,

That they might touch the hearts of men,

And bring them back to heaven again.”

God Bless you Shafqat Amanat Ali, for I see my heaven in your Khamaj!

When Tradition Treads the Paths of Tomorrow...

“From our ancestors come our names, but from our virtues our honors”

In all his interviews Shafqat Amanat Ali is inevitably asked a question about the great musical legacy of the Patiala Gharana that he has inherited from his forefathers. And he takes a lot of pride-(and rightly so) in talking about the great musical tradition of the family, where every child born into the family is raised on a daily dose of musical intricacies and nuances.-Training so rigorous, that it builds not just their knowledge of music but even teaches them a thing or two about life itself.

“Learning classical singing is not a time bound process, it is life long- that’s what was drilled in right from the beginning by our elders,” says Shafqat Amanat Ali. “When you begin learning by keeping this in mind it gives you a lot of inner strength.”

The tradition of Gharanas- the different schools or styles- in the Hindustani classical music fascinates me. The concept of a guru passing on his wisdom to his students, who then carry forward the unique style and interpretation, and the specific techniques of rendition, is intriguing and very interesting.

The timeline of the Patiala Gharana boasts of many a great name and their glorious achievements. But if there is just one thing that could sum up this tradition of inheriting, preserving and passing on music, it has to be this video

Salman Amjad and Ali Amjad are Shafqat’s nephews, the sons of his eldest brother the late Amjad Amanat Ali, who himself was an accomplished classical vocalist. And here they sing the composition of their grandfather’s grandfather. It’s heartwarming to watch the young duo sing what was composed almost 200 years ago by someone who established the tradition which they grew on.

The Patiala Gharana founders were Ali Baksh and Fateh Ali Khan, formidable names in the singing circles of the North India in the nineteenth century. They were referred to as Aliya-Fattu. Such was the prowess of their voices, that they were awarded the respective titles of General and Colonel by Lord Elgan, Viceroy of India, in recognition of their contribution to music. So Aliya -Fattu are also commonly referred to as Jerneil and Kerneil… some even called them the Sur kaptan- the captains of sur.

Ali Baksh’s legacy was furthered by his own son and disciple, the very accomplished Ustad Akhtar Hussain. Whereas Fateh Ali’s son Ashiq Ali was guru to disciples who formed the Kasur branch of the Patiala Gharana that boasts of bigwigs like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.

Akhtar Hussain enjoyed the patronage of Patiala’s King but had to shift to Pakistan after the partition in 1947. 

Recordings of Ustad Akhtar Hussain from Pakistan radio:

Desi Todi

Bihag

His sons Amanat Ali and Fateh Ali made a very successful musical debut in 1945. Fateh Ali remembers in an interview how he and his brother sang in a gathering of some of the most distinguished names and at the end of the recital he was bewildered when instead of congratulating the singers they all rushed to embrace and compliment their guru and father.

Young Amanat and Fateh Ali singing Raga Bihag : 

Shafqat, the youngest son of Ustad Amanat Ali started his training in music at the age of 4. His grandfather, Ustad Akhtar Hussain, formally began his training as it was tradition for the head of the family to introduce every child in the household to the music of the Gharana. Unfortunately both his grandfather and father could not live long enough to guide him in his musically journey. His chacha, Fateh Ali, therefore donned the mantle of his mentor as he was for the rest of the children in the family. In a household so full of potential stars Shafqat often felt that his own skills were sidelined and not encouraged as much. But music was his calling and he was determined to chart his own course in the territory on which his family had ruled for generations. Struggling over the years and often asked by his uncle and elder brother to take up another profession, Shafqat found his calling in fusing the age old musical wisdom that he had inherited from his forefathers with the sounds and beats and arrangements which came from the west.

Shafqat maintains that he is not the first to take a slightly different course from the traditional path. “Classical music too has various forms… one of the earliest forms is Dhrupad which is still there but relatively rare now. After that Khayal gayaki took the front seat and Khayal was what our Gharana started with mainly and made a name with. Thumri followed and was again sung by us, then Ghazal was popularized by my father and brother Asad, who also experimented with pop.”

Shafqat is right when he says he is not the first one to travel down a different path. Even if we talk of fusion, he wasn’t the first in the family to do it. Ustad Fateh Ali Khan’s collaboration Ragas and Sagas with the Norwegian Jazz saxophonist, Jan Gaberek was hailed as perfect blend of the east and the west.

Even singing for films is not a first by Shafqat. His father Ustad Amanat Ali has done playback and Asad Amanat Ali also sang for many Pakistani films in the 80’s. Many might not know that he has even lent his voice for a Bollywood song.

Shafqat might have taken a slightly different route than the usual but his commitment to carry forward  his inheritance of the musical wealth is very evident in his own music. He has understood that changing times require changing strategies. Audiences in general today do not have the time or patience to sit through mehfils and respond much better to live stage concerts, for example. So he cleverly has packaged some of the gems of his elders and presented them to the music lovers in a new form.

Let’s take his Khamaj for instance, one of his most popular songs till date and my absolute favorite. This is adapted from a traditional thumri ,also sung by his father, and uncle. Shafqat just took it and in his own words “made it more contemporary”. He added more words to give it the shape of a song and whether he did justice to this gem is for everyone to see, or rather hear.

His Kartar in Darbari is another one that is inspired by an old Patiala Gharana asthai, sung earlier by Ustad Amanat and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. “I wanted people to hear it from my perspective,” says Shafqat. So the scintillating orchestra  arrangement is Shafqat’s addition and tribute to this beautiful piece!

“Pyaar nahi hai sur se jisko”- a beautiful composition by Shafqat’s father is like a gentle reprimand and more than that an invitation to people who haven’t realized the importance of music . Sung by many members of the family, this song gets a modern feel with Shafqat’s version for Fuzon, before the band broke up.

Shafqat's classical rendition

And the Fuzon version

“One who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints”

Charting a new path, like Shafqat has done, in the world of music is always fraught with risks. On the one hand you have the purists, who will always examine the work under a microscope, and on the other, are the average masses who generally have low tolerance level for something that is too intricate and difficult to understand- A double edged sword if you will; or a tight-rope walk where balance is the key. So far Shafqat Amanat Ali has done well in maintaining that balance. The double-edged sword has enabled him to carve a special niche for himself , which allows him to stay true to the tradition of which he is a torchbearer, and also showcase his versatility. He currently is in a position where he has competently covered everything from (Raga) Eeman to (Playback for) Emraan Hashmi

“I believe in adapting to the changing times but without forgetting my roots and the roots still are and will always be in the classical music. Those roots are my identity and I cannot be separate from my identity," he says.

As his fan I look forward to a possibility of Shafqat considering a pure classical album at some stage in his career. But at the same time I remain equally excited about his forthcoming album and his future Bollywood numbers which will showcase his own ingenuity that was nurtured by the age-old tradition of the Patiala Gharana. 

Saagar- The High Tide That Refuses To Ebb

“For East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet…”- wrote Rudyard Kipling in his Ballad of the East and West-maybe because he never got a chance to listen to Fuzon’s  Saagar- the perfect example of the east and west reaching out, and embracing each other .A perfect blend of two styles, the coming together of two very different musical traditions, to create something so unique and magical that it satiated music lovers in a way like never before

“Still listening to this in 2012”- reads a YouTube comment on the song Aankhon ke Sagar from this album; and it was this comment that inspired this post. In this day and age pop albums in the subcontinent are hardly getting produced, and even if they are, they have a very short shelf life and are easily forgotten, for they have to compete with a monster of a song factory called Bollywood.

What is it then that makes Saagar sound so fresh, so endearing till date, a decade after its release? An intriguing question, indeed, and I had to search the answer.

Beautiful compositions, for starters, which combine the delicate nuances of the Hindustani classical with the energy of western sounds and beats… Easy to remember, catchy lyrics, which talk of the universal themes of friendship, love, romance, separation, yearning, pain …

But above all a voice- the voice so pure that it connects its listeners to the emotions of the songs instantly. A voice so strong that it takes over your being and transports you to another world altogether. It feels more than it sings, and brings the music not just to your ears but straight to the heart.

The voice of Shafqat Amanat Ali!

Here I pick my top 5 favorites from the album that I just cannot get over.

1. Khamaj- The Heart Calls Out..

“Beautiful heart-rending song, it almost touches the soul with its bare hands”

- a YouTube comment

If I had to hear one last song before I died, this would be the one! The melancholy, the longing and a kind of resignation, too… For the world, it might be the lament of a lover, for me it is a call to the divine-the desperation of a soul to meet its maker, an appeal to end the long wait before the two reunite! Titled after the beautiful raga that it is based on, this song in my opinion is synonymous with perfection…

2. Aankhon ke Saagar- The Ultimate romance!

“I could elope with his voice” – A Shafqat fan, on twitter

This song is every woman’s dream come true-The impassioned urge of a lover in a voice that sounds like that- what more could one ask for? And lines like-Palkon ko aise, Palkon se chchoo le…Ke jab dil mile, toh manzil mile” are simply to die for!                                                                                                                                                                      

3. Madhbanti – Yearnings of the night!

Another raga based composition, which brings to life the mood of the night. As night falls, and the shadows lengthen, the pain of separation seems to increase manifold

Purwa Chalay Kuch Aisi/Khushbu Teri Ho Jaisie

Sham Dhallay Kuch Aise/Palkain Jhukaye Tu Jaise

The wind blows such/ like your fragrance floats around

The night falls/ as if you slowly lower your gaze

4. Malhaar- Singing in the Rains!

My favorite season, one of my favorite ragas and my favorite for life singer… when they got together, I became hooked forever. I think I’ll be playing this song every monsoon season that I live to see.

5. Akhiyan- The first flush of love

The feeling of falling in love is incomparable- and the excitement, the attraction, the energy that it creates is beautifully captured in this folksy, fast paced number. The passion, the power and the pace makes you want to tap your feet and dance to it even today!

It’s hard to sum up how I feel about this album- but a line borrowed from a music review of the album does some justice to my reaction to it- the first time that I heard it and every time that I hear it…

“Fuzon's vocalist Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, one of Pakistan's most distinguished classical pop vocalists, is at his very best... a formidable achievement, every glorious second of it.”