Summary of a RAGA

Summary of a RAGA

It was sometime in 1992-93 that Dr Keshavchaitanya Kunte composed his first bandish in Bhimpalas raga. He was trekking in the Valley of Flowers (in Uttarakhand) and the beauty of the vistas worked its magic on Kunte. 

“I was yet to find my footing as an artist when I composed my first bandish. But I have always found my expression through these compositions. Whenever I learnt a new raga or taal, I would try it out in the form of a bandish. I would compose a bandish to wish my fellow artists; I also composed three-four bandishes on my first guru Dr Arwind Thatte. When my mentors, Dr Ranade and Dr Mohanrao Karve passed away, I could express my grief only through these music compositions,” says Dr Kunte, who has invited veteran bandish-kaar and sitar player Pandit Shankar Abhyankar, to release his book, Raga Chaitanya Part I, on Thursday. The book is a collection of 150 bandishes composed by Kunte.
 
Dr Thatte would be releasing the audio series and Vidushi Padma Talwalkar will launch the audio series Raga Chaitanya. This ceremony will be followed by vocal recitals on some of the new bandishes by Apoorva Gokhale, Pallavi Joshi, Vinay Ramadasan and Anuradha Kuber. 

The monumental work
Forking a less trodden path when it comes to documenting the rich and varied traditions of Hindustani classical music, Dr Kunte has put together 150 new compositions which are set in 52 ragas and around 20 talas. 

“If I may say so, Raga Chaitanya is a noteworthy work for several reasons. Composing bandishes (compositions in Indian classical music where raga, tala and lyrics are all by the same person) is a rare phenomenon these days. In film music or light music, the lyrics and the compositions are done by different artists. But that’s not the case with classical music. The bandish – vaak (vaak means poetry), gey (raag and taal) are done by one person. That’s why Vaageykaar and Bandish-kaar is from a different league altogether. We have had a long and rich tradition of Vaageykars from different gharanas. But in the last three or four decades, we have produced less number of Vaageykars. If I were to talk of my generation, there are a few who have composed one or two bandishes, but there are not many artists who have composed bandishes on such a large scale...I am praising myself here, but I have composed 400 bandishes in varied genres and forms, out of which we have put together 150 in one book. In the next couple of years, we plan to bring out two more volumes of Raga Chaitanya,” says he. 

Another noteworthy aspect of Raga Chaitanya is that the bandishes are not limited to khayal, but they also encompass a wide range of genres such as dhrupad, dhamar, dadra, tarana and so on.
 
“Our lyrical tradition is quite old, rich and varied. At one point of time, the lyrics and text in Ragadari sangeet was rich. In the intervening years, however, the vaag was accorded less importance as compared to raga-taal. I think literature and raga-taal play an equal role in composing bandish. They are all aesthetically important. In Raga Chaitanya I have included some compositions in Brajbhasha, some of the tappas are in Punjabi, there are some khayals in Marathi as well,” adds Kunte. 

Deriving inspiration
Primarily, the poetry or lyrics which epitomise Indian classical arts are inspired by the symbols of nature, shringar rasa and Radha-Krishna. These subjects have been covered in Raga Chaitanya as well, but the musician has also included lesser-expressed themes in his work. 

“We have many paens sung to the beauty of monsoon and Vasant (spring) seasons, but there are not enough compositions on summer, autumn. Hence, I have composed them in my bandishes. I have also included verses on Ashtanayika bhed and then there are thematic presentations like a ragamala on Krishna Charitra and Durgastuti Chaturanag. I have also included ‘Dahathatanchi malika’ (a thaat is a parent scale). I have also revived Swarartha, an ancient form of music. You will find its reference in Sangeet Ratnakar (a music text). These are no longer sung in mehfils,” points out the artist.

Kunte, who is the founder-director of Dr Ashoka Da Ranade Archives, says that the cornerstones of his bandish compositions are nature, ragadari tradition and the big and small experiences that sum up our lives. 

“There have been occasions when I have been slighted or humiliated, that hurt found its way into a bandish and then it was no longer mine alone. It became a universal expression. I have composed one bandish in Raga todi, which goes something like this —Det vidhata guna rang roop dhan jasa keerat jo anuroop karatab ko ‘Chita’ jaan le naa kou chheen sake apane bhaag ko (We are all blessed by god, he uses his yardstick to bestow upon us certain virtues. So don’t feel sorry for yourself if you feel there is something lacking in you; conversely, don’t be elated by all that has been bestowed on you) This philosophical thought is rooted in certain experiences, but after composing it, it has now achieved universal tone,” he says.

In tune with the times 
Apart from Raga Chaitanya in a book format, Dr Kunte will also be making available the abridged tunes on an app, iPustak. Explaining why the shift is necessary, he says, “In the last few years, a music book launch also included distribution of CDs. Not many people today can compose or play a bandish based solely on notations. That becomes a handicap for the budding musicians. The young people need to listen to grasp the composition. So I decided to launch the compositions on an app, iPustak, because CD has now become outdated. The app would be more handy. The app contains all the abridged versions of the compositions and it also allows the users to sing along with the version, or repeat certain lines. I think the student community would benefit from it.” 

“These bandishes are rendered by leading khayal singers of India, such as Dr Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, Arati Anklikar-Tikekar, Anuradha Kuber, Dr Pournima Dhumale, Apoorva Gokhale, Pallavi Joshi, Ranjani Ramachandran, Anuja Zokarkar, Raghunandan Panshikar, Pushkar Lele, Sameer Dubley, Vinay Ramadasan, Ishwar Ghorpade and Dhrupad singer Chintan Upadhyay,” he adds.

ST Reader Service 
Dr Chaitanya Kunte’s book Raga Chaitanya Part I would be launched by Pandit Shankar Abhyankar on February 20, 6.30 pm at Jyotsna Bhole Sabhagruha, Tilak Road

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