Pandit Ravishankar : THE PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE OF MUSIC !!

I honestly wonder at times if its really possible for someone to infuse life into an inanimate, non-living object ? Is it possible that we feel bliss every time a string is plucked ? How true is it that an instrument made out of wood can transfix us in our seats for hours together and quite literally elevate us to a world which rightfully explains the meaning of words like 'purity', 'enchantment', 'marvel', 'peace', 'tranquility' ? But then I realized, all this is the magic of the hands that work on the instrument.. it is the magic of Pt. Ravishankar !


A man who not just set standards in Hindustani Music but extended them to stretch the horizons on World Music. A name revered in very part of the world not as an instrumentalist who played Sitar in the best possible way, but also as a World face of music by writing concerti for sitar and orchestra. He truly made Sitar global ! His association with George Harrison, for example, was in a way a pioneering step in the setting and creating something new, the raga rock trend ! He just created music, quite literally all his life.. which began with a bang with this debut album back in 1956, 'The Three Ragas' !


Raag Jog : 


Raag Ahir Bhairav :


Raag Simhendra Madhyamam : 


.. and today after all the tapasya of all these decades, of venturing into all kinds and genres and forms and styles of music, after composing impeccable music for Indian and also for western films, from performing in front of literally all kinds and creeds of audiences from all over the planet, from collaborating with artists that World Music salutes and as a result create that life-enriching music, from being the proud owner of highest dignified awards from all the various countries in the world, from teaching new students the art and craft of the Ravi Shankar-form of music, from being a reason of the ecstasy each music listener experiences with each pluck of the Sitar string in that resplendent alaap - jor - jhala style.. Pandit Ravishankar's music still stands strong thrashing away the confinements of the boundaries of age, time, region, religion, race and culture.


His Sitar has been an embodiment of every human emotion possible, a mirror of every minute flicker of the human sense of being alive. His Sitar can make the abstract, obvious ! My post today is related to his enchanting elaborate exposition to the explicit expressions of human mind.. his album, 'Transmigration Macabre' (which his composed for the British Art Film, 'Viola')


Madness : 


Fantasy :


Anxiety :



Torment :


Submission : 


Death : 


Transmigration : 


Retribution :


Reflection : 


This is a journey of life and Pandit Ravishankar effectively and evocatively becomes a part of it.. long live this man who made us proud to be an Indian and feel lucky to have witnessed something extraordinary ! Time to sit back and lose yourself in the ambiance and vicinity of peace and the realm of heavenly tranquility !

"experiment with voices" -Khayyam

More than anything, what interests me in this maestro's career is his abundant and varied use of playback singers.. and mostly, alongwith the A-list singers ofcourse, he always had one odd song per film reserved for the singers which were which rarely used by others.

Be it Kavita Gandhari in Heer Ranjha or Ashima Banerjee in Footpath, Kaumudi Munshi in Shola aur Shabnam, Sulakshana Pandit in Sankalp / Sandhya, Pamela Chopra in Kabhie Kabhi / Noorie, Rekha in Ek Naya Rishta, Parvati Khan in Parbat ke Us Paar, or be it poetry albums in the voices of Meenakumari or be it this post of mine.. an entire film soundtrack sung by Shabana Azmi.. ANJUMAN (1986)

Apart from the dulcet Khayyam - Jagjit Kaur duet, 'Kab Yaad Mein Tera Saath..', this film had this lovely duo song sung by Shabana and Bhupendra (though Shabana sounds a bit harsh as compared to Bhupendra's silken voice, but that doesnt take anything away from the song). This is the Khayyam I always knew, this is the Khayyam that has always stuck with me! Shankar Hussain (1977) to Ek Naya Rishta (1988) was IMO Khayyam's most intriguing and melodic period.

शायद खय्याम साहब की तर्जें हमसे यही कहती होगी..

मैं तेरे साथ रहूँगा वफ़ा की राहों में
ये अहद है न मेरे दिल से तू जुदा होगा..


EXTRA SHORTS :

Pyar Ki Baatein(1951) should be their first one...Lata sang 2 songs in Pyar Ki Baatein for Khayyam Saheb.
the the 3 songs of Pyar Ki Baatein and Gul Sanobar are the only songs she sang for him in the 1950s (apart from the unreleased Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke)

What is even more interesting is the fact that even after the bumper hits in Aakhri Khat in 1966, the next song that Lata sang for Khayyam came 10 years later, in 1976 with Kabhie Kabhi !! And after that she sang nearly in each of his films (excpet ofcourse Umrao Jaan, Ahista Ahista, Mehndi and Anjuman) till 1988. So, we had around 25-27 songs in the first 28 years of their association and a whooping (as in regards to this pair) in the next 12 !!

the mis communicatio happened during Heer Ranjha

SONG:

Gulab Jism Ka - Shabana Azmi, Bhupindar Singh Anjuman 1986

Be thy own palace or the world's thy jail. - John Donne

Being in a prison / jail / custody / captivity is no doubt torturous and negative.. but there are some moments in our life with captivate us and we feel safe being in someone's custody!

पंछी से छुडाकर उसका घर, तुम अपने घर पर ले आये,
ये प्यार का पिंजरा मन भाया, हम जी भर भर कर मुस्काये,
जब प्यार हुआ इस पिंजरे से, तुम कहने लगे आज़ाद रहो..
हम कैसे भुलाएँ प्यार तेरा, तुम अपनी जुबां से ये न कहो
अब तुमसा जहाँ में कोई नहीं है, हम तो तुम्हारे हो बैठे,
तुम कहते हो के ऐसे प्यार को भूल जाओ,
हम तेरे प्यार में सारा आलम खो बैठे...

Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.
Feel free.. feel loved..

by - apoorv