Manjari Chaturvedi will host the first ever seminar on Awadhi ghazals. The danseuse tells T Mukherjee about the Persian influence in lyrics
You might credit vocalist Jagjit Singh for popularising ghazals in Bollywood and cinema as a whole but the poetic lyrics have been an integral part of Indian music, be it folk or classic. Owing its genesis to the Arabic verse, ghazals became prominent in India in the twelfth century, and Awadh, was one of those regions in the country where ghazals were widely sung and enjoyed in the courts of Nawabs. Much like the intimate theatre, the ghazals sung in the hitherto Awadh were a completely different form of gayaki, sung essentially for a mehfil of a few men sitting across the performer. “The close audience today is missing. Mehfil gayaki was patronised by smaller courts, unlike the huge stage in the present scenario,” said Manjari Chaturvedi, who has conceived and conceptualised The last Song of Awadh.
The even aims to discuss and understand the conventional ghazals sung at the darbars of Awadh and will feature Zarina Begam, the last living singer of the Awadh court, along with Manjari Chaturvedi’s performance of Darbari Kathak. “There is nothing against the change. The idea is to preserve the older version, while the new one can be enjoyed simultaneously,” asserted Manjari.
The Awadhi ghazals have a quintessential Persian influence, and indicate a Hindu-Muslim amalgamation. The themes of ghazals have perennially been eternal love, illicit and unattainable in most instances. The form is characterised by a dominating presence of poetry or shayari in the gayaki. Manjari said, “The finesse in the shayari is remarkable,” and added “dadra and thumri romanticise even the smallest of the actions.”
Citing a beautiful example, Manjari elaborated how the ordinary action of a girl filling a container with water was beautifully composed into kaun albeli naar jhama jham paani bharegi. Hailing from the lucknow gharana, the dance form of darbari kathak that usually accompanies the Awadhi ghazal performances, is known for its “delicate nuances and the elegant costumes.” “The mime art or abhinaya is one of the characteristic features of darbari kathak,” said Manjari.
“The advantage that the Awadhi ghazals have over the contemporary ones is that while the former is capable of evoking a completely painted picture within the listener’s minds, the latter is only a combination of well-written words strung together with music.”