Contours of amour

If there is any genre of Indian light classical music that can be indelibly marked with the whole range of emotions: from mundane eroticism to divine love, that is thumri from the Upper India deltoid. Indeed, bearing footprints of the Gang-Yamuna tehzib (culture), thumri has its romantic text usually revolving round a girl’s love for Krishna — in regional dialects of Awadhi and Brij Bhasha. Characterised by its sensuality and by a greater flexibility with the raga — unlike its counterpart of classical khayal with unmistakable rigours for the raga structure — thumris commonly used ragas are Pilu, Kafi, Khamaj, Gara, Tilak Kamod and Bhairavi. The compositions are usually set to teen taal (8-beat), addha taal (16-beat), dipchandi taal (14-beat) or dadra taal (6-beat).

Among the legends of thumri, the octogenarian Girija Devi is fortunately still around. A classical singer of the Banaras gharana, she performs both classical and light classical music and has helped elevate the profile of thumri sky-high. Having had her debut in the Allahabad Radio Station as early as 1949, she regales listeners in her unassailable purab ang where the earlier stalwarts have been Badi Motibai, Rasoolan Bai, Siddheshwari Devi and Pandit Channulal Mishra (still alive). In their thumri enunciation, the bol banao style — musically reiterating the scanty text — has been dominated with a slow tempo and is concluded by laggi — a faster phase — where the tabla player has some freedom of improvisation. The other thumri stream is lucknow ang, known for its bol bant style of bandish-ki thumri, using lyrics with heavy literary content, ineffably wedded to the Kathak dance-form.

The Thumri Festival, recently organised by the Sahitya Kala Parishad, had a grand finale for the cognoscente with both purab ang and bandish-ki thumri. On a delicately flower-bedecked proscenium, the first to appear was Uma Garg — of Rampur-Sahswan gharana and, later, Indore and Kirana gharanas — who sang four purab ang thumris in quick succession: Kahna maano re Shyam… in raga Khamaj; Kahan milay more Shyam, Tujh bina Brij me akeli… in raga Kirewani; Ab maan na jao saiyan… in dadra; and Ab Shaon ghar aa jaa… in raga Yaman. Her songs were placid and serene, in a voice with a veiled metallic shin. Next came Nabhodeep Chakraborty — of Rabindra Bharati University and Patiala gharana — who was more energetic and communicative with the audience. Frequently going back too Bade Ghulam Ali vintage, he presented purab ang thumri: Ab tore raina andheri dar na aowe… in raga Des, followed by a bandish-ki thumri: Ab tore aane naa… in raga Majh Khmaj. His concluding dadra in raga Piloo and the Punjabi Pahadi were marked with Sargam (note-utterance): again unusual for thumri singers, though quite entertaining.

last to take the stage — with a tumultuous, full-house applause — was Girija Devi. She started with a bandish-ki thumri in raga Misra Behag: Ham se kabhie… with frequent interjection of taan-kartab (rapid cascading of notes): again unusual in thumri, but most sonorous to hear. Her next foray was a jhula in raga Megh: Jhula jhulata yugala  dhan… delectably invoking the Radha-Krishna duo. She then switched to a dadra in raga Bilawal: Aashaa dubi jaye, Shyam naa aao… The rounding-up was with her most frequently-rendered thumri: Babul mora naihar chhut jaye… in the most invocative evening raga Bhairavi. Her voice was still resonant, though enfeebled by ravages of age; her musical support — from the disciples Rita Dev and Shalini Dev — was exemplary; and her listeners in the overflowing auditorium prepared to sit through the night.

Extracts from interview with Girija Devi:

My prime accent has always been to combine sahitya (literature) with sangeet (music). When I sing, I am totally given to visualising my text.

They are all-important to me and must compliment my melody. When I sing a morning raga, the words must mirror the dawn. When I sing an evening tune, the text must resonate the gradual onset of night. 

I seek to visualise the flash of lightning and the drum-beat of thunder in my enunciation. Why should I use meend (glides) to present them, which would be totally inappropriateIJ

At BHU, I had to lecture to students at appointed hours. At SRA, it’s entirely gurukul (teacher-learner bonding) system. My disciples are like my children here, spending their entire waking hours, morning till night, with me, being groomed all the while. I love gurukul and I think it's the best way of learning music.

It stands at a very high pedestal today. There was a time when its popularity had waned. Now every classical singer, after presenting a Khayal or two, sings a thumri, or bhajan, or even chaiti or kajjri. They think the performance is complete only that way.