Second wind

Thirty minutes into the performance, there was a visible restlessness in the last row. “When will he start singingIJ” we could catch muffled whispers around us. The Dhrupad masterclass by Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar was turning out to be just that — a small showcase of a typical class in the traditional guru-shishya style of teaching — albeit on stage. But since the programme also mentioned that it was to be followed by Dhrupad recital by Ustadji, the audiences found it tough to hold restraint.

And almost on reflex — the eight youngsters on stage, too, start showing signs of anxiousness — learning as they were in public, in a first. A few fumbled with the opening Vilambit alaaps forcing the teacher to clarify, “It was week back that I told them that they will be singing with me on stage.”Since Dhrupad broadly refers to a single melodic line preceded by long elaborate alaaps in slow melodic development, the day’s lesson was largely devoted to training the vocal chords for a very organic and authentic rendering at a slow pace (vilambit laya). “Music isn’t just about rushing through. Allowing things to take their own time is as important. Especially, since Dagarvani is principally an oral tradition with no written text,” explained Dagar.

A deep bass, the other essential of Dhrupad, was taken care of in what followed next — singing in lower octaves. Some of the students showed their flourish as they improvised upon a given set of chords in really low octaves. But it was the young women who garnered the biggest applause attempting as they are seen as a tough act in a genre considered tougher even for men. Dagar, however, was not impressed. “Women have been singing Dhrupad for a while now. So let’s not make a big deal of it. Ultimately, they’re all artistes,” he said.

Thereon, the maestro took over the show belting out two small compositions in Raag Vihag set to chautaal — Kahan se tum mad pee ke aaye and Haare ko Hari naam — with his usual finesse. Though Dagar has been a regular at platforms like Swami Haridas Samaroh and Spic Macay Virasat series, this, he stressed, was a special performance since it marked the revival of the programme calendar of the Dagar family-run Dhrupad Society. 

The Society, which was started by Dagar’s uncle and father Ustad Zahiruddin and Ustad Faiyazuddin in 1971 for the propogation of Dagarvani style of Dhrupad, had been dormant since 2009 for lack of funds. While Dhrupad had seen a revival of sorts in the past few years with a lot of young talent, the Dhrupad Society’s had been a familiar story — of brutal market dynamics crushing the valuable tools that enabled that. “In 1985, we started the Bairam Khan Dagar Smriti Samaroh in our home town Jaipur, which ran consistently till 2009. This is our first programme since. I can’t bring myself to learn modern ways of collecting sponsors. I also can’t guarantee packed auditoriums for days on end. Hence the long gap in our programming,” said Dagar.

“How does one make people who put in money understand that Dhrupad is a niche genreIJ It can’t be a crowd-puller like Bollywood music. At the India International Centre, we didn’t have to worry about advertising. They sent out invites to their 300 members and the attendance was taken care of (the auditorium was almost 85 per cent full),” laurence Bastit, a Society volunteer since 1979, later told us.

The volunteers also used the occasion to display memorabilia from the Society’s collection like brochures, photographs, tickets, letters and recordings to allow a better recall of their activities. A Dhrupad Dhamar Sabha in collaboration with the Pandit Siyaram Tiwari Memorial Sangeet Trust has been planned on August 26 at the India Habitat Centre. Also in the offing is another master class.

Clearly, the Society isn’t ready to give up just yet. And Dhrupad lovers wouldn’t let them either. “Someone please tell Ustadji, he must have such classes more often. I loved it,” cried out a veteran listener stepping out of the auditorium giving a thumbs up to the efforts.