Bhairavi - a fantastic read

Just utter the word 'classical music' and more often than not, the reaction of most people would be to either move to a group which is supposedly discussing a more interesting topic or cringe instantly in reaction as if the very mention of this for mof music brought back a memory of being dragged to one of the concerts at the Shanmukhanda hall by parents on a Sunday evening when one would have been happier playing cricket with friends or watching some movie on TV. I have encountered this reaction so many times now that I have stopped testing its effect on any new subjects. However, even for those who dont particularly have a taste for classical music and some of the other finer things in life, can still attempt reading Bhairavi by Peter Lavezzolli. The book is a treasure trove of Indian artistes' brief history.

I happened to pick up Bhairavi from one of my favourite book shopping haunts, Book World, on Fergusson College Road in Pune. The owner's enthusiasm sharply contrasts the attitude of most store owners in Pune. He is always eager to pull out books from the farthest corner and top most shelves in his old basement shop, without so much as a frown. This might sound strange to people from Mumbai who are reading this blog but believe me, in Pune this is the epitome of service. Actually that reminds me to write a blog soon on some of the interesting experiences with Pune establishments. Coming back to Bhairavi, its a treat and an unexpected one at that because when you first read the author's name it does not necessarily give you an impression that this book would contain such minute details of our atistes' lives or profession but once you have read the first few chapters, your opinion is completely reversed. The opening chapter on Ali Akbar Khan is marvellous with accounts of his father, Ustad Allaudin Khan's remarkable place in Hindustani music's history and the permanent impact that his mentorship has made on some of the fundamental aspects of the artform. To give an example from this book, Allaudin Khan's students included Pandit Ravi Shankar, Annapurna Devei, Shri Bhatkhande and of course Ali Akbar Khan. Out of these names, the other names would be very familiar and close to most but take the example of Bhatkhande and just try to understand his contribution to our classical music's conservation and tradition. Bhatkhande was the first person to document all the various Ragas, picking up this initiative from Allaudin Khan and to create a notation system in Hindustani music, which never existed till then. Indian musicians like most other Indian professionals till the last century, believed in oral transmission of knowledge. The case of music was no different and more so because Hindustani music does not demand mere interpretation of great works but lays greater emphasis on the improvisation ability of its exponent. Allaudin Khan amazes the reader with his versatility while the chapter on Allah Rakha Khan and Zakir Hussain moves the readers with the story of a Dogra Muslim who ran away from Jammu at a very early age to spend the rest of his life in elevating the Tabla to a position that was inconceivable before. The book proceeds to explore the influence of western musicians like George Harrison, John Mclaughlin and Mickey Hart, on the dramatic changes that happened to Indian music's acceptance and adoption in the West. Shakti is one such merger of the best of both worlds which, according to Lavezolli, influenced not only its listeners but to a great extent even the musicians that formed part of this dream team. The significant role that Zakir assigned to Carnatic music (who can forget Vikku's Ghatam playing) brought even within India, two schools of music quite close.

Without turning into an academic indlugence of the author, Bhairavi weaves one chapter into another and maintains a link between the stories of the musical geniuses that feature in this book. I would reccomend it as an easy reading book that could go down well with some tracks from Shakti or Ravi Shankar playing in the background. The book also adds some new tracks to one's list of tracks to be collected, like the Sitar Concerto no. 1 and 2 by Ravi Shankar, conducted by Zubin Mehta. That's one piece of music that I am going out to search in Rhythm House, Kala Ghoda at the very next opportunity i get.