First, the tanpura sets the tone. How the musician responds to the drone of the tanpura prepares the listener for the music that is to come. Koushik Aithal immerses himself into the resonances of the tanpura, initiating you into the eternal life of each note. As he leisurely – in the Dhrupad style -- plumbs into the notes of the rich Pooriya he is going to unfold, you wonder if his tanpura works like a swaramandal – quietly prompting the profound oeuvre of each note. Raga is accumulated memory, but it is afterall the personality a musician bestows upon it.
In this album published by the Parameshwar Hegde Sangeet Academy, Koushik’s rendition of raag Pooriya is characterised by an intensity that demands complete attention of the listener. The cheez “Ye Piya Gunavatha” comes alive in his stately, yet reflective presentation. Every note is proposed in its microtonal nuance, and every syllable of the bandish is handled with such exceptional attention that it almost feels like he is caressing the words. The raga is particularly difficult not just because it shares its boundaries with influential ragas like Marwa and Sohini, but also because there are monumental renditions by the stalwarts of the two streams of Kirana Gharana, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi and Ustad Amir Khan. Koushik without diminishing expectations of connoisseurs, keeps his aspirations lofty and works his way through a meticulously crafted structure of Pooriya.
For a good length of his delineation, Koushik unravels the multiple possibilities of meaning of the word “piya” ( bol alaap ). It ranges from musical to literary and as he, in the most unanticipated manner soars to the next level of meaning in the phrase “ek guna nahin”, he elevates it to the philosophical. He complicates meaning further as he in the most poignant way seems to explore what is this “piya’s guna?” Can piya have a single attribute, just as can have Pooriya have a singular dimension? Koushik makes meaning more complex, and he simultaneously steps up the rigour of his music. He traverses the upper octaves in supplication and surrender using the tools of boltaans and gamaks. Lucid and clear, Koushik is a picture of restraint. The drut bandish “Shyam Sundar” in teentaal picks up in speed and the musician displays felicity in all speeds. For this kind of effortlessness – where the buddhi and bhava are perfectly intertwined -- the mind requires proper cultivation. One finds that kind of reassurance in Koushik’s music, he is completely confident of his idiom and mode of presentation. Hence, even in moments when Koushik is deploying high level of skill and technique, he doesn’t under privilege the emotion, which is the most elusive aspect of music.
When he sings Durga he doesn’t sound like the extension of his earlier self. Koushik displays his able musicianship by castings himself into the mould of the raga and makes his musical space a dynamic one. The lilt, contour, romance and tipping point of Durga in “Devi Bhajo Durga Bhavani” inclines towards Bhakti. In this rendition as well, one sees that the bandish is at the heart of the melodic expansion. A variety of highly imaginative boltaans are sung in the upper octaves. His rendition of the swaras are never a temptation to leave the framework he has diligently built – he reins it in, completely conscious of the architecture of his presentation. They are a combination of meend and delicate graces, establishing the raga’s innocent and pure personality.
Koushik, true to his training, is a firm adherent of Kirana, Gwalior and Patiala. The purity of the note for him is most supreme, the bandish is the core of the melodic experience and the intricacies he achieves has closeness with the thumri ang .
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Chaitanya Shankar Bhat’s (Paaramya) singing is understated and pensive. It is in his voice -- soft, mellifluous and loaded with emotion. So, when Chaitanya sings it is the emotion that reaches you even before the raga.
Chaitanya’s Malkauns in his rendition of the khyal “Dhaata mori laaj” is intense and expansive. He explores each note of this raga in detail, beautifying it with mild andolans . This raga which is known for its antiquity gets that extra enrichment from the tabla (Gurucharan Garud) which has a pakhawaj tone. Without too many gamaks and tans, he passionately dwells at length in the lower octaves and gradually pushes the margins to the higher octave. The lilting, cyclical nature of his swaraprastara enhances the overall aesthetics of his rendition.
His Bhairagi Bhairav -- Revati of the south Indian music school -- invokes feelings of separation and longing. The raga has special favour in light classical music, and it is impossible not to remember the extraordinary composition of Mysore Ananthauswamy, “Tanuvu Ninnadu”. The initial moments of his rendition are shaky but Chaitanya builds it with poise. He displays high level of skill in the evocative tarana.
Both Koushik and Chaitanya display a high level of proficiency. There are minor pitfalls but they seem unimportant in the larger scheme of things. It would be incomplete without the mention of their guru Pandit Parameshwar Hegde who is perhaps the most committed teacher in Karnataka today. In the footsteps of his guru Pt. Basavaraj Rajguru who trained a large number of students, Pandit Parameshwar Hegde has groomed and nurtured several students. Both these albums are released by the Parameshwar Hegde Music Academy apart from those of several other students.
Both Koushik and Chaitanya display the restraint and controlled approach of their guru, Pandit Parameshwar Hegde whose music amalgamates the features of the Kirana, Gwalior and Patiala gharanas. While carrying forward this school of music, both of them display a high level of individuality as a befitting continuity to tradition.
One sincerely hopes that music sabhas and connoisseurs look less at Bombay and value indigenous talent. Their artistry is completely shorn of gimmicks and rests completely on the values of good music. If this is not a daring act in these times, what else is?
For copies of the albums contact, parameshwarhegdeacademy@
gmail.com.
