Rhythm divine, in unison
SUBHRA MAZUMDAR
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Even as the older Sabris hold on to purity of tradition, the new generation has ushered in modernity in sarangi rendition.
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GENERATIONS Ustad Sabri Khan (top) with Kamal and Suhail Khan. Photo: Shujoy Mazumdar.
A musical trio, playing classical sarangi and in unison, on the same platform, would lift the eyebrows of the knowing and the discerning. Among the enthusiasts, who do not set much score by purist classicism, such a suggestion would be welcome for its thrills and novelty. But when the sarangi is in the hands of the Sabri clan, with India's senior most Sarangi Nawaz, Ustad Sabri Khan taking centre-stage at the performance, all preconceptions are set to rest. His disciple and son, Kamal Sabri and youngster Suhail Khan, flanking on either side, ably take their cue from their lead performer and create a rendition that provides something more than solo and jugalbandi to instrumental concerts.
Says Kamal Sabri, about this unique task of gelling their play, "When we are doing a solo recital, we can do our own thing. But when it is a concert of this nature, the unwritten code is that our father should lead and then we elaborate on the bandish he has chosen. In that way, the essential cheez is not marred and the strong aura of the raga and its trend is kept intact."
And one soon finds that the father too plays with consideration when he is in such a joint recital. "Suhail gives me the space to show my own thing and in turn, I give him a musical direction. This is mainly by playing a short taan syllable and he then constructs passages around the same notes, concluding the cycle with a glistening tihai," says the senior Sabri.
But behind this well-structured synchronisation of their bows and bandish lies a story of gritted preparation. This is the seventh generation of sarangi players in the Sabri family and many a tradition followed today have been a hand-me-down from the past. Riyaaz in the household, according to Ustadji, must be timed with the fajar ki namaz. He claims his grandfather 's diktat was that, on his return from the neighbourhood masjid after the dawn namaaz, he should be greeted with the sounds of the sarangi being played by young Sabri. As of yore, this home has the aura of an ashram for disciples stay on and lessons are imparted free of charge even today. True vidya, according to this octogenarian guru, is God's gift, to be disseminated and not discounted.
In his heyday of his career as a professional performer, Ustad Sabri Khan's workday world began at the All India Radio studios, where he served as a staff artiste for 46 years. The maestro likes to reflect on the adaptations that he had to make to synchronise his playing with the top vocalists of the country. A much-sought-after accompanist, Ustadji attributes his acclaim to his ability to orient his bowing to the vocal strengths of individual performers.
Of pain and pleasure
Yet the charm of solo playing is one that is dearest to their hearts. In a philosophic takeoff, Kamal Sabri compares the technique and posture of the sarangi instrumentalist to being akin to the pain and pleasure of every human endeavour. "The player has to use his cuticles to play the instrument and that often results in soreness and pain. But the player cannot stop. He rests his sarangi against himself, symbolising the fact that the sarangi's sounds reproduce the human voice. The player has to strike out on a lonely path and adjust to a secondary role as few musicians nowadays like to match their prowess with a sarangi accompaniment and resort to a harmonium instead. ," he says.
But the changing times claim the younger generation. While father Sabri Khan perfected the khat khatka style to suit his vocalists, and the gayaki ang for solo renditions, his son Kamal has radicalised the instrument itself by tuning a guitar string in place of the traditional gut string. "The gut sound is best suited for the male voice but when accompanying a female performer, the deep sound was a distraction and the metal string has given vibrancy to my playing," says Suhail. For him, it is the world of fusion and compositional opportunities that count.
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