The delight is in the flight
GAUTAM CHATTERJEE
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Vocalist Mukul Shivputra revels in the journey, unaffected by the distance from the goal.
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PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
ON A FRESH COURSE Mukul Shivputra during a recital.
Listening to the music of Mukul Shivputra, son of the late Pandit Kumar Gandharva, you know that the river of sweetness of which Kumar Gandharva was the source is in no danger of drying up. You can be confident that this river of Indian classical music will not only continue to flow vibrantly with Mukul but also that he will give it the impetus for charting a fresh course.
"There was a time when classical music needed a singer like Kumarji. He came and enriched the music. He contributed to the health of classical music. But today, I need music to enrich myself. Ma Saraswati thought, this is a humble son of music, let him sing and survive, earn his bread and butter. This is the major difference between Kumarji and me," says Mukul with humility.
Though he belongs to his father's gharana and learnt from him since childhood, Mukul, on a visit to Varanasi, chooses to present the raga Nata Kamod, a joda raga presented usually in the Jaipur gharana. Mukul has the ability to conjure the mood before even touching the sur of any raga. Like his father, he enunciates a raga not with the Shadja. At this stage, he can establish a raga with two or three required notes within the shortest time frame. Melodic phrases appear after a long while.
Nucleus of a raga
He delves into the deeper layers of the alap as a prayer in vilambit and then approaches the nucleus of the raga presented. He explains, "Look at the avadhoot of a raga between the two notes. If you slip, look at the space behind the notes, the inner face and the intrinsic nature will be revealed by and by."
After facing hard times and intense riyaz, Mukul, 49, lives the life on a different scale. In Nemavada, near Devas (Madhya Pradesh) he stays for few days and walks all over the countryside. It is as if he is unconscious of the world and alone. He relaxes in his isolation, finds his solitude in singing. He rarely gives concerts wherever invited. Two or three concerts in a year are enough for him to sustain a simple and independent lifestyle.
"At present, we name the music guru and spiritual guru separately, but actually one has to be a sadhak to learn Indian classical music since the two are not separate. They are one, and my country is the place to find it,"he adds.
It seems graceful and effective when he uses both the Madhyams of Chhayanat in Nata Kamod, but why this experiment? "Because the delight of flying is in flying, not in reaching. The flight of an eagle gives us the sense to become free from the known and dwell in the present. Using both the Madhyams gives us the bhava to depict a raga like Nata Kamod," he explains. At present Mukul is composing the verses of Meghdoot and Gitanjali.
He clarifies, "I have been working with Meghdoot ever since I can remember. Once I was composing the initial verse of Meghdoot, and Kumar Ji was passing by. He listened, then brought me his compositions and composed for meafresh. I was amazed, for I had been thinking he was not aware of Meghdoot. Those compositions, I am rehearsing with fresh zeal."
Discerning listeners will be able to delight in these very soon.
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