Moments of union and ecstasy
JYOTI NAIR BELLIAPPA
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Baithak, that was once a mere religious gathering, has now begun to alter the cultural landscape.
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TRADITION IN PROGRESS Baithaks are no longer the prerogative of the rich.
Music in India ranges from simple melodies to one of the most grammatically rigorous systems of classical music.
From the early years of the Christian era, Bhakti and Sufi poets and saints have carried music to wider and local audiences. Arguably, one early instance of baithaks was religious gatherings organised by Amir Khusro for his murshid Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.
In the halqa, zikr, raatib and the sama baithaks, the revered murshid was a witness to the unfolding of philosophy and ethics and to the whole mystery of sufiana kalams conceived and executed before him, to the accompaniment of daff.
The shahi baithaks of the great Moghuls where Mian Tansen held court were historic.
Legend has it that while rendering raga Deepak he put out all shama-e-mehfil and once engulfed in flames, the exceptional power of his music was recognised.
The incident inspired a poet to comment, "ujala mausaqi ka ban gaya hai shams ki surat, qayamat tak ab iski raushani madham nahin hogi".
The splendour of music that has attained the brilliance of sun, will not diminish till the doom's day.
In an incident which was recorded, Baiju scored over Tansen in a musical encounter, when the latter's tanpura strings broke, and in an unprecedented move, urged emperor Akbar to lift the ban against the baithaks, popularising them, which till then had been the sole prerogative of the royalty.
The temple and the court baithaks of the Sufi saints and the poets of the Bhakti movement, the lavish nawabi baithaks of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and the mujras of Hyderabad and Lucknow may be counted among the progenitors of today's baithaks.
These baithaks can also be traced to the takiah tradition of Lahore. Takiahs were the inns, located outside the walled city originally housing the sufi fakirs lexically drawn from the long rounded pillows or bolsters used for back rest and support; provided avenues for musical performances, where stalwarts like Ustad Barkat Ali Khan and Ustad Sardar Khan also performed.
The patrons
Members of the colonial government in India and rulers of princely kingdoms continued to patronise the classical arts in new and different ways.
To quote Munna Shaukat Ali, "yeh ilme mausaqi ka nasha bhi ajeeb hai, jitna voh hamse dur hai utna qareeb hai." The intoxication of music is unique, a thirst that remains unquenched.
Today's baithaks are hosted in the comfort of living rooms or in big private halls of cultural institutions, "with shared intimacy, exchanging glances, making musical associations, overwhelming in their passionate response at once addictive and elevating, transmitting pure joy that transcends ones' being," reflects Vinod Kapur.
The vsk baithaks, for the last 30 years, have kept the mystique of khayal and thumri, sponsoring, hosting and presenting emerging as well as established artistes.
Girija Devi, Rashid Khan, Ulhas Kashalkar, Malini Rajurkar Shruti Sadolikar to name a few among the greats, and in the recent times equally adept younger generation like Sunanda Sharma and Manjulika Kulkarni Patil, have been part of more than fifty baithaks engaged in the eternal quest of the swara sustaining Hindustani Classical music with the `verve and grace of a felt emotion'.
Although the core is a closely-knit group of connoisseurs and music aficionados, hospitality is often extended to outsiders who can pick up invitations on a first come, first served basis.
There is this moment of ecstasy, which is awesome, a transformation, an awareness offered through musical idioms to the senses. `Originality' is the word associated with Hindustani classical.
Analogy of sea
The analogy of the sea explains it. Like the sea, it is deep, unfathomable, yet inventive; augmenting the rapport between the listener and the performer in a baithak.
As Munnaji aptly put it, "yeh buzurgon ki inayat ka tasalsul hai hanoz, mehfilen sajtee gaiyeen aur silsila badta gaya."
The grace of the maestros has been instrumental in continuing a tradition that seems to be reinventing itself. Baithak, which literally means `a place to sit,' is beginning to alter the cultural landscape of music in the Capital.
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