Playing for God’s grace
ALKA RAGHUVANSHI
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Veteran vocalist Pandit Jasraj says music for him is like a prayer.
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A great believer in the healing power of classical music, the maestro has been trying to explore the link between yoga and ragas.
Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Halo Pandit Jasraj in New Delhi.
The Devi stuti from the concert the night before still reverberating in our ears, we quicken our steps to keep our appointment. A few minutes later he emerges: Deep red silk lungi and kurta vying with the blaze of the evening sun as it winks from its
perch amongst the lush verdure of the neem trees. The maestro is in a relaxed state. He even breaks into a song to illustrate a raga. The customary darbaris, who hang on to each word the maestro utters are delighted. Pandit Jasraj, the Hindustani classical vocalist of the Mewati gharana is a delightful mix of the dreamy with the hardcore practical with a lot of plain-speak thrown in for good measure. “Music for me is not like an art form, but like prayer or sadhna and bhakti. I sing for God. I think it is this spiritual element that I relate to. What we call an idol, is not without the qualities that we imbue to the form as part of prana-pratishtha. You understand why there are so many idols in India – to look at them and fall in love with them – that is why we invite life into them.”
The spiritual element to his music is unmistakable, for it runs through consistently in his music, words and persona. “Krishanji se hamari hello thi – I had a nodding acquaintance with Krishna – I was not besotted by Him. I would do my Hanuman japa praying for concerts! But I realised that the path of puja-path is a tough one. Music is like the radio short wave – relatively easier to do. And now I have a relationship with Him where I can tell Him that whenever I need to, I will trouble You. He makes his presence felt to me everywhere. Niranjan-nirakar ka darshan hona chahiye. I do the bhakti that He wants me to do,” he says with candour.
Tabla player
Hailing from a family of court musicians, he started out as a tabla player. “My elder brother, who was the singer in the family, lost his voice for over ten months. The family used to survive on his earnings. I tried to make ends meet with my tabla earnings, which obviously weren’t enough. After a few desperate attempts, the king, who was a deeply pious man, said to my brother: Today you will get your voice back. It was the turning point of my life. My brother did get his voice back and I vowed never to play the tabla, even though I had accompanied practically every important musician of my time. I decided to learn singing.”
The journey from the tabla may not have taken him so long, but the acceptance did. “The first time my guru allowed me to sing for a close group of people who knew me as a tabla player, he told them: kora maan rakh kar aana – come with an open mind. He made them wait in a room for 10 minutes before he allowed them to enter. My brothers were enthralled. It was a very special moment. I think today’s gurus are very generous. They realise that if they don’t share, most of them will remain with them. Also with technology, they are slowing beginning to realise that their credit will not be usurped.”
As Jasraj goes into a reminiscent mode, he recalls fondly, “it was my mausa (maternal aunt’s husband) who introduced me to music. In our house, even the satsang used to be about music. It didn’t even occur to us to do something else apart from music! A great believer in the healing power of classical music, the maestro has been trying to explore the link between yoga and ragas. “It has the ability to heal people of even physical manifestation of disease like diabetes, blood pressure, insomnia, reduce pain during childbirth. Some of our ancestors knew the particular ragas which cured various diseases, but in my own way I am trying to find the connect. Like my father told me that if one listens to raga Darbari for three hours daily over a period of three days, insomnia can be cured, but I would like to prove it beyond doubt. Once my father was unwell and he asked me to sing for him. So relieved he was that he said: Jasraj, jab tum gaate ho to mujhe jaldi pahunchta hai. But unfortunately, classical music is dying. And if we still don’t wake up, the heritage of music will be lost forever,” he says sadly.
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