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A UNIQUE JUGALBANDI
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How about taking a break from loud, high-tempo music, and listening to something soft and serious?
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YOU WOULD surely be surprised if this column were to feature a classical musician like Shubha Mudgal. But then, there are times when you just feel like sitting back and listening to music that soothes your mind, and makes you think about life — about what it has given you and what it has not.
Chaahat (Times Music, CD, Rs. 295) is an album that does just that. It features six melodious tracks sung by Shubha Mudgal and written by lyricist and producer, Manju Sanghi. Each song reflects on one particular facet of life, be it happiness, anxiety, or faith. And the music sets an ambiance that makes the listener ponder over each of these emotions. Elements of Hindustani classical music, gazal, the sounds of dholki... All these elements are blended into the songs, making sure everyone's musical tastes are catered to.
Apart from being a well-known Hindustani and Thumri singer, Shubha is also a composer. Her repertoire of Kabir, Namdev, and Amir Khusrau poetry is impressive. She has also sung many other Sufi poets.
Manju Sanghi is the granddaughter of Shankar Lal, industrialist and poet from Uttar Pradesh. Brought up on a diet of Ghalib, Omar Khayyam, and Kabir, Manju's poetry is very philosophical and sometimes, mystical. The use of duel meanings for simple words is another of Manju's specialities. The deeper meanings of the words tend towards religion and faith in a supreme power.
She says: "I am fortunate to have been exposed to the ideas of Sufism that uses simple words to convey complex, philosophical ideas. The poet in me surfaced when I went through immense loneliness and started questioning the very purpose of life." This idea runs through Chaahat. The sleeve notes explain the idea behind each song, as told by Manju. For instance, the track "Ooncha Balamji Ka Des" is about a young girl in Uttar Pradesh who gets married and leaves her house, where she was showered great love. In "Itne Kareeb Ho Mere", the emotion of love comes into debate. True love does not need any special gestures. For the "mere presence of the beloved should elevate you to the position of being engulfed in love".
Each song in the album has a central theme, but more importantly, a deeper philosophical theme that lies beneath it. And this is the theme that will haunt you and make you think.
A. VISHNU
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