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Free of the shadow

Madhup Mudgal understands the value of being a great master's student even as he is on his own musical journey

DROP IN THE OCEAN Madhup Mudgal: `My journey is a very small one. You can't and shouldn't compare me with Kumar Gandharva' Photo: Murali Kumar K.

Madhup Mudgal is an unusual student of the maverick Kumar Gandharva. You would not expect the student of such a master to be anything other than a classical singer. Or can we actually do given Kumar Gandharva's unconventional genius? Whatever the case, Madhup is a classical singer receptive to music also from very different genres — he has done classical singing for the Brazilian samba dance, plays the bass and guitar, conducts choirs and loves qawwalis. All this when the great Kumar Gandharva was still around.

Stinting praise

Astonishingly, the genius wasn't perturbed at all. In fact there was some hint of praise. "He never praises any of his students in front of them. He never praised his own son who was very good. He only told someone else that his son was perhaps the best student when it came to carrying his legacy, music, form and style. Panditji did catch me playing the guitar and being part of a choir. He told someone else: `Yeh hoshiyar ladka hai'. You will notice he does not say that that I sing well... hoshiyar does not mean to sing well, it means being alert. Perhaps he meant that I was an alert boy, that I was very receptive to music. I can only assume that and if it is that it is a great feeling."

There is such a healthy hesitation in Madhup's understanding of what his great teacher may have meant by hoshiyar because he knows praise is not easy coming from great masters. Much in the same way Madhup is realistic about his capacities as a classical singer. "You can't even begin to compare me with Kumarji. I'm sorry. His energy and purity of notes are in a different league. My journey is a very small one. You can't and shouldn't compare me. Please don't."

Madhup understands he has had the good fortune of being Kumar Gandharva's student. Having nothing to do with how good he is or is not, he observes: "Kumarji did not have too many students. Learning from him was a challenge in itself. The energy you need to bring to learn a raag from him is not ordinary at all. He will tell you the raag roop or rag ang, but you have to build your own alaap. He will never make you remember the phrases, you would have to do it yourself after he tells you once. He will give you the building materials, but you have to build the house yourself."

Madhup points out that his own style of singing is elaborate, that he takes time to develop and unfold phrases, while Kumarj Gandharva's was terse, brief, and powerful in impact. It is near impossible to sing, Madhup, believes, in the style of Kumar Gandharva. "There is no copy book to adopt his form. What you present in 10 to 12 minutes, he will present in two minutes. The two minutes will have everything of the phrase. He packs in enormous energy in that little time. It is atomic. He gets over the phrase, moves on to the next one and the next. That is how his raag will unfold. He never believed in wasting time. Once you show the phrase, it's over. Why go on elaborating?"

Kumar Gandharva believed that taans had to be used aesthetically and not to exhibit technical prowess. "He wanted the raag ang, the raag roop to be maintained even in taan. So, taan could never have been just an exercise for him."

Among the many lessons that one learns from Kumar Gandharva, contrary to popular perception, is his adherence to tradition. "He was a traditionalist. He would first teach you all the well-known, traditional, old compositions and only then go ahead. He was very strict when it came to discipline. Once grammar mastered, the fine art was important. You had to learn tradition, but had to build on it and move beyond it." This emphasis on moving beyond is what makes people see Kumar Gandharva as unconventional. "He sang raag Malkauns with pancham. He would establish Malkauns in the very first phrase, but people would always wait for the point where he introduced the pancham. Then they would call him a rebel... he took these liberties and yet establish the raag. That is a genius you cannot explain."

Nonconformist guru

The problem with having learnt from such a nonconformist guru is that people have such expectations of Madhup too. But, as he puts it, from a very clear understanding of his own position, he cannot take as many liberties. "I cannot treat a raga like my guruji did. I have to approach it traditionally and give it a coherent structure. Not that I haven't tried to take liberties, but they didn't work for me like it did for him."

Nevertheless, Madhup Mudgal recognises his inherent power. "I am confident inside."

Madhup doesn't feel anxious that most of the conversation has been taken over by the overwhelming persona of Kumar Gandharva. He breaks into tears. "What better pleasure can there be than speaking about him?"

PRASHANTH G.N.

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