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`Traditions afford space'

The Gundecha brothers are the torchbearers of the Dagarbani dhrupad tradition. Even as they are rooted f<134><134><134><134><134>irmly in the institution, it gives them the strength to revitalise it with new poetic energy

PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.

FIRMLY GROUNDED Akhilesh, Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha are proud that they have never deviated from the rigours of dhrupad even as they have tried to infuse the ancient, difficult and intellectual form with new content.

Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha are the stars of the oldest surviving school of dhrupad, the Dagarbani. Their singing is marked by a great feel for melody, fullness, power, and an enormous sense of harmony. In fact, they are instrumental in bringing back into mainstream the dhrupad, a form that moved to the periphery with the khayal usurping its place. One could call them restorers of a fading tradition. They have even made it contemporary, infusing it with new poetic energy by bringing contemporary writers into the dhrupad's fold.

Heap them with praises and the brothers will either change topic or retract into a shell of modesty. While Ramakant Gundecha chose not to say anything, Umakant and Akhilesh Gundecha (the last of the three and plays the pakhawaj) happily switched over to discuss the latest in video cameras with our photographer. In the process you discover that this warm threesome are academic in their approach to just about everything. In fact, they even remember our last meeting and the headline of the article that appeared in MetroPlus.

It is this thoroughness in approach that has given them the strength to take the grand old tradition of the dhrupad to a new course, without compromising on its tenets or rigour.

As they slip into the conversation mode hesitantly,

DEEPA GANESH eggs them on to say more. And because they are three siblings, we chose to call this feature Take Three.

Umakant: Ours is not a musical family. But aren't we lucky that we had a father who was forward-looking enough to let us pursue it seriously?

Ramakant: Yes, when he realised we had good voices and a keen sense of music, he encouraged us. In fact, he even sought a transfer from Ujjain to Bhopal so that we could study dhrupad.

Umakant: We never consciously thought of become dhrupad singers. For a long time, we just learnt classical music.

Ramakant: All that we knew was we didn't want to sing anything but classical.

Umakant: But somewhere along the way we decided to learn the dhrupad. And that's when father decided to shift to Bhopal.

Ramakant: We never thought of singing separately. Though we didn't sit together and discuss it in any formal way, it seems like we had always made up our mind to sing together, isn't it?

Umakant: I suppose so...

Ramakant: Do you remember those extensive discussions we used to have on how we have to work towards keeping original voice qualities?

Umakant: Oh, yes! We really worked hard. We wanted our voices to sound sonorous. Since we were singing together, we decided to keep the phrases short...

Ramakant: But that we did for another reason. By the time we came on to the scene, dhrupad had lost its popularity. We wanted to bring back audiences to listen to this grand form. In the true spirit of the dhrupad tradition that places great emphasis on voice culture, we did think a lot about how our voices should be presented.

Umakant: That's true. We had such exacting training. Oh, how we worked to perfect it!

Ramakant: Voice, for us, was a strategy to get more and more people to listen to dhrupad. So at least with our voices we wanted to draw the attention of the audience. But people just didn't want to listen.

Akhilesh: (the most reticent sibling during the conversation) Things have changed now...

Umakant: Yes, now they come and listen. In fact, it has regained its popularity in a big way.

Ramakant: So much so that they now listen to not just us, but to others too. That really makes us happy, doesn't it? It is back in the mainstream... in a way, it's like a dream come true.

(I interrupt) Till recently only traditional compositions were being sung in the dhrupad. But you have set to music poems of other poets too?

Umakant: It is a fairly new phenomenon. But Aminuddin Dagar saab had composed (to music) a poem by Kabir.

Ramakant: If one is thorough with the structure of the dhrupad, then you can set it to any poetry — Tulsidas, Kabir, Mahadev Verma, Padmakar...

Umakant: Wasn't it challenging? And moreover the literary atmosphere in Bhopal was very influencing...

Akhilesh: Each poet captured an altogether different emotion. Padmakar was romantic, Kabir secular...

Ramakant: Yes, but the overall mood of the dhrupad is one of peace. All the compositions fell so beautifully in place after they were composed. And what an overwhelming response we have received from the audience!

Umakant: Old poetry is also beautiful. But nobody knows how the compositions were done originally. Haven't we recomposed quite a few?

Umakant: Moinuddin Dagar saab was so very appreciative of our work.

Ramakant: People did voice their reservations to start with, but we didn't have any major setback from the traditionalists. Great traditions have enormous space.

Umakant: We have never deviated from the original form...

Ramakant: ... except when we are given 20 minutes and asked to give a dhrupad recital (smiles).

Umakant: But that doesn't mean we are out of tradition.

Ramakant: We usually sing the alap for at least 45 minutes.

Akhilesh: We've never made compromises. It's alap in three speeds, composition, followed by improvisation.

Ramakant: There is such benefit in being together; we dialogue together. It's such a boon to have a pakhawaj player at home, someone constantly available.

Akhilesh: That's how we planned it, isn't it?

Umakant: We do have our differences in our music, like every creative person would. But then there is so much that we gain in our being together. It even gives our music that special edge.

(The other two Gundechas look at their older brother approvingly.)

Umakant: (turns to me and says) We have started a gurukul. Presently, we have 15 totally dedicated students.

Ramakant: We welcome anybody between the age of 20 and 30 and has a passion for the form.

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