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K. Murali Kumar

UNIFYING SPACE Jeyashree and Shubha: ‘We will sing in our own styles and from our own sensibilities, not to eliminate the possibility of criss-crossing’ Photo:

And so you have the earthy-voiced Jeyashree rendering some lovely film music compositions with deep involvement and Shubha Mudgal with her full-bodied voice belting out pop music with intense commitment. Whether it is Jeyashree’s lullabies or Bharatiyar’s poetry or Shubha’s Sufi renditions or her songs in ‘Man ke Manjeere’, they are reflective and sincere.

When you have two such egalitarian musicians coming together, expectations are high. Not in musical terms alone, but also in terms of exploring genres, fusing boundaries, Shubha shifts the conversation from real time to historical time putting their experiment as part of a continuing tradition. “There has been an interest and curiosity about other kinds of music and it is not new. People have been doing it for generations and this is an area that has been constantly explored. What we are doing now could perhaps be called a ‘newer exploring’.”

“We are trying to dwell upon the emotional content of the common ragas, though the singing styles are entirely different,” explains Jeyashree. They don’t intend to memorise compositions from the other system, and “it wouldn’t be truthful,” observes Shubha. And hence, they thought juxtaposition was a better idea. “We will, in all our efforts together, sing in our own styles and from our own sensibilities, not to eliminate the possibility of criss-crossing and an intuitive interaction,” adds Shubha.

To come to an understanding with each other, it requires tremendous amount of working together. “If we need to achieve an intuitive response on stage, we need to spend lots of time practising together. There’s till some untidiness to it all, but we are making an effort to get better with each concert,” says Shubha.

While both of them are firmly rooted in their respective traditions, their constant forays into other genres have forced them to answer questions on the notion of tradition and purity. Jeyashree says: “Tradition is constant change. It is also an extension of my personality, the manner in which I perceive things.” Given that music in India to a large extent has been an oral tradition, it is implausible to keep track of what was borrowed or what was lent. It is an unremitting process. “It happens even now, in divisive times like this. How can anyone claim that they are part of a blue-blooded tradition? Look, I’m the 13th generation in the musical lineage. What kind of claim can I make? At best, I can say I’m a 13th generation music lover,” says Shubha, astutely. But when you are called eclectic and not labelled with a gharana, is it isolating? “No,” she continues. “I don’t feel perturbed. These are things discussed in seminars. But if you read the life stories of gurus, you’ll realise that they have also been trained by many gurus. It’s strange that we choose not to acknowledge that part of history. Also there is nothing new left even in this ‘eclecticness’ claim,” says Shubha categorically.

Devotional poetry goes beyond the Saguna (the God with attributes) to become the Nirguna (the abstract notion). Like music, does the musician also achieve this? It doesn’t really matter to Jeyashree whether it is God X or God Y. What matters to her is the devotion. Shubha however, is interested in knowing the ritual or context of the poem. “Music has emerged and evolved from various worship spaces. It’s important to know its origin because we have to accept there is divisiveness in art as well as hierarchies. If there is a space that’s composite, it is music. In rendition, I agree music has a strong quality of the Nirguna.”

Both Bombay Jeyashree and Shubha Mudgal are two serious musicians who have a realistic assessment about their project. “We have no intentions of outshining each other, nor do we intend to share symmetrical concert space. It is a dialogue and hope it will be an enriching one,” they say.

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