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The Ballad of Spring
Part II

SARBPREET SINGH

 

 

 

Continued from yesterday …



PART II

I would often go back to my recordings from Bhai Gurmej Singh’s memorable visit to Bridgewater in 1994, and many times to a particular shabad that he sang right around Hola Mohalla, when Basant is put to bed, according to the gurmat sangeet tradition.

The solemn beauty of this shabad cannot be articulated in words. [The best way to share its magnificence is to offer you the recording … please see below].

I remember asking Bhai Sahib what he had just sung and getting the somewhat cryptic reply that he had sung the shabad in Buddha (old, ancient) Basant!

Several years later I was talking to the late Gyani Dyal Singh (a well know Sikh musicologist and the Principal of the Rakabganj Kirtan School for almost 40 years) about the various forms of Basant and asked him about 'Buddha Basant'.

When I observed that it sounded like a regulation Kafi ki Hori (a particular kind of composition from the Indian Classical tradition, often employing texts about the Hindu deity, Krishna, and often sung around Holi), Gyani ji chuckled and said that by Hola Mohalla, after Basant had been sung for two months, the raagis of yore would say that Basant 'buddha ho gya hai' (Basant has got old) and sing shabads in Kafi, which was why it had acquired the epithet, ‘Buddha Basant‘.

Bhai Avtar Singh Gurcharan SIngh also document Buddha Basant in their book and upon an admittedly cursory examination, it seems different from Kafi!

Other encounters with the melodies of spring are also worth mentioning.

Early, another January morning in the late 90s. I remember making a quick trip to  Harmandar Sahib. I was in Amritsar to attend a wedding and I was short of time, but on an impulse, I decided to go to Darbar Sahib. I made a hurried parikarma (circumambulation), went inside, paid my respects and was preparing to leave. The current shabad chowki (the name given to the various sessions of singing inside the Harmandar Sahib) had ended and a new raagi jattha (group of mistrels) was starting to tune their tablas.

Then, a somewhat reedy, somewhat nasal voice started a sublime mangla charan in Raag Basant, set to vilambit (slow) ik-taal (a rhythmic cycle of 12 beats).

I stood transfixed. The mangla charan (invocation) was followed by a fabulous shabad in Basant, set to slow chartaal, in the majestic Dhrupad style. Another shabad in Raag Basant Hindol followed.

The last shabad was a lively rendition, if I remember correctly, of mouli dharti mouliya akaash, in Raag Bahar. And of course, Basant ki Vaar!

45 minutes flew by. All commitments forgotten, I was rooted to the spot! I had to find out who the kirtaniya was. I was told it was the jattha of Bhai Narinder Singh  Banaraswale, one of the most accomplished raagis at the Harmandar Sahib and a most delightful man, who I had the pleasure of meeting years later on another visit. How I wish I had my recording equipment with me that day!

Again, several years later: we were in Boston and our little band of young kirtaniye was thriving. We had the great pleasure of hosting the well-known kirtaniya, Bhai Baldeep Singh, who had graciously agreed to conduct a workshop on gurmat sangeet.

During the course of the workshop, Bhai Baldeep Singh played a tape of someone singing a shabad in Raag Darbari Kanada. I was absolutely mesmerized!

Darbari is one of my favorite raags and what a Darbari this was. The rendition was clearly the work of a master. The only other renditions I had heard that came close in terms of conveying the richness and beauty of the raag were those by Khan Sahib Abdul Waheed Khan and his celebrated student Pandit Pran Nath of the Kirana Khayal Gharana and the great Mohammad Hussain Saharang, the Afghan maestro from the Patiala tradition.

When I excitedly asked Bhai Baldeep Singh who this extraordinary singer was, he just smiled enigmatically and said nothing. Later on, he told me that the recording was by Maharaj Thakur Singh, son and student of the legendary Gian Singh Almast who had studied with Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar of the Gwalior tradition.

That rendition by Thakur Singh ji left an indelible impression on me. I had already published an article about Almast ji, piecing together a faint portrait of his personality through conversations with his contemporaries such as Gyani Dyal Singh and Raja Mrigendra Singh, musician, musicologist and scion of the former Patiala ruling family.

This article was read by S. Bhavkhandan Singh, another of Almast ji’s sons, who was kind enough to share with me an archive of his brother, Thakur Singh’s recordings.

In these recordings I discovered many priceless gems, including a stunningly beautiful rendition of a shabad in Raag Basant, without which this reflection on the melodies of the spring would be woefully incomplete. [Please see below for the recording.]

It is that time of year again!

Hola Mohalla this year falls on March 15. In a week’s time the young kirtaniye of Boston will get together again at the Milford Gurdwara. Basant ki Vaar will be sung. There will be snow on the ground but shabads will be sung in Basant and other raags of the spring.

It is true that the advent of Basant or spring, in the context of gurbani is really a metaphor for the blooming of the soul. Why should we also not rejoice at the passing of a long cold winter and the promise of a spring redolent with the fragrance of fresh blooms?

Here in Boston and all over the world, the tradition will endure.


To hear shabad by Bhai Gurmej singh, please CLICK here.
To hear Bhai Thakur Singh’s rendition of a shabad in Raag Basant, please CLICK here.



CONCLUDED

March 9, 2014

 

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Part II"









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