RaadheKrishna!!!!
Hey Folks....
A big thanks to a couple of friends who reminded me that I blog.....So without any fuss and reasons for justifying the delay, lets get started in a soulful journey...
As always, this post is also based on music.. To bring a north Indian flavor this time, I thought of writing about ghazals....I would define ghazals as "art of speaking to your beloved". The beloved can be interpreted in any manner....It can be a lady, the drink (99% its liquor), the weather or anything...Its up to the composer and his state of mind on how he wants to describe his beloved...The origination of ghazal is from Persia and medival Arabia....
Without any doubt, India and Pakistan are two countries which have mastered this art...Pakistan, of course...Ghulam Ali saab,Mehdi Hasan Saab, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan are considered the pioneers of this art. They actually can transform you to the next world. The way they present the compositions is indeed a treat to listen. The original composers of the ghazals are actually indebted to these singers for a very simple reason that they are the one who truly valued them and of course the converse is also true.
Now, comes the quint essential(many of you must be wondering that, I use this word too often, yes..it is one of my favorite word) point of music...Without the soulful element of music and the element of classicism, these ghazals couldn't have achieved the recognition which they have today. I agree to the fact that lyrics form a significant part of these compositions. I would be wrong if I say they both complement each other..Music naturally takes a upper hand..I will prove it now...Ghulam Ali was performing a soul stirring ghazal...The first line of ghazal goes like this..."Dil Mein Ke Leher Si Utti"...With his brilliant musical abilities, he sang the word "leher" in such a beautiful manner one could feel the waves coming in to them..This itself proves that without music that word could have remained so ordinary. I know many of you will disagree here...But am sorry folks...I am biased towards music...
The sad part...Our country hasn't produced great ghazal singers. Now, everybody will think of Pankaj Udhas, Jagjit Singh and Hariharan. But believe me, they are no way near to the legends whom I have mentioned above.. One can argue that art is such a relative concept that it totally depends on the person's liking and preferences. But personally, I find that the Indian singers are far behind their pakistan counter parts.....Common Guyz, lets give them the credit...Recently I saw in papers about a programme involving Hariharan and Ghulam Ali...There is absolutely no match.....But am sure there is immense talent here. Lets hope that those talents get unleashed in the most prospective manner and make our country proud.
On that positive note I am ending this post and putting my head phones to hear a mind blowing mehdi hassan ghazal with a "meeta paan" in my mouth..Awesome Combination eh????
Khuda Hafiz......
RaadheKrishna!!!!
nice :)
ReplyDeleteI must say, it's an awesome attempt by you to encourage Indian singers to be at par with their Pakistani counter parts and generate interest for Gazals among Indian listens.
ReplyDeleteOS..I would like to second your views that Indian singers are far behind their pakistan counter parts. It's not they lack talent or are less competitive than singer in our neighboring countries but I believe they lack listeners, who are as interested as their Pakistani counter parts have.
Indians have not been able to develop a as strong a taste for Gazals as they have developed for Bollywood numbers.
To support my views I would like the readers to listen to "kiska chehra" by Jagjit Singh. It certainly needs and appreciation.
GO.
nice :)
ReplyDeleteGood one dude.......
ReplyDeleteTo second your thought OS,one point that i can think about is that Indian singers treat music more professionally while Pakistani singers treat it more soulfully! As per me, the basic difference lies in the attitude per se..
ReplyDeleteGuys ...!!! With due respect to everyone's views.. A Ghazal is sung in Urdu which is unfortunately not our national language. But people of indian origin who have learnt the language and followed the art of portraying their feelings by way of singing a Ghazal itself is unmatchable and cannot be even thought of comparing with Pakistani ghazal singers.This is a mere talent on part of the singers mentioned under list of India. Although , i still would like to buy the point mentioned by mukund that singing a ghazal by a pakistani will be more effective that an Indian...but surely the talent wins here.
ReplyDeleteCheers..and Happy/Sad listening to ghazals.
O.S.Rajeev