Bihag and Behag

Introduction

The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) airs many programmes on Radio Ceylon based on old Hindi film songs. These are then available as YouTube audios even within a few hours. Many are weekly programmes. Among them, one features film songs based on Hindustani raags. A few days ago, I happened to hear one that began with the song “Tere Sur Aur Mere Geet” from the film Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) based on the Raag Bihag. Bihag is a melody in the Hindustani style. In Carnatic music, it becomes Behag, a janya ragam of (Dhira) Sankarabaranam. This blog is about songs based on Bihag and Behag that I have enjoyed over the years.

Early Days

During my school days, long before I could identify ragams, I recall having heard a 78-rpm record of “Oruthi Maganai Pirandhu” rendered by Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. I learnt it was a Thiruppavai Pasuram based on Behag. What impressed me was the simple beauty of the ragam and Palghat Mani Iyer’s nuanced mridangam play that kept in step with the pace and pauses in the song. Years later, I heard Naushad’s “Tere Pyar Mein Dildar” sung beautifully by Lata for the film Mere Mehboob (1963). I thought it was based on Behag. More knowledgeable friends educated me that the song was based on Bihag, the Hindustani parent of Behag. That was my (Bi) Ha (g) moment!

Bihag

Bihag is a popular raag with Hindi film music directors. Among all of them, the two who have used it most evocatively and creatively are Naushad and R D Burman (RDB) respectively. Here are two selections from each.  

Hamare Dil Se Na Jana – Udan Khatola (1955)

The song begins with a haunting voice overture by Lata that could well have fitted into Woh Kaun Thi that was made some nine years later. After that, Naushad deploys musical instruments, particularly the sarod, to create the jal tarang effect and introduces Bihag and sustains it through the song.

Chalenge Teer Jab Dil Par – Kohinoor (1960)

This song, though based on Bihag, is in complete contrast to the previous song. If that was slow and haunting, this is fast-paced and cheerful. While that was a solo, this is a duet. In the first song, Nimmi and Dilip stare at each other from a distance. Here Meena Kumari and Dilip sit next to each other to sing a qawwali. Finally, while instruments are used to create the Bihag touch in Udan Khatola, the melodiousness of Bihag is brought out by Rafi and Lata in Kohinoor.

This duet will forever be etched in my memory for yet another reason. Kohinoor was released in November 1960 and all the songs were hits. The annual sports at the St. Joseph’s Indian High School where I was then doing my SSLC were usually held in the second half of the year. The venue used to be our school play ground that was next to Webb’s Garage on M G Road. A lot of us used to go to cheer our house teams and witness some thrilling events like the finals of the sprints and the open 1500 meters. There were shamianas with music playing through loudspeakers. I clearly recall Chalenge Teer Jab Dil Par being one of most popular songs that year!  

Beeti Na Bitayi Raina – Parichay (1972)

This memorable song from Parichay is picturised on Jaya Bahaduri and Sanjeev Kumar who are daughter and father in the film. Sanjeev plays the character of a talented singer who decides to pursue music as a career and becomes estranged with his father. RDB may not have been as well trained as Naushad in Hindustani music but such was his innate sensibility, that he pulls off a stunner here. Bhupinder’s deep voice is in sharp contrast with Lata’s sad rendering of the song and yet, the two of them combine admirably to bring out the pathos of the situation in the film as well as that of Bihag.

Zindagi Ke Safar Mein – Aap Ki Kasam (1974)

This long solo by Kishore is, in my reckoning, one of the best he ever recorded for either Rajesh Khanna or RDB. It is poignant as befits the situation of a long train journey with many flashbacks that is being depicted on the screen. RDB shows his musical genius by effortlessly combining a masterly instrumental score with strains of Bihag and even Sohini in flashes. All this just goes to show that Indian classical music is not cast in stone but can be interpreted creatively by musicians of diverse backgrounds and preferences. I also feel that this song is perhaps Anand Bakshi’s best composition after Amar Prem (1972).  

Behag

Whereas I had to use Hindi film songs to illustrate the beauty of Bihag, I have chosen Carnatic music to depict my enjoyment of Behag. The reason is that I have not heard Bihag being rendered in the Hindustani concerts I have attended. Equally, I am not too familiar with film songs based on Behag in Tamil or any of the South Indian languages. Behag was and is popular with most artists. There are a number of songs in Tamil, Kannada and other languages that are signature pieces in Behag and often heard in concerts. At the risk of being blamed for omitting one song or the other, I have selected three artists who have, over the years, made us enjoy Behag. They are MLV, Sanjay and Lalgudi.

Muruganin Maru Peyar Azhagu – MLV    

This unusual song composed by Guru Surajananda (GS) is my first pick. According to Thiru Vi Ka, one of the progenitors of modern Tamil prose, the word ‘Murugu’ means ‘azhagu’ or beauty. GS not only accepts that but goes on to make his entire composition an appreciation of that beauty by the use of related words like ‘Muruval’, ‘Kulumai’, ‘Oli’ and ‘Ezhil’. MLV’s impeccable diction enhances the appeal of the lyrics. She begins the song with a Virutham that outlines Behag for us. Her effortless sangathi in the anupallavi enables us to savour Behag in the higher notes.

Innamum Oru Thalam – Sanjay

Behag is one of the many favourites of Sanjay going by the number of songs in that ragam, including an RTP, that he has sung in his concerts. Spoilt for choice, I have chosen the above composition of Marimutha Pillai because taken with the opening Virutham brilliantly rendered by Sanjay, it is a complete package.

Thillana – Lalgudi

This very popular Thillana of Lalgudi is one of his best. I conclude the blog with this piece from an AIR concert (vintage unknown) with Palghat Mani Iyer on the mridangam. Lalgudi’s rendering showcases all that is best in Behag and Carnatic music. Plus, I have the satisfaction of starting and ending this blog with a mention of the name of that great mridangam legend!

Before I sign off …..

The song “Tere Sur Aur Mere Geet” is nominally a Lata solo. But what has made the song a classic is Ustad Bismillah Khan’s mellow notes on the shehnai following Lata. In Bharat Vyas’s lyrics, the ‘sur’ comes ahead of the ‘geet’. But in music director Vasant Desai’s scheme of things, it is ‘geet’ first and then ‘sur’. Though fifteen years older than Lata and at the peak of his popularity, Bismillah Khan seems to have had no issues with being a mere accompanist. Both went on to win the Bharata Ratna in 2001!

My apologies for not listing all the other popular songs, filmi or otherwise, in Bihag/Behag. Hope you enjoy the few that are included and appreciate the melody. You only have to click on the lyrics of the song that have been highlighted in bold italics in the text.  

S. Krishna Kumar

22^nd January, 2022

Bengaluru

Blog # 30              

The New (Ab)Normal

“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behaviour.” – Viktor Emil Frankl (1905-97)

Introduction

A newspaper article and a blog that I read last week are the triggers for this blog. T M Krishna’s article titled “What the pandemic has revealed about the arts in India” (more teasingly titled “Arts, virus and the algorithm” initially) appeared in the Indian Express of 7^th January. I saw the blog published by Anand Kumar R S on 9^th January rather accidentally through YouTube. It was on “The new LCS Trinity in the Carnatic World!”. Both authors write about the impact of Covid-19 and our response to it on the art scene today. Yet, they offer such contrasting perspectives that I felt like doing a blog comparing the two pieces.

Art, virus and the algorithm

As the Indian Express sums up, TMK’s article is an articulation of how the pandemic “has highlighted the inadequacies of our cultural space, the lack of economic support for artists and the dangers of allowing social media to dictate art-making.” All the three strands are admirably pieced together by TMK.

He begins by noting that during the pandemic, we have been reactive rather than pro-active and let “existential questions of what it means to be an artist, the role of technology, the lack of any economic fallback and our relationship with the audience” remain on the back-burner. We have been fixated on today and yesterday without looking towards tomorrow. Hence our response to the deeper impact of the pandemic on art and culture has been reflexive rather than reflective, leading to the growing influence of social media on art.

TMK’s fear of social media taking over art is on two counts. At one level, it is about the artist losing control over his art to Content Creators and Influencers who may or may not have an appreciation of the art form but are the entrenched part of the “social media circus”. The second is about the ability of social media to distort the art world exactly as it has polarised our societies by preying on our emotions, vulnerabilities and divisions. The artist in TMK does not allow him to accept these as inevitable, evolutionary changes. He warns that “When art’s intentionality is morphed, the art experience is twisted” and goes on to say “I am concerned that when the temporal world returns to normalcy, the way we make and receive art would have become distorted.”

What does “normalcy” even mean to indigent artists who have, for two years, had “no mind space or incentive to train, imagine and create”, have had to take up other jobs to eke out a living and must now “somehow rediscover their spirits and abilities”? This effort would require outside support. TMK does not spell out the details but merely hints that it must be comprehensive enough to cover refurbishing of costumes, repairs to instruments and renovation of infrastructure.

TMK concludes by articulating his fear that “heightened restrictiveness” may well become the new normal in future thereby restricting access to “public spaces” for artists. He makes a larger case for “creating art in the open”.

The New LCS Trinity

Anand Kumar R S (AK) begins his blog by noting that the world of Carnatic music has not been spared the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic. He sees this world in terms of the loss of opportunities for rasikas “to sink their heart, mind and soul in some peaceful music in person” and for musicians “to perform in front of an audience and revel in their applause”. Chennai is the epicentre of this world with the entire city coming together for the landmark December Season there. Musicians had other windows available to them during Ganesh Chaturti, Navarathri, Temple Utsavams, etc. The summer was reserved for travel to other parts of the world to give concerts there. AK refers to this as the “Pack-Travel-Perform-Repeat” (PTPR) mode of the pre-pandemic world of Carnatic music.

Of course, the pandemic put paid to this cosy equilibrium. AK points out that, in response, “Carnatic musicians have tried to re-invent and re-engineer themselves in more ways than one.” He notes how the resulting Lockdown-Connectivity-Social Media (LCS) trinity has enabled “the artists to stay connected with their audience.” Though many of them were present in the social media prior to the pandemic, they have now begun to use it more pro-actively to reach out to their rasikas.

AK then recounts the “success stories” in social media deployment. His list starts with TMK and includes Ranjani-Gayatri, Trichur Brothers, Sikkil Gurucharan, Rajesh Vaidya, Jayanthi Kumaresh, Sudha, Unnikrishnan and his daughter Uthara before concluding with a detailed and appreciative listing of the multi-pronged initiatives of Sanjay.

AK foresees a lockdown-free post-pandemic world and concludes with the hope that “the engagement kicked off by the musicians will continue even in the post-Covid era with the help of the CS (Connectivity-Social Media) duo. This will go a long way in mainstreaming Carnatic music and further open it up to newer audiences.”

The Two Perspectives

For both TMK and AK the starting point is the havoc caused by Covid-19 on the performing arts and the important role social media has acquired in the last two years in this space. While AK is focused only on the benign use of social media, TMK draws our attention to the pitfalls that may lie ahead if social media repeats its performance elsewhere and ends up disfiguring the arts themselves. None of us who are alive to the distortions created in the polity and society in the USA, for example, and even in India via fake news, etc. can pretend that this is idle speculation. The attempts to curb social media and regulate the big tech companies behind it point to the seriousness with which such concerns are being dealt with in other countries.

While the focus of AK’s blog is on Carnatic music, TMK is concerned with the broader art scene as is clear from his arguments in favour of all-round support for indigent artists. AK is clearly pleased with the outcome of social media usage by the artists he refers to. But what about the others who cannot play the social media game for one reason or the other?

The situation is not dissimilar to the one faced in education, particularly at the school level during the last two years. While online classes became a necessity, some educationists began to see this as a great opportunity to transcend limitations and take education in India to a higher trajectory. The trinity they began to worship was Lockdown-Connectivity-Devices (LCD). It is now clear that LCD delivered only online “classes”, not online “learning” and that many children, particularly those in remote regions with poor connectivity and restricted access to devices have lost out on two years of education.

This is the larger concern that TMK articulates. The world of art or even music is not homogeneous but layered. What you can access and deploy is very much a function of who and where you are geographically and in the social and economic hierarchy. TMK puts it evocatively thus: “When we emerge from Covid, if we are a sensitive society, our plans will be directed towards those who are on the margins or have been pushed to the margins.”   

My Take

Both TMK and AK are right in their respective perspectives. Like AK, I am happy with the creativity that social media has spawned among musicians. That is a welcome development but TMK makes me uncomfortable about neglected issues in today’s art scene. His claim that “Unfortunately, rarely have we taken a social justice stance about art, artists or aesthetics. It is high time we do.” resonates with me. It is not by LCS alone that we can forge our way out of the present crisis. Connectivity is not just de-personalised WiFi but has to be defined and appreciated as person-to-person contact. It will have to be blended with a strong dose of support led by the government with wide participation of the Sabhas and other patrons. Carnatic music, and indeed art in general, will need to survive and thrive inclusively beyond metropolitan cities and the success of the already successful. As TMK rightly points out, “The successful ones do not prove that things are working well; they only highlight the asymmetrical nature of our society.”

Postscript

With the Omicron-driven third wave now in full swing, I do not want to be like the person who posted on Instagram recently “I’d like to cancel my subscription to 2022. I have experienced the free 7-day trial and I’m not interested.” Let me wish everyone a more healthy, prosperous and joyful 2022!

S. Krishna Kumar

16^th January 2022

Bengaluru

Blog # 29