Today the mind is extinguished, today the flag of the country is half-masted – TV is telling that there is two days of national mourning. Even if this national mourning had not been announced, there would have been mourning in the courtyard of the mind because everyone knows – the mind of this country has kept some songs on all the stages of happiness and sorrow it has gone through in its seventy-five years, but these The one who gives melody and vocals to the songs is absorbed in Mahamaun.
One question is haunting everyone – now who will give tone and voice to the country’s pain-o-gum, its laughter and happiness? Be patient, that melodious singer of songs may have been absorbed in great silence, but great silence does not mean great silence. There are songs of all the times to come in the life of this country in the great silence of the singer. Tagore, the world-poet of the last century, used to say that the tears that stay on Kaal’s cheeks forever are called Taj Mahal, on the same note, today it is happening to say that the pain of civilization named Bharat in the throat of Kaal has become a song. Just go, she is called Lata Mangeshkar.
These words of tribute are insufficient
No.. no… not at all! There is no point in recording such a line on Tagore’s take for that mahasadhika of notes at this moment of great mourning. Today this sorrow is troubling more that whatever the word written with a pen may be, it is insufficient for the greatness of the notes – however neat and beautiful the words written in the pen are, they do not have a throat, there is no sound. In these words, from where does he get that Jhink and Khanak whose name is Lata Mangeshkar? In these words, from where to get that lifting of the tone and the stop of the lifting, whose name is Lata Mangeshkar? From where to get all those expressions used in the voice, from ‘Jo Payo Ji Maine Ramratan Dhan Payon’ to ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham… Na Juda Hoge Hum’?
Why is it astonishing if a stare and blindfolded sight is in front of the eyes? Because the eyes that see have no throat, no voice of their own, and the throat, which has a voice to speak, is itself without eyes. If the eyes say that he has seen his eyes, then how can he not have a voice, if the throat sees this, but if he says something in his voice, then how can he have no eyes.
The same eternal difficulty is associated with these words of tribute – tribute is being given to him whose throat had songs in rhythm and melody for every emotion of this country, but there is no such tone and call in these words of tribute. That a wave may come from here and another wave may come from there, and in this turmoil that raga which is called Bharat-raga, the same raga which that Mahasadhika had learned to cultivate from the fifth year of her age.
Keeps remembering, kept hurting my heart..
The body of that Mahasadhika, who settled the Bharat-Raga in the throat of Kaal, has been reduced to ashes in the soil of Shivaji Park in Mumbai, but the notes and vocals have remained. Every Indian has felt Bharat-raga in that voice. On this morning of February 7, when these lines are being written in these clocks of sunrise, the same voice reverberates on the loudspeaker of a distant temple – Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye Je Peed Paray Jaane Re.
The sun will rise some more, when the morning progresses to change in the day, it will ring on the loudspeaker of the temple in the same voice – Nandlala said to Yashomati Maiya, why Radha is fair, why are I black? Daughter of the house, a little Radha will wake up. She will remember that school mam taught a song in music class yesterday by singing a song-Ichak dana bichak dana, daane uper dana and again in the house the same voice will resonate in the courtyard of little Radha. Grihalakshmi will come out of the kitchen in her familiar hustle and bustle. He has to bake bread for all the big and small of the house, but in the meantime, he also has to knead the top of this little Radha, how can he do such double-triple work simultaneously? He has started humming his complaint in a song by not saying it directly to anyone – Mose chal ke jaye, hi re hi hi dekho saiya beiman – phir se wahi swar – same sur!
As the day progresses, Nandlal of the house will go out in search of a job. He does not bow his head in front of any deity, but if he wants to get out of a difficult task like looking for a job outside, then while taking his feet out of the house, you murmur from his lips – give us so much power, the faith of the mind should be weak, isn’t it? When the evening falls, after scouring the world of the father’s world, don’t know where and where, suddenly the same tone, the same voice will burst from the mouth of the father who is lost in the news. Outside the house, a fakir spread his bag and would give a voice with the mouth and antar of a song – Ramayya Vasta Vaiyya.. Ramaiyya Vastavaiyya….
When the raga resonates in all the expressions from all the throats, it is called Bharat-raag. It is true that the India for which that raga became and resonated is no longer the India. Now there is a new India – in this India there is ‘Sheila ki Jawani’, in this India there is such loud banging that there is a sound of ooh..aah everywhere. Among the wishes of this India is: He should walk in such a way that the people of the senses appear drowsy and people walk around by pasting the photo of their loved one with fevicol on their chest. There is a new song of this new India and the street is playing loudly – Antwa…O..O…Antwa. This is called aspirational India – find, where is the place in this India, which has become very violent in emotion and effort, for that raga, which was called Bharat-raga. Find out how that raga was formed.
It’s a strange story..where it begins, where it ends
We know the point of the end of Bharat-Raga, that point is resonating in Antwa..Antwa. It is difficult to trace where the Bharat Raga originated, just as it is difficult to trace the origin of the Ganges called Bhagirathi. Just as everyone’s desires take a dip in the water of the Ganges and emerge, and for every such desire, there is a boon near the water of the Ganges – that Bharat-raga in Lata Mangeshkar’s throat had a similar specialty.
This quality came within Bharat-Raga, forgetting all the old identities and all the relations of friendship-enmity, attachment-aversion associated with those identities, by entering into that new vehicle of freedom which was in the Parliament of this country on the midnight of 14-15 August. Had landed When the gharial played the gajars of twelve nights, this country had made a promise to itself that ‘we the people of India’ forget the distinctions and feelings of clan, caste-religion, gender, region and become a new person in the era. We are entering such a new era where a person is identified by his qualities and not by caste and religion. This India had remembered the words of Nanak and Kabir that the sword is worth it, not the sheath in which it is kept.
An early moment of this India, which promised to earn recognition on the basis of virtue, was tied to the life of Lata Mangeshkar or rather it was the initial moment of Bharat-raga in Lata’s life. Remember the scene of the film Mahal: A Neem-lit room. Ashok Kumar’s feet move impatiently to find that incomparable voice. The door opens.. Silence outside again.. Steps move some more… Silence in the huge hall… Silence on the stairs.. Silence on the barge.. Silence in the shadows of hero Ashok Kumar in his own wanderings… A melodious voice pierces the silence. In this silence, the lyrics of the song resonate – Aayega… Aayega… Aayega Aaina Wala.
For the year 1949, music was by Khemchandra Prakash and voice by Lata Mangeshkar. Critics of film songs agree that a new era begins with this film and song. This was a kind of confluence period in the political history of the country. The country had become independent, but the grammar on which the country was to follow, that grammar, that is, the constitution, was not fully implemented. A coin in the name of musician Ghulam Haider used to run in today’s Bollywood city. With the help of the songs of the film Khazanchi, he took Punjabi tunes to new heights.
When people heard praises from Ghulam Haider’s mouth for the voice of a newcomer playback singer playing the role of a co-star in Marathi films, they could not believe it. His question was – after all, how will a tiny, two-peaked teenager with her thin-skinny voice survive in this world of Punjabi hustle and bustle of Hindi film songs? Yes, that era was of Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambewali, Amirbai Karnataki and Noor Jahan.
In such a period, Bombay Talkies thought of making a palace film keeping the spirit of mystery-thrill in the center. It was to be called the first film of its kind. Kamal Amrohi got the responsibility of directing the film and Khemchandra Prakash to compose the songs of the film. Khemchandra Prakash, fondly known as Masterji, chose Lata Mangeshkar as the singer for the theme song of the film. After several rounds of Riyaz, the final recording started at six in the evening and then the next morning at seven o’clock this recording got a break: Aayega.. Aayega Aanega.. The song was done!
Bombay Talkies head Shashidhar Mukherjee’s first reaction to the song was who would want to hum the song? But then Khemchandra Prakash was full of confidence about the success of the song, to honor what he said, the song was allowed to remain in the film. Khemchandra’s faith was not unfounded—radio had a great value among the sages in those days and Radio Ceylon was considered glorified like a Gandharva in the radio world. The song played well on Radio Ceylon.
The difficulty was that the song played a lot but the name was known to someone else. As was the trend of those days, on the gramophone record, the singer of the song ‘Aayega… Aayega… Aayega Aanewala’ was named Kamini. Madhubala played her character in the film by this name. But where is the rest of the people of the song? He found the taste of the song unique, Radio Ceylon was flooded with letters asking who sang this song after all? People were connoisseurs and recognized the quality of the singer. Distressed by these letters, the director of the radio station found out the name of the original singer of the song and then one afternoon, just before the song played, announced: singer Lata Mangeshkar.
This was the first threat to the establishment of a new name in the industry of Hindi music—it was the identity of a singer established on the basis of distinctive qualities, irrespective of caste, religion, region. From then onwards, all that had to come in the voice of this singer, which has been called ‘Bharat-raga’ in the article: Right now a sad woman had to sing in the voice of Mother India that if we have come in the world, we will have to live, in the emperor’s court. In this, a love addict had to speak with the chimes of his chains with the words of challenge that love should be to fear, not curtain when koi khuda se, bando se purdah kya. That part of Bharat-Raga was yet to come in which a woman would break all the shackles and say – Payal tied with the shackles of breaking…today I wish to live again!
The body that gave voice to Bharat-Raga was destroyed like every body used to be. But, remember that the sheet of Hind was wrapped on that body and as much as it was written on this sheet that ‘O people of my country, fill your eyes with water, as much as my voice is the only identity – remember it’. Moneycontrol Hindi’s tearful tribute to the old India and the raga of that India!
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