“Hindustani vocalist Padmini Rao talks on the relevance of classical music today.“

Imagine you’re watching a sunset. You are probably on a bridge or on the edge of a cliff watching the sun glisten on the water and slowly melt away into the horizon. Wherever you are, it is imperative that you’re in the right mood to appreciate the beauty of nature. “Learning classical music is similar to this. There is a mystique about it which people work too hard to understand. That’s not how it should be. You won’t be able to understand everything in 140 characters. We have to tune ourselves to understand it,” says Padmini Rao, a Hindustani vocalist. She led a Hindustani classical music workshop at Bhairavi | The Music Room in Mattancherry on Saturday and Sunday.

“Padmini Rao has kept her musical passions alive by performing regularly all over the world and spreading the musical heritage and khayal.”

Hindustani classical singer Padmini Rao talks about her musical lineage, values and teaching.

“I will show you the path but you have to find the lanes,” said her guru, Ustad Zia Mohiuddinn Khan Dagar to classical Hindustani singer Padmini Rao. And that’s what the shishya has been doing – finding the different musical lanes. Padmini who performed recently at Abad Chulikkal, at a concert conducted by ‘Musical Meet’ and ‘Shudh Kalyan’, has been away from India for the past 23 years. She has kept her musical passions alive by performing regularly all over the world and spreading the musical heritage of dhrupad and khayal.

Revered gurus:

Though she sings khayal, she is trained in dhrupad by Dagar sahib. She recollects how he would cite analogies while teaching. A mother’s bosom fills with tenderness when she sees her child sleeping ,that is the emotion to be delivered while rendering a particular raga, he would demand. “That’s the kind of teaching I underwent,” she says. And so she searches in her music the peculiarity and personality of a raga and communicates that in her inimitable style. Her other renowned teacher is Dr. Prabha Atre under whom she did her MA in Music from SNDT, Mumbai. “I am blessed to have such gurus. They have been very large hearted in sharing their knowledge with me,” she says repeatedly.

Living away from India has its drawbacks for a musician of Indian classical music but it has its advantages too. Padmini had to self-learn a lot, which meant more disciplined ‘riyaaz’ and a self imposed dedication.

Singing to a non-Indian audience meant double effort at communication and a thorough explanation of the nuances of her music. “They do not know the concept of say ‘ roothna ‘or ‘manaana’, so I have to explain that before I sing,” she gives an example.

As a teacher she encourages her students to listen, listen and listen. It is something that’s missing among the new generation youth. Even the audience she says has come to relish condensed format concerts with say a khayal, thumri and a bhajan all thrown in. “But it is better to adapt than to be extinct,” she remarks as one who can foresee the fast changing scenario. She rues the fact that though she has no solutions to make this precious musical heritage commercially viable, a support from the government or introducing music at school level would definitely help.

“It’s not about playing a complex play station but it is about watching a sunset, or listening to a bird sing.” That’s what classical music teaches- the very way to live.

Teaching is her way forward. Through her students she is able to create, “if not performers at least an enlightened interested audience” and that will take the tradition onwards.

Her early days in singing were under Pandit Manohar Otavkar, before she moved on to higher music. “I was a restless child.” Music seemed to have calmed her down, she recalls. Studying to be a chemist and with diverse interests in theatre and language it was her ‘taanpura’ that quite strangely sounded in her the choice of music as career. And that’s how music came about for Padmini and that’s how it has been for nearly three decades.

Since the last five years she has begun composing music for bhajans, something she said happened after her visit to Vrindavan, where her love for poetry and literature came to the fore. She is now taking “baby steps” in composing khayal. And moving on she would like to study music therapy- the healing traits of music- where quite strangely her studies in chemistry and in music will blend.

“Padmini Rao is now acknowledged as one of the most gifted voices to emerge from the Kirana gharana, a style that has produced such legends as Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal.”

When Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar asked Padmini K. Rao to go look at the moon, she unquestioningly did so. The next day he explained a musical nuance she will never forget.

The beautiful Padmini K. Rao could have continued as an actress, or taken up a career as a chemist. She had done some experimental work on the Mumbai stage, and was contemplating a B.Tech when music embraced her fully into its fold. She is now acknowledged as one of the most gifted voices to emerge from the Kirana gharana, a style that has produced such legends as Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal.

Dr. Gulvady, Padmini’s father, specialises in industrial medicine. The Konkani-speaking family hails from Karnataka and has lived in Mumbai for many years. Padmini now lives with husband Kishore Rao in New York. She performs, teaches, and conducts lecture demonstrations.

Initially Padmini thought she didn’t have the voice to be a singer and started learning the sitar. But when she discovered that singing was her first love, she took rigorous lessons in voice culture from Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, the dhrupadia and rudra veena maestro revered by discerning audiences the world over. The family was so attached to the ustad that they named their flat, a stone’s throw from his, Guru Chaya (or guru’s shadow).

While her talent flowered under the care of the ustad, Padmini obtained her master’s degree in music from SNDT University. That course laid the foundation for a long and fruitful association with the famous vocalist, Dr. Prabha Atre. Padmini has learnt from Dr. Atre for over 16 years. Her music is thus a blend of two of India’s most enchanting musical streams: the dhrupad and the khayal.

Her first classical album, with ragas Bhoop, Kirvani, and Desh, will be released in Mangalore on July 26. After a hectic recording and mastering session in Bangalore, she spoke about her life and art.

How did you get into music, and how did you meet and learn from two virtuosos?

As a child I was not interested in music at all. I did not even listen to music. I don’t come from a musical lineage. My father is a doctor. My mother was a teacher, but they were deeply interested in music. In fact my father started learning the sitar, just so I could get to listen to music. My parents believed that way there would be no generation gap because a love of classical music transcends generations. It forms a binding factor when my grandmother, mother, and I can sit and listen to the same artiste and enjoy it.

I started learning when I was 15. We were in Chembur in Bombay. My guru Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Khan Dagar, and his brother, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Khan Dagar, used to live there. Every Sunday we used to have musical soirees at their place. I was unwillingly dragged to them. I was eight or 10, and I couldn’t sit in one place. When I was 15, I started learning the sitar with Pramila Dagar. I also learnt some vocal with Pt. Manohar Otavkar. The Dagar brothers were not in the country then. I went back to my guru when I was 19.

You were very good in studies. Did you have to make a choice between music and academics?

I finished my graduation and then I didn’t know which way to go, whether to do my B.Tech. I was also involved in theatre with Jayadeva and Rohini Hattangadi. That was for a short time. To decide, I took a year off, and my parents were so patient. I studied the B.A. syllabus for music and went through the entrance test for the M.A. course at SNDT. Dagar Saab pushed me into it; he valued education. He was a very learned man, but not educated, and it was important for him that I do this. This was when I started learning from Dr. Prabha Atre, again at Dagar Saab’s insistence.

What do you remember most about your guru, as a musician and as a person? For most people who know him only from the outside, he is a very strict classicist, a musician of musicians.

I don’t know how this sounds, but he was the closest I have come to god. He never led you, he walked with you. Even if you faltered, he inspired faith in you to go on. Like a father holding out his hands to his child and asking it to jump. It was an act of faith on the child’s part and it would jump blindly. His teaching method was so natural. It was like learning one’s mother tongue. Once you learn it, it always stays with you, but you don’t know how you learnt it. One day, he was teaching me the difference between ragas Puriya and Marwa, in which the second note is the same and only the vaadi and samvaadi swars make a difference. He said at the end of class, “Ek kaam karna beta, aaj chand ko dekhna” (Do this, child, see the moon tonight).

“Accha, aaj chand ko dekhna hai.” (Ok, I will see the moon tonight).

When I returned the next day he asked, “Kal chand ko dekha tha?” (Did you see the moon yesterday?)

“Zyada dikha nahin mamaji, badal bhi the.” (It was not very clear, there were clouds.)

“Tumne dekha badalon se chand kaise nazar aa raha tha. Puriya ka rishab aisi hi hai, abhi dikhayi diya ab nahin!” (You saw how the moon looked from among clouds? Puriya’s rishab is like that, now you see it, now you don’t!)

And then he said, “Marwa ka rishab to bilkul saaf nazar aatha hai.” (Marwa’s rishab shows up very clear.)

I will never forget it all my life. At the same time he would say never believe anything just because I say so.

Was there any training that taught you to realise each note with precision? Even when you sing your taans and fast phrases, each note can be discerned individually.

That is again his teaching, I had had my first child and he came to look me up. He said now that you are a mother, you will understand the tenderness you feel when you look at your child sleeping in your lap. Look at every note the same way you look upon your child! Especially in the alaap. You should have that komalta when you sing the alaap. He has left behind such a legacy of respect and love. My mother Sita was depressed that I had not taken to music. He told her not to worry and to let me be. He said that when I turned 19, I would learn on my own and be very immersed in music. And that is exactly what happened.

You are equally close to Dr. Prabha Atre, and I hear you also had some lessons from Sheila Dhar.

Dagar Saab told me to go to Prabhatai. And she welcomed me with open arms. No looking askance that I was learning from him. She gave me her all. It was up to me to do what I could. I learnt so much from her. She was not in the least possessive about her knowledge of music. Almost all compositions I sing are hers. Another person in my life was Sheila Dhar. I was entranced by a Shuddh Sarang composition she was singing and asked for her permission to write it down. She said, of course, what use is music otherwise, like perfume shut up in a bottle, of no use to me or to you?

How do you combine the dhrupad and khayal styles? Do you feel there is a conflict in approach?

Actually I see dhrupad as straight lines. The curls and curves of khayal are not there. I put them together. My basic voice production is from the Dagars, straight to the note. I have also learnt how to go gently to the note. The way you modulate your voice is the difference. I am not a practising dhrupad singer. But I can relate as fast, if not faster, to instrumental music because of my sitar learning. Sometimes my taan structures are influenced by that, and some listeners ask me about my instrumental approach.

Where do you see classical music going?

A minimum amount of hard work is non-negotiable. That hard work is for the teacher and student. It is getting more difficult, finding gurus like mine, or even dedicated students. The tastes of the public have changed. People want fast taans and pyrotechnics. Dagar Saab used to say, “Drut mein tayari nazar aathi hai, alap mein samajhdari nazar aathi hai”. In the fast composition you can see the preparation, and in the alaap, you can see the understanding. Our music is supposed to makes us feel calm and good, but sound levels today inspire you instead to go and jog. Anyway that is ultimately an individual’s choice.

(Padmini Rao is performing at Canara Union, 8th Main, Malleswaram, on July 21, at 6 p.m.)

“Spare artists the worry of bread to promote arts”

New Delhi, Feb 2 (UNI) Having been trained under one of the most revered names in classical music, Padmini K Rao has been one of the destiny’s chosen few.

Coupled with a banker husband and supportive family who did not grudge her ‘riyaz’ time, she never had to worry about earning her bread or make small compromises to make ends meet. Yet, with the extra sensitivity of an artist, she knows what it means to an artist to constantly worry about the family and finances. ”I wish there was more patronage for artists, so that they did not have to worry about keeping the home fire burning,” Padmini told UNI here. ”It harms music in the long run,” she added ruefully. In the past when there was royal patronage for performers, they could attain rare heights of excellence, oblivious to the mundane cares of everyday living. But today one needs a forum to project and promote one’s art. Mere hard work or talent does not suffice, the upcoming classical singer lamented. With a background in Chemistry, she trained under Mrs Pramila Dagar, Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, the Dhrupad and rudra veena maestro, besides Dr Prabha Atre who helped her graduate from sitar to dhrupad to move on to khayal.

”Dagar saab gently directed me towards khayal after training me in voice modulation for more than a decade,” said the artist who has devoted 24 years of her life to music. On the synthesis of two of India’s most enchanting musical streams, dhrupad and khayal, Padmini said, ”Although I do not sing dhrupad now, its reference was bound to be present in my singing as khayal originated from dhrupad and it is natural for kids to resemble parents.” The techno-savvy singer, who has command over six Indian languages besides Dutch and French, believes the latest innovations to be a boon for the present generation. ”Thanks to the electronic tabla and tanpura, I could practice whenever I felt like even while doing other household chores like cooking or ironing clothes, in places like the West Asia, Europe and North America, where it was difficult to get an accompaniment,” the mother of two said.

Padmini, with her forte being pure classical music, advocates the distinctive style of gharanas in promoting music and still believes strongly in maintaining one’s identity.> ”Gane mein guru ki shakal honi chahiye, nakal nahin (Dagar saab used to say your guru’s face must come forward in your singing, not his imitation). ”And it is the most fascinating part of our heritage that different gharanas make use of the same musical notes and the rules of grammar to create their own unique style of singing,” she said. She looks forward to a time when she could get an opportunity to perform with the other legends from Kinara gharana like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal. ”If I could just catch few rays of the sun, I would be blessed,” the unassuming singer added. With a master’s degree in music from SNDT University in Mumbai, she has performed in West Asia, Europe and the United States and spends at least five to six hours daily in practice. On being asked how does she reconcile her familial responsibilities with her passion for music, she said, ”I am built like an ox. I do not tire easily. ”Also, fearful of the situation where my children begin to see my music as a competitor which takes away my time with them, I made doubly sure that I was around when the kids needed me. Gradually as they began to realise its importance in my life, they started respecting it as well,” Padmini said. Today, besides holding concerts all over the world ”to promote Indian music so that it does not wither away”, she also conducts seminars and workshops on music education. Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh is one such forum where she has been coming for the past four years to initiate eager children into the vast treasure of Indian cultural heritage.

“Padmini Rao takes Music abroad”

She could well have become a research chemist or even an actress, but it was music that she chose for a vocation, and now, despite living abroad, Padmini Rao has emerged as one of the most promising classical singers of the Kirana Gharana.

Based in New York, Rao, who has made a mark in Khayal singing, admits that being away from India has meant not being able to interact with her gurus as much as she would like to.

But she has turned the handicap into an advantage by performing all over the world and was recently in India as part of a global tour. Having already performed in the US and the UK on the tour, Rao held concerts in New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai.

Rao, who has been described as one of the most promising singers of the Kirana Gharana, the genre that maestros like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal belong to, has become a global ambassador for Indian classical music and has performed in several countries, including Holland, Germany, France, the US as well as the Middle East.

Going abroad after her marriage, Rao, in her early 40’s now, lived for many years in the Middle East where her husband was working before they moved to the US recently, but this vocalist’s love for music only grew despite the distance from her gurus – Ustad Zia Moinuddin Dagar and Prabha Atre.

“Of course, had I continued to live in India, I would have had a better chance of learning from my gurus and also enjoyed better visibility in the country. But I have continued to be dedicated to music against all odds, and there has been no dearth of audience wherever I have been,” says Rao, informing that the expatriate Indian population does appreciate Indian classical music.

But the singer, despite having moved abroad, has been taken note of by experts, and is being seen as one of the most talented of Atre’s disciples.

Writes Mohan Nadkarni in his book `The Great Masters – Profiles in Hindustani Classical Vocal Music’: “Several young students have benefitted from her (Atre’s) guidance. Among the shagirds… The youngest of them all, Padmini Rao has matured as a concert performer over the years.”

Rao says she owes all her success to her gurus.

“As a child, I was always listening to music as my parents, although they were not musicians themselves, were deeply interested in Indian classical music. And they counted among friends such masters as, under whose tutelage, I went on to learn music,” recounts Rao, adding in the same breath that she, however, wasn’t sure until she graduated about whether she wanted to have a career in music.

Having learnt music from Ustad Dagar since the age of 15, Rao, belonging to a Chitrapur Saraswat family settled in Mumbai, graduated in chemistry in 1981, and was a rank holder in Bombay University.

But not sure about what she wanted to become in life, Rao who was also dabbling with theatre at that time, decided to take a year off to decide, and finally went on do post-graduation in music.

“It was during my post-graduation that I began learning music from Dr Prabha Atre, and that association still continues,” she says About her decision to specialise in Khayal singing, Rao says the reason why she adopted the style was because she liked its “vocabulary, the freedom to experiment that it gave.” Moreover, she says, it is one of the most ancient forms of singing that have stood the test of time.

Rao, who also enjoys singing light-classical forms like bhajans and thumris, says music has become “a way of life” for her. “It is as essential for me as breathing is. I could even say music is worship for me. I have unconditionally and completely surrendered to it,” she says

“Music wherever she goes – by Anita Nair”

“There were days when I used to get up at 3 am to practice and then rush around to prepare everybody for office and school”. It is a classic story of a talented woman’s life; juggling many responsibilities, being a wife and mother and holding tight to the artistic side that nurtures her.

They are the words of Padmini Rao, a renowned Hindustani vocalist who is performing in Bahrain after a gap of 12 years. Known for her musical prowess, Padmini infuses her music with a rare passion and has left no stone unturned to achieve the position she so rightfully deserves.

An admirable student and a disciple par excellence, this musical exponent from the Kirana Gharana will surely do her Gurus proud.

“Any Hindustani Classical singer is known by the name of the Gharana and the name of their Guru [teacher]” Padmini says with pride. A disciple of the Dhrupad and Rudra Veena maestro Ustad Z M Dagar and the renowned maestro Dr. Prabha Atre, she has performed extensively in India, US and Europe, especially in Germany. She takes the extra effort to nurture and propagate this traditional music of India, which is the only country in the world to have two distinct and highly systematized forms of classical music.

“My experience while performing in Germany was pretty interesting as most of the audience was German and when your medium of expression is vocal music, the ‘saahitya’ [literature] has more ethnic connotations which need some explanations “

She talks in retrospection about the open-mindedness of the Western audiences and their immense respect for the performing artistes. “They are very receptive to different genres of music” she adds.

Starting training at a very early age, she learnt the intricacies of the different complex Hindustani ragas and sings with absolute finesse. ‘I don’t think traditional music will ever die out, although it has to be admitted that a little more effort has to be taken to listen to classical music” she said sounding optimistic. The fact cannot be ignored that there are more takers for film music these days.

“I don’t look down on any kind of music,” she says and comments, “Even though one may not understand the language of singing, the art can still be appreciated. The explanation will only enhance the enjoyment for the uninitiated ear.”

Her advice to aspiring artistes and also the number of women who waste their talent by not practicing – Padmini says “Never lose sight of your goals and if you have the courage of conviction, even the impossible can be attained.”

These are the sleeve notes from my album Krishn Kanhai, written by Meera Ravi.

Lord Krishna is the most personal of all the Gods in the Hindu pantheon. The eighth incarnation of Maha-Vishnu, His life story is replete with vivid imagery at every stage – as a naughty and lovable child-prince of the tribe of chieftain Nanda, as a handsome young man roaming Nanda’s vast and verdant territory, playing; the king-maker of Dwaraka and the philosopher and prophet of the Bhagavad Gita.

There is a Krishna for every one of us to love and make our own and He inspired some of the most moving poetry of the bhakti movement in India. Here is a collection to kindle your devotion for the Cowherd God – gems fired by the passionate love of the bhakti poets and polished at the well-spring of their genius.

1. Ram-Krishna Kahiyey Uthee Bhor

Poet: Nandadas

The poet Nandadas, draws a parallel between the two incarnations of Lord Vishnu, namely Lord Raama and Lord Shri Krishna. He contrasts the royal life of Lord Raama in the palace of Ayodhya and the carefree joy of Lord Krishna’s life in Braj-Mathura.

In the palace halls of Ayodhya,
Lord Raama sits on the bejewelled throne
As brothers Bharata, Lakshman and Shatrughna bear attendance

In Braj-Mathura, as Lord Krishna,
The Lord plays with his cowherd friends, clad in yellow silk dhoti (pitaamber)
With His Divine flute and head-dress adorned with peacock feather.

2. Sudamji ko dekhat Shyaam hasey

Poet: Soordas

Soordas, the blind bard of ‘braj’ was a very prominent poet of the Pushti cult founded by Vallabhacharya. He was the first poet to write in ‘braj-bhaashaa’- a dialect of Hindi. His compositions have an epic stature, and encompass the various phases in Lord Krishna’s life.

My Lord, who once was my boyhood friend, and who now rules Dwarka,
I have come to you with all I can afford –
A gift of three fistfuls of puffed rice
That my wife, your sister-in-law has sent with love.

In this poem, focuses on the beautiful bond of friendship between Lord Krishna and Sudamji who grew up together in the hermitage of guru Sandipani. Sudamji who has fallen on tough times, arrives at the Lord’s court in Dwarka, in ragged clothes and tattered slippers, bearing a humble gift of puffed rice, a childhood favourite of Lord Krishna. The song is a lovely testimony to a friendship that has transcended social barriers and the passage of time.

3. Mhaarey ghar aavo

Poetess: Meerabai

The devotional lyrics of the princess-poet Meera are eloquent in their description of the Lord. The sincerity and sweetness of the compositions are a part of the rich heritage of the mystic poetry of India. In this composition, Meera sings about complete surrender to the Lord. He is portrayed as the saviour of the masses [bakshan-haaraa] .

Lord, I am mired in faults and know not the way to salvation,
You are my Redeemer, the Absolver of all sins…

4. Akhiyaan, Hari darsan ko pyaasi

Poet: Soordas

Surdas, in this poem, describes the beauty of the Lord, which has captivated him. In the second stanza, Soordas describes, the restlessness felt by a seeker of the Lord’s Divine Grace, with wonderful eloquence and expressive imagery:

Lord, without a glimpse of Your Divine form,
The devotee is bereft and left tossing and turning
Like a trembling blade of grass.

5. Chalo ri murali suniye

Poet: Soordas

The Jamuna river, flowing langorously, the hypnotic strains of the celestial flute melodiously beckoning the gopikas in Vrindavan, is described vividly in this Soordas composition.

The tranquil sunset turns the River Jamuna into a molten golden flow,
In the twilit glow, the sound of Lord Kirshna’s flute
Fills all creatures with peace
And even the birds forget their even-song and the calves forget to suckle
As they listen to the Lord’s divine music.

The song urges the gopikas to drop everything and surrender themselves to the mystic and melodious music of the Lord.

6. Hori khelat hai Giridhari

Poetess: Meerabai

This lively composition by Meerabai, captures the vibrancy and joy of ‘Holi’- the spring festival of colours.

The fragrant swirls of sandalwood and saffron rise in the air
The women of vrindavan dance in joyful abandon
And Lord Krishna throwing fistfuls of crimson ‘gulal’ powder, around

These images are skillfully blended to create a vivid collage of Phagun- the spring season.

7. Mohey laagi lagan

Poetess: Meerabai

This poignant Meera bhajan, portrays her immutable faith in the Lord. Here the Lord is depicted as a beacon of hope and solace. He is the guiding anchor across the stormy seas of Life. Meera lays her faith and in fact her very being at His divine feet in total surrender.

Without the presence of My Lord, this life is a burden
And all the world a web of wasteful dross and illusion!

8. Matha kar moha tu

Poet: Kabirdas

A weaver by profession, Kabirdas ranks among the India’s greatest poets. Kabir’s poetry is relevant and helpful in guiding our lives, in both social and spiritual context. Simplicity and a straightforward approach are the hallmarks of his poetry and hold a universal appeal.

This powerful yet simple composition by Kabirdas, extols the virtue of leading a life that is enriched by praising the Lord- not however by merely a passive chanting. Kabirdas aptly describes spirituality as an infinite resource of riches as compared to the transitory nature of wealth defined by material possessions- a theme that still holds relevance today.

This voice has been given to you to sing the Lord’s praises,
And these hands – to give alms in His Name.

A recording of the MehfiLive performance is available here.